Zhang was born zhang yimou in xian, the capital of shaanxi province. Ziyus plans have been in the works for a long time. Zhang yimou seven children claims trigger anger in china this article is more than 7 years old. Zhang yimou great director profile senses of cinema. A young woman becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy lord, and must learn to live with the strict rules and tensions within the household. Aug 08, 2008 because of that event, i trusted zhang yimou. Damon, the star of yimous fantasy monster movie, has long wanted to.
Zhang yimous actionfantasy shadow sets gorgeous action in a. Dramas of desire and the power of the image zhang yimou is now the chinese filmmaker whose work is most widely known in the west, and he has clone more than any other director to give modern chinese cinema an international profile. His films are gorgeous, evocative, and unforgettable. Happy times 2000 the film is loosely based on the short story, shifu. Though his film was an immediate commercial and critical success as an actionadventure wuxia thriller, what is of interest here is zhangs rather problematic perspective on the issues raised by. Zhang worked as a cinematographer on a number of significant films, including zhang junzhaos groundbreaking one and eight 1984 and chen kaiges masterpiece yellow earth 1984, which took the hong kong film festival by storm and brought worldwide attention to chinese cinema. The state continued to control what could be shown and restricted imports. Thinking he has finally met the woman of his dreams, zhao leads her to believe he is wealthy and agrees to a wedding far beyond his means. Zhang yimou celebrity profile check out the latest zhang yimou photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. Zhang yimou seven children claims trigger anger in china.
His notable movies included red sorghum, ju dou, hero, and house of flying daggers. Zhang yimou, 1951 is one of the leading lights of chinese film and is often considered one of the greatest living chinese directors. November 14, 1951, xian, the peoples republic of china. Jan 22, 2017 zhang yimou the director behind the great wall. Zhang yimou in 1999, zhang yimou faced a number of challenges. Xingfu shiguang is a 2000 tragicomedy film directed by chinese filmmaker zhang yimou, starring zhao benshan and dong jie. Feb 07, 2014 zhang and his wife, chen ting, admitted she gave birth to two sons and one daughter in 2001, 2004 and 2006, respectively, before they officially got married in 2011. Uschina tension heated when the us bombed the chinese embassy in belgrade. It is also more sentimental than average for zhang yimou possibly because it is a homage to its japanese star ken takakura, an idol to zy in his younger days and to the sort of films kt starred in. Zhao, honglei sun, yimou zhang, zhang yimou, qinglong yang, weiping zhang. Music from the films of zhang yimou by christopher coleman. But zhang s thematic and stylistic range has always been relatively broad, and over the years he has demonstrated his skills across a wide spectrum of film genres.
Zhang yimou biography life, family, name, story, history. Zhang yimou is one of my favorite directors, matt damon told the hollywood reporter at the premiere of the great wall. Born in 1951 in xian, shaanxi province, in northcentral china, zhang yimou is, along with chen kaige, the most prominent of the fifth generation chinese directors and, by extension, one of the two most famous chinese directors, period. Zhang and his wife, chen ting, admitted she gave birth to two sons and one daughter in 2001, 2004 and 2006, respectively, before they officially got married in 2011. Zhang yimou, chinese film director who, as a leading member of chinas fifth generation, is known for films that explore sexual repression and political oppression. Filmmaker zhang yimou to receive honorary degree bu today. Happy times is set in presentday china, in a modern, unnamed city, exploring the many costs of modern times. What does the chinese film industry get from hollywood. Xing fu shi guang happy times by yimou zhang visual 24 editions published. Youll do anything for a laugh by mo yan and was coproduced by terrence malick. The two central characters zhao zhao benshan and little fu biao fu feel passed by in a. He has been married to ting chen since december 2011. Dec 01, 2004 noting how the sensitivity to othernessbe it in the form of mass culture, gender, or racehas often been accompanied by iconophobia, a fundamental distrust and rejection of images, the author offers an analysis of the contemporary chinese film happy times, directed by zhang yimou, as an instance of a kind of ethical film practice in which.
