Zhang Yimou

Early life and education

Zhang's father, Zhang Bingjun (张秉钧), a dermatologist, had been an officer in the National Revolutionary Army under Chiang Kai-shek during the Chinese Civil War; an uncle and an elder brother had followed the Nationalist forces to Taiwan after their 1949 defeat. Zhang's mother, Zhang Xiaoyou (张孝友), was a doctor at the 2nd Hospital affiliated Xi'an Jiao Tong University who graduated from Xi'an Medical University. He has two younger brothers, Zhang Weimou (张伟谋) and Zhang Qimou (张启谋). As a result of his family's ties to the Nationalist movement, Zhang faced difficulties in his early life.

During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, Zhang left his school studies and went to work, first as a farm labourer for 3 years, and later at a cotton textile mill for 7 years in the city of Xianyang. During this time he took up painting and amateur still photography, selling his own blood to buy his first camera.

When Gaokao was reinstated, and the Beijing Film Academy reopened its doors to new students in 1978, Zhang, at 28, was over the Cinematography Department's admission age limit of 22, and lacked requisite academic qualifications. With the help of relatives in Beijing, Zhang appealed to the faculty members as well as prominent artists, such as Bai Xueshi, Huang Yongyu, and Hua Junwu, then the Ministry of Culture's general secretary. Hua presented Zhang's photography portfolio to Huang Zhen, Minister of Culture, who, impressed by Zhang's talent, instructed the academy to admit him as a two-year auditing student. After two years, Zhang managed to become an official student and completed the full four-year program. He graduated with the BFA class of 1982, which also included Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Zhang Junzhao. The class went on to form the core of the Fifth Generation, who were a part of an artistic reemergence in China after the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Career

Film

After graduating from the academy, Zhang and his fellow graduates were assigned to various state-run studios. Zhang was posted to the Guangxi Film Studio as a cinematographer and remained formally affiliated with the studio throughout his career, during which he was appointed honorary studio director, before retiring from its state employment system in 2011.

Though originally intended to work as director's assistants, the graduates soon discovered there was a dearth of directors so soon after the Cultural Revolution, and gained permission to start making their own films. This led to the production of Zhang Junzhao's One and Eight, on which Zhang Yimou worked as director of photography, and Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth, in 1984. Both films were screened to critical acclaim at the Hong Kong Film Festival, marking a departure from the propagandist cinema of the Cultural Revolution and helping draw international attention to Chinese cinema. Yellow Earth is today widely considered the inaugural film of the Fifth Generation directors.

In 1985, after moving back to his home town of Xi'an, Zhang was engaged as cinematographer and lead actor for director Wu Tianming's upcoming film Old Well, which was subsequently released in 1987. The lead role won Zhang a Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

1988 saw the release of Zhang's directorial debut, Red Sorghum, starring Chinese actress Gong Li in her first leading role. Red Sorghum was met with critical acclaim, bringing Zhang to the forefront of the world's art directors, and winning him a Golden Bear for Best Picture at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in 1988.

Code Name: Cugar, a minor experiment in the political thriller genre, was released in 1989, featuring Gong Li and eminent Chinese actor Ge You. However, it garnered less-than-positive reviews at home and Zhang himself later dismissed the film as his worst. In the same year, Zhang began work on his next project, the period drama Ju Dou. Starring Gong Li in the eponymous lead role, along with Li Baotian as the male lead, Ju Dou garnered as much critical acclaim as had Red Sorghum and became China's first film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Ju Dou highlighted the way in which the "gaze" can have different meanings, from voyeurism to ethical appeal. In 1989, Zhang became a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.

Stage direction

Starting in the 1990s, Zhang Yimou has been directing stage productions in parallel with his film career. In 1998, he directed an acclaimed version of Puccini's opera Turandot, firstly in Florence and then later Turandot at the Forbidden City, Beijing, with Zubin Mehta conducting, the latter documented in the film The Turandot Project (2000). He reprised his version of Turandot in October 2009, at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, and plans to tour with the production in Europe, Asia and Australia in 2010. In 2001, Zhang adapted his 1991 film Raise the Red Lantern for the stage, directing a ballet version.

