Zhang Yimou: the man and his vision

Zhang Yimou is undoubtedly one of China's most respected directors. His latest masterpiece – the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics – has only served to enhance his reputation within China as well as introduce him to a wider Western audience. Radio86 was fortunate to catch up with Zhang Yimou in this exclusive interview.

Zhang's rise to fame could rival the plot of any movie he has directed. While working as a factory worker in China after the Cultural Revolution, Zhang decided to try for a place in university, as entrance exams were once again allowed. The only problem was that Zhang was past the age limit for new students, but he did not let that stop him.

“I decided to write to Minister Huang Zhen, who headed the Ministry of Culture at the time. I was lucky that he personally opened my letter and that he was impressed with what I wrote. It was thanks to his influence that I was able to take the first step towards changing my life and enter university.”

Zhang soon felt uncomfortable since his classmates in the film shooting course at Beijing Film Academy were about ten years younger than he was. It was then that he noticed that students in another department – film directing – seemed to be around the same age as he is.

“It was really just because of my age that I decided to move to directing. I felt quite awkward studying with the younger students. By changing my studies, I thought I would feel less awkward and that there might be a chance that I could move into directing.”

On censorship

Zhang observed that the role a director plays follows the same path as the development of the film industry. “Up to thirty years ago, the Chinese film industry was a state industry. If the state said you were going to become a director, you became a director. The state took care of production and film distribution.”

“Now that the Chinese economy has opened up and the market has commercialized, the director doesn't have the state to give him money to make movies. Now, you first have to find the financing and if the investor says you can make a movie, then you can start directing.”

One thing that has remained constant, though, is the strict classification system that government censors follow. “The inspection system, which has remained unchanged from the time I started working, is defined by national authorities. There's no way to change it.”

Zhang (r) with Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li at a press conference for Curse of the Golden Flower. (Image: China News Service)“Has it affected me as a director? Well, we all hope to be independent, and from the production side, nobody really wants a very complicated inspection system. But this situation cannot be changed, and in practice it becomes a very delicate issue. This system has to be taken into consideration. The producer might need to make some adjustment when choosing what to make a movie about. I think it's true for every director in China, that when he receives a script or finds a story, he either consciously or unconsciously considers if the story will go through the classification system. Because if it obviously won't make it through, then it's just a waste of time.”

Strong female roles

Zhang grew up watching films and reading books about martial arts heroes, known in China as wuxia. He recalls hiding these books and reading them in secret during the Cultural Revolution. “I read wuxia stories even when I was still very small. I think they were mostly by Jin Yong. When I began directing, although I was making art movies, I always cherished it my heart that one day I would make a wuxia movie.”

Zhang got his chance when he was asked to direct Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the growing international interest in martial arts movies led to other hits such as Hero, House of the Flying Daggers and his latest film Curse of the Golden Flower.

Zhang's movies are also known for their strong female roles. “In my films, the female characters are often quite outstanding. Sometimes they have the leading role and they often have rather tragic characters. In China's history, for thousands of years, there were well-established feudal rule and strict social structure. A movie set in those times is bound to feature the conflict between the individual and society. My female characters show this struggle, fighting against feudal society and male domination. I think it's the basic background for historical movies.”

Hollywood has made its own version of many Asian movies. Does Zhang wish to remake a Western classic and turn it into Chinese? “At the moment, that's not what I plan to do. There are so many stories to make movies from and there hasn't been any need to go to the West to look for new stories. It's different in America, they're already running our of good stories. That's why they have to hunt all over the world to find them.”

Interviewed in Chinese by Sofia Yang
Translated from Chinese by Terhi Mikkolainen