Profile of Zhang Yimou

According to publishing company Baseline, notable Chinese director Zhang Yimou significance in the film world is his development of highly artistic films that are globally successful. Also the ideology expressed by his extensive use of actress Gong Li as a main character in almost all of his films captures "...tension between the graceful surface of cultural tradition and the turbulence of youth and injustice towards women which all his films explore." The talent of this director artistically and commercially has raised so much attention that "The Chinese central government has also conscripted him to craft national propaganda: he directed videos for Beijing's Olympic bid and Shanghai's successful application to host the 2010 World Expo," which may produce the most global popularity yet.

Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou is a director who uses a lot of historical context in his films. As seen in Hero, the fight between the emperors eventually leads to the building of the Great Wall. Yimou attempts to depict important events in his films. Also, as one can see, Yimou's work tends to focus on Chinese culture. It doesn't seem as though he has worked on anything but films that deal with Chinese culture. Yimou is also a fifth generation Chinese filmmaker. Finally, as seen in this article, Yimou has various achievements he has reached. One of his most recent films that has been see in the United States is House of Flying Daggers.

Zhang Yimou, Curse Of the Golden Flower

The article im linking to today stars off by comparing this film to some of his prior films and letting the reader know that this film will not disappoint. There is a brief plot summary in order to get the reader up to speed on the movie then there is an ideological and formalist analysis

"Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism "

According to the Kuroda Institute for the study of Buddhism and Human Values, Chinese Buddhism has been of growing interest to many Western cultures for personal and academic reasons. It's developing personal interest is a "vehicle for personal growth" through its implemented meditation, a central fundamental to the religion. The cultural outsourcing has developed books, movies, and classes all promoting its teachings, especially of Zen meditation. The Kuroda Institute continues that

"Zen meditation, or zazen, is often discussed or recommended as a spiritual technique free of the usual cultural and doctrinal impediments that discourage all but the most dogged or those especially drawn to the exotic."

Also, the institute continues that this growing popularity is especially attributed to Chinese Buddhism due to its less spiritually adept concepts that are easier to grasp to the unknown. The growth continues as various cultures all appeal to the special mind-to-body relationship Buddhism represents.

Zhang Yimou

This article is on director Zhang Yimou and his film career. You can find a lot of information on his life and other films that he has made. They also give details about his films and how he is a unique director with his own style. He uses his heritage to create his films and is has become a very well known director in his country and around the world. His films are known for having great action and the he does a good job of using bright colors in the scenes. His films are loved because of his creativity and love for his culture.

Zhang Yimou

In this site you will be able to retrieve information about Zhang Yimou. Mary Farquhar is the author who wrote this article gives information about Zhang Yimou’s education. She stated “Zhang Yimou is an internationally acclaimed director working in the People’s Republic of China. He graduated in the fifth class of the Beijing Film Academy in 1982, along with classmates such as Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang”. Overall, this site contains information about Zhang Yimou background. “Zhang was born in Xi’an in 1951 to parents of "bad" class background and reportedly sold his own blood to buy his first camera. (1) He grew up in socialist China where class struggle dominated life and literature”(Mary Farquhar). It is a great site to look at it, becayse you will be able to learn many experiences about films from Zhang Yimou's background.

Qin Dynasty

The movie Hero takes place during the time period of the Qin Dynasty. This Wikipedia page about the Qin Dynasty talks about this time period and the emperors that ruled. In the movie, Qin Shi Huang was the emperor shown. Qin Shi Huang was the first ruler during the Qin Dynasty, and the unification of China under Huang "marked the beginning of imperial China." An accomplishment the Qin achieved was when they built The Great Wall of China to fend of intruders and barbarians. After the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, and new dynasty came about, the Han Dynasty.

The Chinese Influence

This is a short article found on the BBC website which covers an interview with Yimou. The author of this article is not revealed. However, the focal point of this article is that due to such directors as Yimou, the Chinese culture is changing hollywood. The concept of martial arts influencing other films is discussed especially in terms of action portrayal. The author then continues to discuss Yimou's two most successful films and how they give an insight into the Chinese culture.
Here are a few quotes

Western audiences can gain an impression of China from my films. This is an excellent channel for promoting China's culture

"Because of the influence of Chinese martial arts films, Hollywood movies are changing," Zhang told the BBC's The Culture Show

Yimou, a woman's man

I found this article on the IMDiversity website. The author of this article is Lynda Lin and she is giving us an overview of her interview with Yimou. The most interesting concept of this article is the fact that Lin discusses Yimou and women. According to Lin, before Hero's success, Yimou was known as a "female director," because of the women he casts in his film. I thought it was humorous that the author refers to these women as "muses."
Aside from disussing Yimou's choice of women, Lin gives a brief filmography as well as touches upon film marketing and what that means to a director and Yimou's success as a director.
In general, I found it to be very interesting and insightful. Here are a few quotes

He picks his muses carefully and then has an extended love affair with his muses by framing them exquisitely in all his films.