Hero was released in north america two years after its chinese release and became one of the few foreign language films to top the u. Noting how the sensitivity to othernessbe it in the form of mass culture, gender, or racehas often been accompanied by iconophobia, a fundamental distrust and rejection of images, the author offers an analysis of the contemporary chinese film happy times, directed by zhang yimou, as an instance of a kind of ethical film practice in which. Happy times by zhang yimou zhang yimou, zhao benshan, dong. Zhang yimou biography, movie highlights and photos. From red sorghum 1987 to the road home 1999, zhangs forte is the period drama depicting chinese tragedies, personal and societal, up to the late 60s period, as seen in the final. Dearest, directed by peter chan and starring zhao wei, hao lei, zhang yi. Here, for example, is happy times, from the sometimes great chinese director zhang yimou. Happy times a modernday character comedy with a touching edge, chinese helmer zhang yimou s happy times spins loads of lowkey charm from the simplest, everyday materials.
He impulsively promises to provide her with a lavish wedding, then concocts a plan whereby he will raise the money he needs by transforming an old bus into a hotel appealing to. Dec 17, 2008 behind it all was the creative genius of chinese film director zhang yimou. Zhang yimou, the preeminent filmmaker of china, was one of the more recent artists to seize this opportunity when he made hero ying xiong, 2002. He graduated in the fifth class of the beijing film academy in 1982, along with classmates such as chen kaige and tian zhuangzhuang.
Happy times zhang yimou 2000 zhang yimou rose to international prominence in the early 1990s with a series of films depicting a woman always starring his partner, gong li struggling to make her way in an indifferent society. Filmmaker zhang yimou to receive honorary degree bu. The wizard behind beijings opening night the new york times. A straight synopsis may make zhang yimous film sound similar to the blue kite, or even, perhaps, farewell my concubine. Zhao is an aging bachelor who hasnt been lucky in love. Zhangs father, zhang bingjun, a dermatologist, had been an officer in the national revolutionary army under chiang kaishek during the chinese civil war. Shot around the port city of dalian, yimou uses hidden cameras to capture some of the natural bustling street life in some of the wide outdoor scenes. Zhang yimou is an internationally acclaimed director working in the peoples republic of china. Yimou zhang was born on november 14, 1951 in xian, shaanxi, china. This is a video essayintroduction of chinese director zhang yimou.
Zhaos best friend li hatches the idea to raise the money by refurbishing an abandoned bus, which they will rent out by the hourthe happy times hotelto young couples starved for privacy. Apparently some of the first japanese films allowed into china after the culural revolution were yoji yamada ones starring takakura. The film follows the life of one family in china, from the heady days of gambling dens in the 1940s to the austere hardship of the cultural revolution in the 1960s. May 09, 20 zhang yimou seven children claims trigger anger in china this article is more than 7 years old. The chunky momma, eager to get her blind stepdaughter, wu ying, out of her flat, insists that zhao get her a job at his hotel and have her. He graduated in the fifth class of the beijing film. Zhang yimou rose to international prominence in the early 1990s with a series of films depicting a woman always starring his partner, gong li struggling to make her way in an indifferent society. After an astonishing 10year run that included red sorghum, ju dou, raise the red lantern, to live, the story of qiu ju, and shanghai triad, director zhang yimou appears to be walking off into the sunset, perhaps finally worn down by his constant battles with government censors. Zhang and the staff altered the screenplay, and the films final.
And through all of their fierce struggles with fate, all of the political twists and turns they endure, their hope is basically one summed up by the heroine, a wife who loses. The two central characters feel left behind in a rapidly changing beijing, and when. An aging factory worker who has recently lost his job hopes to revitalize his life by marrying a fat middleaged divorcee. But zhangs thematic and stylistic range has always been relatively broad, and over the years he has demonstrated his skills across a wide spectrum of film genres. His films, which include raise the red lantern, house of flying daggers, and the great wall, have won prizes at the cannes film festival, the venice film festival, and the berlin international film festival, and six of his films have been nominated for academy. Now, as the lies get more complicated and the deception more difficult to. Zhang s succeeding major project was the ambitious wuxia drama hero moviehero 2002, which follows after his second film in a series about modern chinese citylife, happy times 2000.
