Cultural Content Of The Mongolian Films Of China In The 21st Century

Cultural studies are getting more specialized with the social progress and the demand of the intellectual civilization. The studies on the ecological culture of Mongolian grassland, which is characterized by the respect for nature, has been paid great attention and are respected these days. But in connection with human society becoming more advanced, more sophisticated and more diversified, there is also a shift in values that hardly benefit the grown structure of this regions culture and its ecological environment. The Mongolian film has now become a strong carrier of grassland culture, documenting and promoting the cultural heritage and giving an insight into the common mind-set of the people who populate and travel the grassland. And with a deep cultural connotation as well as a unique artistic approach in combination with modern means of filmmaking, it is doing so in a most effective way.It started in the 1990’s when Chinese filmmakers discovered the Mongolian culture for their settings and the results often caught the attention of film critics as well as international approval. With the beginning of the new century, the production of Mongolian films in China has reached a new height with more and more Mongolian directors and production teams producing an ever increasing number of critically acclaimed Mongolian films. Within the last decade alone, more than ten films have received awards and great media response. In 2002 the duo Sai Fu and Mai Lisu created the film ’Heavenly Grassland’ which since has become the cornerstone for a transition in Mongolian themed films. A transition from historic content to more realistic and present time issues. It has not only enriched the Mongolian cinema but has also been a strong influence to other films with ethnic minority background.Within the last decade, Mongolian cinema culture has become more deep and meaningful by not only presenting Mongolian culture, folklore and spiritual aspects in various historical settings anymore but also depicting, as a sign of constant innovation, the traditional cultural spirit of Mongolians in context with globalization, economical progress and the collision of traditional values with the ones of modern civilization. This is adding new vigorous and emotional content and transmits the key idea of the culture of grassland in an all-round and perhaps more comprehensible way.These films reflect the marrow of grassland culture (with its respect for nature, the implementation of open and good faith) by setting up various, often opposing plots. Human/nature, grassland/city or simply two or more human characters with seemingly inconsistent dispositions. To transmit the cultural essence of the grassland, there is use of rich picture language depicting folkways (traditional costumes and horses are a recurring element), traditional songs and instruments for the film’s score and an elaborate film setting. Most of those recent filmmakers try to transmit the grassland culture from as many aspects as possible, in both a sensible and as well as visually stunning way, while further developing film settings and complex implementation of Mongolian films.Though the cultural content in Mongolian films was given generous space, the artistic expression already being unique and having made great achievement in other areas since the outset of this century, some obvious deficiencies still exists in the characteristic of Mongolian expressions, narration skills, the molding of characters, the use of high-tech equipment in cinematography and the necessary development of marketing structures. For the Mongolian film industry’s future in artistic prosperity, as well as their strong role in documenting or perhaps even preserving grassland culture, it should stand fast on Mongolia’s cultural tradition and its inherent spirit but also shouldn’t forget taking into consideration the demands of an worldwide audience, constantly keeping on improving its art, integrating useful technology from international cinematography, further improve the marketing mechanisms and never forget that it does have potential for re-inventing itself.