Zhang has co-directed a number of outdoor folk musicals under the title Impression. These include Impression, Liu Sanjie, which opened in August 2003 at the Li River, Guangxi province; Impression Lijiang, in June 2006 at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Yunnan province; Impression West Lake, in late 2007 at the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; Impression Hainan in late 2009, set in Hainan Island; and Impression Dahongpao set on Mount Wuyi, in Fujian province. All five performances were co-directed by Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue.

Zhang also led the production of Tan Dun's opera, The First Emperor, which had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 21 December 2006.

In 2017 he directed an innovative ballet titled "2047 Apologue", where the 12 minute solo finale The Weaving Machine was choreographed by Rose Alice Larkings and including hundreds of LED lamps. Onstage as Rose Alice danced the 12 minute solo was an elderly Chinese weaver at her loom, highlighting the old crafts and industries which remain so important in a world of new technology.

2008 and 2022 Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies

Zhang was chosen to direct the Beijing portion of the closing ceremonies of two Olympics: the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, alongside co-director and choreographer Zhang Jigang. He also directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Paralympics.

Zhang was a runner-up for the Time Magazine Person of the Year award in 2008. Steven Spielberg, who withdrew as an adviser to the Olympic ceremonies to pressure China into helping with the conflict in Darfur, described Zhang's works in the Olympic ceremonies in Time magazine, saying "At the heart of Zhang's Olympic ceremonies was the idea that the conflict of man foretells the desire for inner peace. This theme is one he's explored and perfected in his films, whether they are about the lives of humble peasants or exalted royalty. This year he captured this prevalent theme of harmony and peace, which is the spirit of the Olympic Games. In one evening of visual and emotional splendor, he educated, enlightened, and entertained us all."

Style

In terms of style and personality, he leans towards a director's thinking of sensation and intuition. This kind of director's thinking focuses on visual perception, emphasizing elements such as composition, color, and lighting, and using a vivid and intuitive visual style to reflect or express the subject's emotions.

The films created by Zhang Yimou can meet the needs of the times and social development in terms of artistic expression, incorporating some of his own thinking and exploration, with a focus on macro social themes and contemporary thinking.

Reception of Zhang Yimou's films has been mixed. While some critics praise his striking aesthetics and ability to break into the Western art market, some Chinese-based critics have accused Zhang of pandering to Western audiences and portraying China as weak, exotic, and vulnerable.

Personal life

Relationship

Zhang Yimou's first wife is Xiao Hua. Xiao was born in Xi'an in 1951 to an intellectual family whose ancestral home was in Beijing. At the age of four, Xiao was sent to live with her grandmother in Beijing, where she grew up. In 1965, she returned to Xi'an to attend the middle school and became a classmate of Zhang. After graduation, Zhang invited Xiao to join him in the Down to the Countryside Movement to settle in rural Shaanxi. Xiao agreed and they were sent to Qian County for 3 years, when they began a relationship. In 1971, Zhang and Xiao returned to Xi'an. Zhang became a worker at a cotton mill in Xianyang, while Xiao was assigned to a factory in Xingping County. Starting in 1972, China allowed workers, farmers, and soldiers to apply for university. Xiao tried but failed the entrance exams for two consecutive years. In 1975, she was recommended for admission to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Zhang, having been deprived of the opportunity for college education due to his "anti-revolutionary" family background, discouraged her from attending, saying, "You'll grow close to your university classmates, find common ground with them, and eventually look down on me." As a result, Xiao declined the opportunity.

In 1978, the national college entrance exam was reinstated in China and Zhang applied to the Beijing Film Academy. The age limit for the Cinematography Department was 22, and 28-year-old Zhang was initially rejected. Through Xiao's brother-in-law, eventually, Zhang managed to get his photography portfolio to Huang Zhen, then China's Minister of Culture. Huang appreciated Zhang's work and approved his admission. Before heading to Beijing for his studies, he and Xiao had a modest wedding. After graduating in 1982, Zhang was assigned to Guangxi Film Studio as a cinematographer, rarely returning home. On March 31, 1983, their daughter Zhang Mo was born while Zhang was filming One and Eight in Guangxi. In October 1987, while doing Zhang's laundry, Xiao found a love letter from Gong Li in his pocket. A few days later, Xiao received a call from Gong's then boyfriend, who told her: "I've met with Zhang Yimou. He said that his relationship with you was a misunderstanding that arose from your time in the countryside." In 1988, Zhang and Xiao divorced.

