Chapter 1 Introduction
Film and culture intertwine with each other. Studies on these two subjects，as Graeme Turner asserts，“share a common interest in the textual analysis of popular forms （i.e. the cinemas）”.[1] Then by analysing the filmic text，people can figure out the interplay between film and culture in detail. Furthermore，on focusing the relationship between film and what happened in the past which serves as an important part of human culture，Patrick Vonderau asserts，“Film can function as history：as a source or a document not only of its own aesthetic history，but of history in general. Vice versa，history can be presented as film：‘historical movies’ compete with conventional written historiographic reports for public acceptance since cinema and television have become widely available”.[2] In other words，historical films can act as vivid records of events that happened in the past. People can use them as references on these old days. Here exist more questions：Which part （s） of history is/are included in films？And how do films narrate the past？To answer all this，this study intends to use historical fiction film as a good subject for research—there are always several filmic versions of a same ancient story，and those varied filmic adaptations made in different cultural and social contexts can exhibit clearly the contrast between past and present.
What is “historical fiction film”？The definition can be settled down in comparison with Sarah Johnson’s rules of historical fiction，that is，“a ‘historical novel’ is a novel which is set fifty or more years in the past，and one in which the author is writing from research rather than personal experience”.[3] Therefore historical fiction films are ones which are adapted from literary works set fifty or more years in the past but not autobiographic recordings of people’s lives. Some old stories have already proved their value of adaptations with practices in the past. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice，which was first published in the year 1813，[4] can be a good example. There are at least four versions：Pride and Prejudice （1940） by MGM，Pride and Prejudice （1980） by BBC，Pride and Prejudice （1995） by BBC and A&E，Pride and Prejudice （2005） by Focus Features.[5]
Being historical and fictional are leading characteristics of this genre of film. It may lead to fewer chances to be regarded as serious historical recordings by scholars，but historical fiction films are not keen on truthful recordings of the past or retelling great historical events. Instead，with the proper use of dramatic and visual signs，they can be regarded as vivid records of temporal historical periods which trigger lines of future developments. As what they do is to “express notions about the causal forces operating in history… through dramatic elements，such as characterization and plot，and spectacle elements，such as the historical setting and the handling of mass action”.[6] That is to say，the fundamental motive of historical fictional filmmaking is to let the audience nowadays to think，feel and behave in a kind of constructed historical reality. However，this kind of filmic construction still has social and historical limitations，as filmmakers live in certain contexts of which their adaptations of the original work cannot jump out.
More questions pump out：why do people keep making films out of a same story？And what are the intentions of the directors，to film a historical story in the present context？Besides，how can the adaptation of historical fictions into films be influenced by the concurrent cultural context？Answers to these questions lie in the hypotheses of this study：first，historical fiction films reflect and influence the society in which they are made，instead of which they are set in. In other words，they are made for NOW，not for the PAST existing in the original story. Second and accordingly，historical accuracy in detail is not the focus of filmic narratives in such kind of motion pictures；instead，they shed more light on social currents. Therefore on connecting a series of currents reflected in films，people can get a clear idea of the development of social focuses over certain periods.
In order to prove all above，this research will set eyes on five films adapted from a same folk story on a Chinese girl，Hua Mulan，who disguises as a male solider to replace her sick and aging father in the army and fights for the country. These chosen films are Mulan Joins the Army （1939），Hua Mulan （1956），Lady General Hua Mulan （1964），Mulan （1998），and Mulan：Rise of a Warrior （2009）. They were made in varied spaces and time，with the first four shot by Chinese directors，albeit several years apart，and the rest one from Disney （United States），but were all born in turning points of social changes in China and accordingly own distinctive features in telling the same story. This research aims to reconstruct the social context of each film and figure out the relationship between film text and its historical background，and then to uncover the inheritance and transitions of Chinese culture over the past 100 years reflected in and influenced by “Mulan” films. In so doing，this study can enrich previous researches on the interactions between film and society.
The development of society，just like life，is full of ups and downs. The past century of China was marked by historic wars and peace at intervals，such as the Sino-Japanese War （1937-1945），the Civil War （1945-1949），the Korean War （1950-1953） and the reconstruction efforts after each. Strong connections can be figured out between film text and historical context. For example，war theme and patriotic ideas were emphasized time and again in Mulan Joins the Army （1939） and Hua Mulan （1956），while not stressed as much in Lady General Hua Mulan （1964），Mulan （1998），and Mulan：Rise of a Warrior （2009），as the latter two paid more attention to the depiction of domestic happiness and personal development. While at the same time，the inheritance of the core element of Chinese culture can be seen from a general view of all Chinese-made films，that is，the praise of self-sacrifice for many reasons maybe，like country，nation，family or others’ developments.
Much previous efforts have been done on the study of historical fiction films and Mulan films. For the former，Leger Grindon’s study “examines the aims and conventions that shape historical fiction on the screen and probes into the nature of its influence on Western culture”.[7] In other words，he tries to figure out the relationship between this genre of film and the social background and to show the film makers’ motives to displace the present with the past in their works，which resonates with the fundamental motive of this study. On talking about the usage of historical fiction，Georg Lukacs points out that “what matters is that we should re-experience the social and human motives which led men to think，feel and act just as they did in historical reality”.[8] His focus is different from this study as he intended to put current audience into the historical environment to experience the old days in person，a different attempt in the use of the past from this study. Referring to the latter，Mulan films，many Chinese scholars and those overseas have tried to analyse the representative filmic versions，especially the latest ones，in diverse angles. There are some representatives among them. Jinhua Dai（戴锦华）talks about the women’s struggle represented in the 1956 Mulan film which reflects the male dominance in the cultural fields in the mainland of China since 1949，which requires females to behave just like the opposite sex，a clear loss of gender identity.[9] Joseph Chan discusses the Disney version of Mulan using the theories of transculturation and focuses on the cultural changes made during the production process instead of the acceptance part.[10] Georgette Wang and Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh attempt to explore the Disney rendition of Mulan story from the angle of globalization and hybridization in cultural production，and come to the conclusion that “globalization may have stepped up the process and scale of the hybridization of cultural production，and may favor certain elements over others，but it has hardly changed the nature of the process”.[11] Jinhua Li compares the trans-cultural intertextuality between Mulan （1998） and Hua Mulan （2009） and figures out the ideological differences between modern China and the United States.[12] Comparatively，the present study is going to continue previous efforts and move on to the next stage，that is，besides the horizontal comparison between film text and cultural context，this research will also make vertical comparisons of varied adaptations of a same original story produced in different historical periods to show the changes in social focuses. Therefore a broader and more general discussion on ideologies like feminism，nationalism and the loss and survival of traditions will be made throughout this study.
In all，this study attempts to unveil these connections between past and present，together with that between fiction and fact from two aspects：firstly，it looks at how temporal social context influences the theme，plotline and characterisation of a film adapted from an ancient story，the interface of extra-personal factors with individual experiences on screen；secondly，it examines how various elements of the cinematic language are employed to reflect and reinforce the thematic issue in each film，that is，to talk about the present in relation with the past. However，before any detailed analysis of the filmic adaptations，this research will first tell the original story of Hua Mulan.