What are the best films about the East?

Due to its brightness, imagery, mass character and the power of emotional impact on the viewer, the cinema in the palette of contemporary art occupies an important place. Therefore, do not underestimate the influence of the film industry on society - depicting a region or state in a certain light, filmmakers construct the perception of this state abroad.

It's a delicate matter!

Recently, more and more often, Hollywood, Europe and the former CIS countries, creating films about the East, turn to an unusual culture and aesthetics for Western society. Often Asian states in the cinema appear as a set of various national elements, ethnoconceptions of a particular country. To show the state of the given region to the unprepared spectator is quite a difficult task. Therefore, Western and Hollywood cinematography is often stereotyped, creating films about the East, depicting the aesthetics of the eastern countries, shows them through the prism of the Western worldview.

Three canonical masterpieces

The most famous among the masterpieces of world cinema are paintings "Memoirs of a Geisha", "The Last Samurai" and "7 Years in Tibet" - Hollywood films about the Far East.

The "Memoirs of a Geisha", released in 2005, is based on a new interpretation of the story of Cinderella, placed in Japanese scenery. Initially, the director of the project was Steven Spielberg, who considers his mentor the legend of the Japanese film industry director-producer Akira Kurosawa. But in connection with the death of Kurosawa, the entire film crew and the cast were replaced. The director's seat was taken by Rob Marshall, the main roles were given to Chinese actresses, which made the picture extremely negative in Asia, and was literally ignored by Chinese and Japanese audiences. Such a fate befell many films about the East, made by Western directors, who do not aspire to understand the original worldview.

"The Last Samurai"

Released in the 2003 movie "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise shows a completely different vision of Eastern history and culture. In this project, the region is presented to the viewer as a "separate character", in the process of getting to know with whom the protagonist is almost reborn, begins to behave and think differently. For the sake of justice it is worth noting that the image of the samurai in the film is pretty romantic. Nevertheless, despite some inaccuracies, the film clearly demonstrates differences in Western and Eastern thinking. It is noteworthy that the director Edward Zwick seeks to know what the notorious Japanese aesthetic represents, and not just colorfully present the brightest elements of her traditions to the beholder, unlike many other directors who create films about the East.

"7 years in Tibet"

In 1997, the film "7 Years in Tibet" was screened, based on the book of memoirs of the Austrian traveler and climber Heinrich Harrer, who became the will of fate one of the closest friends of the Dalai Lama. In the movie, Henry, it is true, was made an officer of the Reich, in order to strengthen the illustration of how the eastern outlook influenced his fate. Like the hero of The Last Samurai, the central character of the Jean-Jacques Anno project understands his true destiny after visiting the East. The film is not only an artistic, cultural, but also a political message. Representatives of the People's Republic of China are shown in the film by narrow-minded and soulless people. As a result, after the release of the film in the rental of American actors Brad Pitt and David Thulis, who shot in the movie was banned from entering China.

Thus, in the predominant majority of Hollywood films, the Far East is positioned as a model of purity of thought, a guide to the healing of people who are depraved and confused.

Films devoted to military conflicts

Movies about the Middle East appear quite different before the viewer. According to statistics from the American Association of Cinematographers, over a thousand documentary and artistic films about the actions of NATO allies in the area have been filmed in Hollywood over the past decades. The best pictures on military conflicts in the Middle East are:

• "War on Duress" - a painting awarded the prestigious Teen Choice Awards and named by the US Department of Defense "insulting the honor of veterans".
• "The Battle for Hadith." The picture is based on a real incident. The film was released in a limited box office, as in some episodes, US soldiers are shown in an extremely negative light.
• "Brothers" is a movie about how the service in Iraq affects the human psyche. The film has two nominations of the Golden Globe.
• "Messenger" - a film about the plight of the main characters who have to visit relatives of the soldiers who died in Iraq. The film was awarded two Oscars.
• "Lord of the storm" - a film about the war in the East, shot by an unprofessional shaky camera, tells of the uneasy everyday life of the detachment of sappers in Iraq. This picture has collected more other awards and awards, among which 6 statuettes "Oscar".

The tendency to shoot films about the events in the Middle East is not weakened to this day, the following films can serve as confirmation of this: "Lucky", "Green Zone", "The Set of Lies," "Honest Play" and "Kingdom."

Not exotic and not imprisonment, but an ordinary family

In an effort to fully convey the aesthetics of the subregion, filmmakers often turned to the exciting theme of the harem. Movies about the East and the harem are diverse. In some harem - this is the first step in the career ladder, in others - prison, thirdly - a unit of society unusual for a Western man, a family in which they adhere to a strict hierarchy and special etiquette. Most of the paintings tell of love intrigues, brilliant victories, humiliating defeats. The most famous films are:

• Japanese fantasy film drama "Shogun Lady and Her Men" directed by Fumiki Kaneko, offering an alternative history of Japan in the VIII century.
• Turkish historical and biographical melodrama "Mahdeyker" directed by Tarkan Ozel is a screen version of the biography of the favorite of Sultan Ahmet I, named Mahpeyker, better known as Kesem Sultan.
• A fantastic collection of five movie novels "Arab Adventures" directed by Steve Barron is another adaptation of the legendary literary work "A Thousand and One Nights".
• Scandalous European art house "8 ½ women" screenwriter and director Peter Greenaway, which is the author's interpretation of the "Eight and a Half" by Frederico Fellini.

They encourage the following films about harems: "The Last Harem", "Favorite", "Harem. Loss of Innocence "," Harem Vacation "with the participation of Elvis Presley," Red Falcon "," Lost in the harem ".

Russian films

Russian films about the East are worthy to be headed by the cult Soviet adventure film "The White Sun of the Desert". Unfortunately, most of the paintings produced by the USSR and Russia, which tell of the events in this territory, tell us about the military operations in Afghanistan and Chechnya. An example of the most memorable films can be: "Afghan Break", "Death Caravan", "Gorge of Spirits", "Hunters for Caravans", "Ninth Company", "Silent Outpost", "Two Steps to Silence" and many others.