Zhang Yi Mou film-makers - Movie Review Example

Zhang Yi Mou is one of the most outstanding and controversial Chinese film-makers. Some of his films were even censored in China in the past, but others were at the same time extolled by Chinese critics. However, it seems that for Zhang Yi Mou both his officially praised and controversial pictures were adding up to make him a prominent figure of the modern world cinematography. Perhaps one of his most important accomplishment is that he greatly helped in popularisation of Chinese films internationally by raising issues understandable for different international audiences, while simultaneously preserving the unique and alluring touch of a Chinese world view. Let us overview some of the films of Zhang Yi Mou in order to find out what they are trying to show to the audience, and in the end try to see what similarities exist in his films and in the way the director presents them. The movie "Raise the Red Lantern", filmed in 1991, is one of the earliest works of Zhang Yi Mou, but nevertheless represents an astonishingly mature genre of melodrama. Indeed, while offering the audience rich and beautiful imagery, this picture is in essence a bitter story of Chinese sexual politics. That the films events take place in 1920s should not distract us from the fact that dangerous traditions may still be present in todays China as well. The movie begins as young Songlian after her father dies leaves college and becomes the fourth wife of Chen, a rich older man. However, this new life of Songlian is hardly a happy one because of a hostile atmosphere within her new family where each wife competes for preference from the side of their husband. Initially, Songlian attempts to win through in this contest, but the worth of the prise is hardly justified - it is the sexual attention of the husband, who himself is almost ignored by the camera. Power is distributed between wives by the masters choice where to spend night, and the chosen wife may enjoy foot massage and the right to appoint menu for the next day. Here, we can understand the name of the film - according to an old tradition, red lanterns mark the place where the master wants to spend the night. Quite symbolically, if the master is absent lights go out as well as his attention to a wife. So, it is in this environment that Songlian attempts to outwit the ageing first wife, the apparently attentive second wife, and the secretive third wife. The faked pregnancy of Songlian temporarily endows her with power, but when the truth is uncovered the fate of Songlian is predetermined - her red lanterns are destined to remain dark. Finally, the girl becomes mad, and, ironically, the film ends with the arrival of the fifth wife. This plot is probably used by the director to indicate the ways in which we ourselves tolerate our own subjugation and ideological oppression, and this is true for people of different times, nationalities and positions. It is also quite indicative that "Raise the Red Lantern" was prohibited in China. "The Story of Qiu Ju", filmed in 1992, is another fascinating picture about a Chinese woman. The heroine of the film, an idealistic and obstinate peasant, strives for justice to be served after her husband gets hurt by the village authority. For Qiu Ju this incident is an extreme example of power abuse, so she can only be appeased by an apology, which she cannot obtain. In this situation, even despite being pregnant, Qiu Ju goes to town to settle her pressing issue with authorities there. But there she again fails to get satisfaction as all that she is offered is a financial settlement without recognition of guilt and public excuse. Then the woman carries her matter further to the city level, to the county level, until she reaches the capital authorities. Qiu Jus crusade against bureaucracy provides a comprehensive picture of modern China with its striking contrast between rural and city life. At the same time, the story of the peasant woman investigates different moral issues in a bureaucratic society. However, above all stands the convincing and moving portrait of a person so preoccupied with the idea of justice that she can easily take any risks for its sake. Zhang Yi Mou finishes the movie with the twist of irony as when after a long time Qiu Jus aim is about to be achieved she and the chief of her village have already settled the matter, but now it is impossible to divert the blind justice. The movie "Not One Less" appeared in 1999 and thus belongs to the recent period of creative work of Zhang Yi Mou. This is the story of thirteen-year old school graduate Wei Minzhi who is appointed to temporarily substitute the village teacher. Being unexperienced, Wei Minzhi tackles her task with strict observance of instructions that were left. These instructions prescribed writing of lessons on the board, checking if the pupils copy it, and finishing at a certain time of the day. But the most important instruction was to make sure that the size of the class remained unchanged, so that when the teacher returns there should be not one student less. Therefore, when one pupil must go to city for work Wei Minzhi follows. While we cannot know for sure whether the main motive of the girl is devotion, money, or simply obstinacy, the insistence and strength of Wei Minzhi win our sympathy. In his turn, Zhang Yi Mou bolsters the realism of the picture by avoiding of dramatisation, and by depicting such realistic scenes in the film that sometimes they may even seem boring. But the film nevertheless has all the components of a perfect drama - exciting performances, moments that can make us laugh and cry, and the lasting message highlighted by the amazing climax when in search of her lost student Wei Minzhi becomes a truly excellent teacher. In "The Road