Abstract

Yu Li’s 2005 film Dam Street can be read as an attempt to address women’s issues in rural China. By examining the female characters : the protagonist Xiaoyun embodying a man-made image of rouge face and supporting female characters internalizing traditional values, the article argues that the film has successfully delivered a non-propagandistic message of Chinese women’s situation: women are restricted by different levels of patriarchies. The article has made an exploration in the cinematographic and historical and cultural context to reveal the image of rouge faces in specific sense and in general sense.

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