The impression one gets from watching a film for the first time may keep drastically changing with every viewing.

For me, a case in point is the 1984 Chinese film “Yellow Earth,” the directorial debut for Chen Kaige, who was forced to live in a rural area during the Cultural Revolution.

With refreshing sensitivity, Chen tells a story set in a bleak village in the barren backwoods of northwest China.

A young Communist Party soldier traveling around the nation on a mission teaches a young village girl about the outside world.

With great pride, he speaks of an ideal future society where all people are equal.

When I first saw this film, I sensed something propagandist about this soldier’s too-good-to-be-true goodness.

And when I saw it again, I realized this could be a metaphor of sorts.

Everything the soldier says is utterly right and proper, but the Communist Party could not--or would not--save even one hapless young girl.

As if in accusation of that sort of hypocrisy, the voice of the girl shouting, “The Communist Party saves the entire nation,” is drowned out by the sounds of the rushing river.

A Chinese woman died in Tokyo last week. This was not a movie but a real story.

Tang Zhengqi, 27, a student in Japan, suddenly became ill three years ago and remained in a coma until her death on Feb. 2o.

Her father in China, Tang Jitian, wanted to travel to Japan to be with her.

But because he is a prominent human rights lawyer, Beijing refused to let him leave the country.

The reason the authorities gave was that his visit to Japan could “imperil China’s national security.”

How could national security possibly be jeopardized by a father being with his dying daughter?

China has become so prosperous and powerful, yet the government continues tormenting the people by abusing their human rights at will.

I am frustrated and angry beyond words.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.