Long Bow Trilogy
The Long Bow Trilogy is a 1986
Background
Although her father had worked extensively with the villagers of Long Bow, Carma Hinton did not have the idea of making films about the village until she witnessed villagers performing on stilts in 1977. Afterwards, she worked with Richard Gordon to make a 28-minute film titled Stilt Dancers of Long Bow Village in collaboration with GEO magazine. The reception to this film inspired further interest in filming the villagers, leading to the inception of the trilogy. The topics of each part of the trilogy were chosen, in part, based on the topics of interviews with the subject of the third film, Dr. Shen Fasheng.[2]
Films
Narration throughout the films is kept to a minimum, with emphasis placed on the testimony of people living in the village.[3] The films were produced over three years, with the chronological production order being Small Happiness (1984), All Under Heaven (1985), and To Taste 100 Herbs (1986).[4]
Part One: All Under Heaven
The first film discusses the religious and cultural traditions of the community in Long Bow Village, including a funeral, a country fair, and an open air opera performance. Although nominally about religion and culture, large parts of the film consist of interviews where village residents discuss the transition from
Part Two: Small Happiness
The second film focuses on the advances and limitations of
Part Three: To Taste 100 Herbs
In contrast to the first two films, the third film focuses largely on one individual: Dr. Shen Fasheng, a
Reception
The film trilogy was well received by scholars in Asian studies and has become a common classroom film, especially when shown after assigned readings of Fanshen and Shenfan, as many people mentioned in Hilton's works are depicted and interviewed in the films.[3] Due to the significant emphasis placed on oral testimony, the film trilogy has been the subject of interest and review by