Zhang's personal and professional relationship with his muse Gong Li has been highly publicized. Their relationship started in 1986 on the set of Red Sorghum, when Zhang was married to Xiao while Gong was in a relationship with another man, who violently assaulted Gong after finding out her relationship with Zhang. In 1988, Zhang divorced Xiao for Gong. In 1995, soon after shooting Shanghai Triad, their 7th collaboration during their relationship, Zhang announced their break-up amidst rumors of Gong's affair with then managing director of British American Tobacco in China, Ooi Hoe Seong (whom she married a year later). According to Gong's mother, however, they split due to Zhang's reluctance to marry Gong after their 9-year relationship. According to Zhou Xiaofeng, Zhang Yimou's script consultant, producer Zhang Weiping deliberately sabotaged the relationship between the director and actress by spreading lies and rumors, including claims of her affair with Ooi. This alleged strategy aimed to exploit Zhang Yimou while sidelining his more tactful and decisive partner, ultimately leading to a feud between Gong and the producer. After their break-up, Zhang invited Gong to star in his films Hero and House of Flying Daggers, but she declined both. They reunited in 2006 for the film Curse of the Golden Flower, during which Gong stipulated in her contract that she would not meet the producer Zhang Weiping.

Feud

Zhang Weiping (no relation) first met Zhang Yimou in 1989 while working in pharmaceutical procurement at a hospital in Beijing. At the time, Zhang Weiping's elder brother worked in customs, and Zhang Weiping himself later worked for the German company Siemens as a customs broker. This position facilitated the development of a close friendship with Zhang Yimou, as the latter's film reels frequently required customs clearance for overseas processing. In the 1990s, Zhang Weiping transitioned into business. In 1996, when Zhang Yimou's film Keep Cool faced a funding crisis following Gong Li's withdrawal due to her breakup with the director, which led other investors to pull out, Zhang Weiping stepped in with an investment of 26 million yuan. Keep Cool went on to gross 46 million yuan, becoming China's highest-grossing domestic film of the year. Despite incurring a personal loss of nearly 10 million yuan due to weak overseas copyright sales, Zhang Weiping's confidence in the potential of the Chinese film industry was bolstered by the film's domestic box office success. From that point onward, Zhang Weiping became Zhang Yimou's investor, producer, and business partner for 16 years. In 1997, they co-founded New Pictures and collaborated on 11 films. However, Zhang Yimou left the company in 2012 after an acrimonious split, stemming from years of business and creative disputes and precipitated by the critical and commercial underperformance of The Flowers of War.

After the split, according to Fate: Zhang Yimou the Lonely, a 2015 biography written by Zhou Xiaofeng, Zhang Yimou's script consultant since 2006, Zhang Weiping orchestrated the revelation of Zhang Yimou's secret remarriage and children, which violated China's one-child policy. Since 2015, Zhang Yimou filed three lawsuits against Zhang Weiping and his New Pictures company to recover unpaid earnings. In 2015, Zhang Yimou sought 15 million yuan in box office revenue share from A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop. Meanwhile, his wife, Chen Ting, disclosed on Weibo that during the two men's 16-year collaboration, Zhang Yimou had only been paid 12 million yuan in total. She also accused Zhang Weiping of falsely claiming to the family planning authorities that Zhang Yimou earned an annual salary of millions of yuan, allegedly to increase fines imposed for violating the one-child policy. In 2019, the court awarded Zhang Yimou only 2.46 million yuan from his original claim of 15 million yuan. Zhang Weiping refused to comply, resulting in his placement on the list of judgment defaulters. The same year, New Pictures was shut down. In 2020, Zhang Yimou filed the second lawsuit against Zhang Weiping, seeking 2.59 million yuan in unpaid labor fees. Zhang Yimou won the case and the court dismissed Zhang Weiping's appeal. In 2021, Zhang Yimou filed the third lawsuit against Zhang Weiping, citing "shareholder liability for harming the interests of company creditors."

Filmography

Awards, nominations, recognition

Among other ways in which Zhang Yimou's achievements have been recognized, are two honorary doctorates from Western universities, one from Boston University in 2008, and another from Yale University in 2010.