This clip chosen to be PG
Clip description
Anna Yen in voice-over explains that she went to Hong Kong to ask grandmother about her own mother but grandmother claimed to be too busy when her children were growing up. Yen asks her to tell stories about herself instead. The grandmother’s life was difficult. Her parents lost everything in a big flood. There are stylised re-enactments of a child being taken away and historical footage of China as Yen tells us of her grandmother being sold and working in opium dens. Yen plays her grandmother searching for something with chopsticks in a river. She finds a ring, places it on her finger, and continues to search.
Curator’s notes
There are many visual and aural ideas used in this clip. Yen tells her grandmother’s story in Cantonese and plays her grandmother, walking – bent over in a river – towards the camera. Blue is a visual motif, with the water and blue smoke. Between Yen and the camera there is a slack rope. The rope reappears several times in the film, as does the ring she finds at the end of this clip. Both have significant meaning. The stylised re-creations used here are haunting and the voices, effects and music on the soundtrack adds to their poignancy.
Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer River of silk from the documentary Chinese Take Away as a high quality video download.
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chineset1_pr.mp4
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High |
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chineset1_bb.mp4
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Medium: 10.0MB |
Medium |
Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods. |
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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.
All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.
When you access australianscreen you agree that:
- You may retrieve materials for information only.
- You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
- You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
- The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.
All other rights reserved.
ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
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