Zhang Yimou's new movie A Simple Noodle Story (San qiang pai an jing qi) will be released in China on December 11th, and that means that in recent weeks, the name of this big-time director has been on everyone's lips. All you need to do is open any newspaper, radio or TV channel and Zhang Yimou will surely be there.

Those journalists who did not get an interview with him might now feel just a bit bitter... As for those of us who did, well, we have every reason to smile, because last Saturday, we got to meet the man whose prestige in China is beyond compare.

Zhang Yimou welcomed us in his PR office in Jianguomen, and despite the very late hours and many interviews before us, he kindly answered our questions about this new movie. Zhang's latest masterpiece is based on a Coen brothers film called Blood Simple (1984), but as we can see from the trailer of Simple Noodle Story, it does not have very much likeness to the original one.

“This movie is different from the original in the sense that it has many elements of comedy. I also cast young Chinese actor, Xiao Shenyang, in the starring role. Xiao is riding a wave of popularity right now, and our collaboration was a kind of experiment for me. The original movie by Coen brothers is sort of a thriller, and it is also somehow very rough. In my movie, I tell an obviously Chinese story, and especially the first part of the film contains many elements of comedy. So, it is indeed very different,” the director says.

Exploring new territory

The director is exploring new territory by making a comedy. (Image: Radio86)Zhang goes on to explain why he ended up choosing this particular style of storytelling.

“I thought it would be interesting to adopt a genre that was somehow unusual compared to the original version. In addition, at that point, I had already decided to work with Xiao Shenyang whose strongest suit is comedy, and I wanted the film to match this quality.”

Xiao became an overnight success in China following his performance at the last New Year's gala, which was televized nationwide. And now his star is obviously shining even brighter.

Zhang also points out that the film will be released just before the New Year and the holiday season, which is a peak time for movie theaters. The main market for this film is China, and thus, it has been naturally tailored to meet the taste of Chinese cinema-goers.

A Simple Noodle Story is about a love triangle that develops between the main characters after they become involved in a kidnapping and murder case in a noodle shop. The film is set in historical times, so just out of curiosity we asked if the director ever thought about adapting the story to modern China:

“Of course, the story could unfold in today's China, but choosing a period from the past gives us certain freedom. Actually, in my opinion, modern themes are more difficult to depict on screen, so it does give the director more freedom when the story is set in historical times.”

Zhang Yimou is also known for his passion for music and his high standards when it comes to choosing musical elements for his films. For this particular film, he composed a song and even sings parts of it on the soundtrack! The song could be described as a kind of blend of Chinese folk music and rap...

“Xiao Shenyang is a very talented singer and we thought that it would be great to have a song at the end of the film for him to perform. The idea soon grew on us, and since the actor also agreed to give it a try, we composed a song that had some quite modern elements in it. Xiao sings it, and my own part comes at the very end, where I sing some lines in the Shanxi dialect, which is my own native dialect.”

National hero

A Simple Noodle Story opens in China on Dec. 11. (Image: Radio86)Zhang Yimou is a hugely popular movie director in China and abroad, and in addition to that, many Chinese consider him to be a national hero because of the international recognition he helped to win for China by directing the grand opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However, many of Zhang's latest blockbuster films have been criticized for their light content and Hollywood-style thematics. Remains to be seen how the audience will receive this new film, which predominantly targets the Chinese audiences. But does the director really care about the opinion of the public?

“Now, the movie industry in China is much better than before, and it is improving all the time. We do pay attention to the fact that a big part of the audience is composed of young people, and every year there are some movies that become big hits and people exchange lots of opinions about them. People are paying more and more attention to domestic movie productions. Nowadays, many films get most of their income from the domestic market, and it seems that ticket sales are still growing. In that sense, it does indeed matter what the audience thinks, after all, cinema is one type of industry. More and more movie directors are targeting the domestic market, so yes, it is very important to follow what the Chinese think about your movie.”

Zhang Yimou says that, on the other hand, it is quite difficult to closely define what the target audience is when directing a film, since there are so many things to take into consideration.

“As a director, I can of course ask myself what is it that determines if I like or dislike some American or French movie. That way, I can pinpoint some similarities between them. People are fascinated by stories and emotions, but actually the cultural background of a film is not that important. To put it simply, a movie director is a story teller. There must be a good story, good characters and emotions for it to be a success. A movie that has all these components will touch the audience regardless of national boundaries.”

Zhang himself got the attention of both domestic and international film professionals in 1987, when his directorial debut "Red Sorghum" (Hong gaoliang) won the Golden Bear prize at the Berlin Film Festival. This event constituted a major turning point in his career, which has been heading more or less upwards ever since.

“When my films first started getting international recognition, I of course wished that even more people would go and see them. But cinema in general is an art form that can be integrated into any kind of cultural setting, and the themes explored in modern films are usually very universal. They address issues that concern us all. For example, the movie 2012, which is now really popular, although it is a purely commercial movie, also talks about a threat that concerns everyone. I personally believe that every director thinks that the bigger his audience across the world, the better.”

Strike while the iron's hot

Planning and directing the Beijing Olympic ceremonies kept Zhang Yimou busy for about three years, and now, only one year later, he is getting ready to release a new film. Earlier this year, he also found the time to plan a National Day parade for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. After all this work, most of us would probably be looking forward to taking a small holiday, but not Zhang.

“At this moment, I'm promoting this upcoming film, but in reality, we are already busy working on the next script, choosing actors and scenes. I always work like that: when I get something finished, I'm already starting on a new project. If you love this work, you won't feel tired! Some people might feel tired, but I think that besides this, there is not much I can really do. I genuinely love this profession and that is why I like to work hard.”