Some great character posters for zhang yimous upcoming wuxia film, shadow. Upgrade to a letterboxd pro account to add your favorite services to this listincluding any service and country pair listed on justwatchand to enable oneclick filtering by all your favorites. A poet of the small gesture, zhang yimou moves on from his sliceoflife dramas not one less and happy times to the more broad, operatic strokes of hero and the house of flying daggers. One of the famed fifthgeneration directors of chinas growing film history, director zhang yimou has been delighting audiences for over twenty years. Director zhang yimou, who has said in interviews that the suffering and turmoil of the cultural revolution was a formative period for him, appears happy to have it both ways. Raise the red lantern, the story of qiu ju, house of flying daggers, hero, and more. Aikido institute now, we will be happy to help you with all your requirements. Zhaos best friend li hatches the idea to raise the money by refurbishing an abandoned bus, which they will rent out by the. Filmmaker zhang yimous journey to becoming one of chinas leading directors has been filled with unusual, often dramatic twists. Certainly it shares with these films both a mix of the personal and the. He is a director and writer, known for ying xiong 2002, house of flying daggers 2004 and curse of the golden flower 2006. Billed as a comedy this movie is more a drama once you are past the first 20 minutes. To live is a simple title, but it conceals a universe.
He tends to favor stories set in ruralhistorical china, often with an emphasis on the dark side of the setting, and also has a very strong visual style. Add to that list zhang yimous shadow, a historical fantasydrama that. Zhangs succeeding major project was the ambitious wuxia drama hero moviehero 2002, which follows after his second film in a series about modern chinese citylife, happy times 2000. It is about how many things that are rejected are not always broken. The breakup of the state supported studio system also meant that chinese filmmakers had to find international funding and new markets.
Upcoming, new, and past yimou zhang movies, tv shows, tv movies, appearances, specials, and more plus, a biography, news, awards, and nominations. Chinese film director zhang yimou has made some of my favorite chineselanguage films. He also produced the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2008 olympics in beijing, for which he is justly revered in china. Zhang yimou who has always used the traditional chinese ordering that places the family name first, then the given name was born in xian, in chinas shaanxi province, on november 14, 1950, shortly after the defeat of chinas nationalist government by the communist armies of mao tsetung. Film director behind opening ceremony for beijing olympics faces up to. From red sorghum, raise of red lantern, hero, to live, coming home, to the. A straight synopsis may make zhang yimou s film sound similar to the blue kite, or even, perhaps, farewell my concubine. It is about a group of unemployed men who build a fake room in an abandoned factory, move a blind girl into it, tell her it is in a hotel, and become her clients for daily massages, paying her with blank. It is about a group of unemployed men who build a fake room in an abandoned factory, move a blind girl into it, tell her it is in a hotel, and become her clients for daily massages, paying her with. Following a fairly prosaic plot line about a married couple during three decades of huge upheaval in china 1940s60s, the film manages to wind around you insidiously and you find yourself uncontrollably immersed. His films, which include raise the red lantern, house of flying daggers, and the great wall, have won prizes at the cannes film festival, the venice film festival, and the berlin international film festival, and six of his films have been nominated for. An old and laidoff factory worker named zhao is set on marrying an obese girl, and to accomplish that, he has to persuade her that he is financially stable.
1587 1653 1195 1307 76 1498 649 952 1003 463 1261 571 70 951 1637 795 58 360 696 234 414 1614 60 1113 182 886 441 824 1345 1496 115 26 242 873 954 869 183 1375 101 1043 636 1196 723 69 804 427