Returning to the discussion on his affinity to film women, he says: “I’m always interested in female stories. Maybe it’s because it’s very easy for me to capture female depression and how they fight adversity.”

Zhang Yimou: Curse of the Golden Flower

Curse of the Golden Flower is one of Zhang Yimou's most recent films and is one of the most expensive in Chinese cinema history. As with all of his previous films, Curse of the Golden Flower goes back into Chinese history, specifically to the 10th century. Zhang Yimou once again makes use of brilliant color and swordfights to ensure the success of this film. Yet, unlike the film Hero, he avoids involving China's political struggles. The link that I have provided will give you some more interesting information and opinions of the film provided by Wesley Morris. The clip below is a trailer of the film which really displays some of the great directing by Zhang Yimou.

Everything You Have Ever Wanted to Know About Zhang Yimou

The link provided goes in-depth on Zhang Yimou's life as a director. It starts off by talking about his earlier career when he was just starting off in the movie business and how he got to where he is today. It also writes about each movie he helped create and gives a brief summary of each. An interesting fact about Hero was also mentioned:

Hero became one of the few foreign-language films to debut at #1 at the U.S. box office, and was one of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.

If you ever wanted to know anything about Zhang Yimou, this is where you will find it.

Chinese History

In this blog you will learn about the ancient Chinese history. Part of the ancient history of China includes many dynasties; the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Jin, and more. "The history of China is told in traditional historical records that go back to the Three sovereigns and five emperors about 5,000 years ago, supplemented by archaeological records dating to the 16th century BC. China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations."

History of the Qin Dynasty

This link provides a detailed account of the first dynasty to rule China, the Qin Dynasty. The Qin also known as the Ch'in seems to be the formation of China. They were the first dynasty to take control primarily because of their advances in modern warfare, implementing the calvary and the military defense mechanism - The Great Wall. Besides being a brutal war machine and tyrannical dictatorship, the Qin were able to accomplish some amazing things for China such as the standardization of language and writing. The Qin have a rich history in China and have laid a partial foundation for the modern state of China.

The Qin Dynasty

I found this article from the website http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/library/dynasty/qin.html. This artcle provides a brief history of the Qin's second emperor.

"The emperor of this era wanted to conquer the warring states that the Chou dynasty had in essence created. This emperor succeeded and China was one nation once more."

Besides wanting to keep China one nation, this emperor wanted to become a god. Therefore, he sent for scientists to help him achieve this goal. Ironically, this action is what eventually lead to his demise because the medicine that he was given contained mercury. For more in-depth information, click on the link!

Enjoy!

Yimou Zhang, His History and Partners

This web page offers a great variety of background information on the director himself and his relation to various different aspects of his life. With some great interviews with Yimou Zhang’s cinematographer, and other links to many other sites, this page is a good starting block for anyone interested in knowing a little more about the director and his work.

The History of "Hero".

The story of Hero is set in a historically accurate time period. By 221 B.C., the Qin Dynasty came into power with the desire to unite the six divided territories of China into one country. Even with all the success that the Qin had in bringing the country together, the Qin dynasty was quickly surpassed by the Han dynasty in 206 B.C.

Zhang Yimou Interview

This is the first interview Zhang Yimou did after the filming of "Hero". In this interview, he talks about why he made the script for "Hero" and why he hasn't entered the western film market as of yet. He also talks about another famous Chinese director, Ang Lee.

Qin Dynsaty

The movie Hero takes place during the rule of the Qin Dynsaty. This website discusses the Qin dynasty and how Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China. He came to be known as a tyrant, but he also is acknowledged for unifying China. He unified the currency and the language, and started the Great Wall of China to prevent enemies from attacking in the North. It was a brutal time in a sense during the Qin dynasty because the emperor was so harsh on such issues and burned many books and killed many in the pursuit of unifying the warring states of China.

Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou is a critically acclaimed Chinese filmmaker. He was born in China in 1951 and graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1982. He started his filmmaking career in 1987 with the film Red Sorghum. The theme of the resilience of Chinese people during times of hardship is celebrated in many of his films. Zhang Yimou immediately received praise from film and art experts when his debut film won the Golden Bear award at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. His movies success would continue with each of his films to follow. The page linked is dedicated to Zhang Yimou. The page contains a biography of Zhang Yimou, information about each of his works, and links to other sites that relate to him.

Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou is a critically acclaimed Chinese filmaker. He was born in China in 1951 and graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1982. He started his filmaking career in 1987 with the film Red Sorghum.