Home" (2001) Zhang Yi Mou masterfully conveys a romantic love story even without resorting to embraces and kisses, and with lovers barely spending their time together. Despite this, it is a marvellous performance of the films heroine, a rural young girl Zhao Di who is in love with a new school-teacher, that makes the audience literally feel with her, and thus through the rich amount of genuine emotions that accompany the story of Zhao Di makes the film so profoundly romantic. The narration in "The Road Home" is done by the heroines son who comes to the village to bury his father. Purposefully, the scenes that represent this future context are made by the director in black-and-white, the contrast which greatly enhances rich colours of the part of the movie that shows courtship of his parents. And this courtship is quite untypical as after falling in love Zhao Di starts to wait every day at the road from the school to see her beloved Lou Changyu going home, and uses every other opportunity to be closer to him, so Lou Changyu gets charmed by this girl. This film is free from intrusive social connotations of love, and thus does not blur the bright atmosphere of empathy that attentive audiences will surely develop during the review of this film. The film of Zhang Yi Mou "Hero" (2004) is one of the most expensive Chinese movies. This picture marks an unexpected shift of the director form his older genre of intimate plots to the genre of martial arts. But here Zhang Yi Mou succeeds as well as he combines in this film modern cinematographic technologies with his talent to create solid characters. All this turns "Hero" into a remarkable epic with a truly moving emotional load. The story of the film takes place in the ancient China in which militant kingdoms are fighting for power. The King of Qin, who is trying to subjugate other kingdoms and who is afraid of being killed, wants to get rid of three famous martial masters who represent a threat to him. And when a nameless warrior brings to him weapons of allegedly killed martial masters and tells a tale of how he dealt with them, the emperor develops a confidence in this warrior. In the course of the film among unimaginable and unreal fights there emerge different levels of fraud and secrecy. In this way, the movie turns into a kind of exploration of notions of nationalism and heroism, which is nicely packed into the splendid visual envelope. The acclaimed film "House of Flying Daggers" (2004) reinforced the international commercial success of Zhang Yi Mou and made it clear that his creativity had made him one of the world's greatest action directors. This movie, which again revolves around martial arts genre and excels in this field, depicts year 859 AD when the declining Tang Dynasty was threatened by a rebellious group named the House of Flying Daggers. The story describes the intricate power struggle between authorities and this group, with disclosure and intermingling of characters happening in the process. In this regard, it seems that blindness, pretence, and the propensity of characters to shift their alliances is one of the main topics in the film. On basis of our overview of Zhang Yi Mous films we can try to see some typical elements that are presents in his pictures. One of them is such a strong liking that the director has for his female star Gong Li that he even left his wife because of her. Indeed, Gong Lis contribution to the films was really great, as she permeated such serious works with eroticism and sensuality, which was rather untypical of Chinese cinematograph. Another visible similarity between films of Zhang Yi Mou is the utilisation of bright colours, and especially red. However, despite its positive associations in Chinese culture, with the help of red Zhang Yi Mou makes some of his movies somewhat dark, maybe in an agreement with his critical attitude to the negative aspects of Chinese history. In this relation, the usage by the director in films that reflect upon the social problems of China of bad characters to embody an oppressive old way of life may be viewed as another common allegory of Zhang Yi Mou. Interestingly, the director hardly ever directly shows such characters in his films, but this only reinforces the vagueness of prevalent archetypes that Zhang Yi Mou depicts. Also, such a technique of representation of characters enables the director to concentrate on stories of victims of the system. To a certain degree, the mentioned elements in the films combined with some political and personal factors made works of Zhang Yi Mou so prone to censorship. Among such factors were the opposition of his family to the Communist Party, the obligatory involvement of Zhang Yi Mou into difficult rural life, and the rejection at the film school of principles of socialist cinema, which turned Zhang Yi Mou and his fellow graduates into representatives of the new wave of the Chinese cinema. Finally, perhaps the most important quality of all Zhang Yi Mous films is their vivid imagery which lingers in imagination long after the review. And is this not one of the main tasks of cinematography as such - to impress and inspire If we give the positive answer, then the contribution of films of Zhang Yi Mou deserves a celebrated place in the history of film. Sources Zhang Yi Mou. Raise the Red Lantern. Razor Digital Entertainment, 1991. Zhang Yi Mou. The Story of Qiu Ju. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 1992. Zhang Yi Mou. Not One Less. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 1999. Zhang Yi Mou. The Road Home. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2001. Zhang Yi Mou. Hero. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2004. Zhang Yi Mou. House of Flying Daggers. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2004. Read More