The Art of Compromise

An Interview with Film Director Zhang Yimou

By Ben Moger-Williams & Wu Runmei
Photos by Tomako & Bai Xiaoyan

Zhang Yimou has been through a lot, and he has learned to deal with it.

Despite being feted and slated in almost equal measure over the past ten years, China's most famous film director is a portrait of wordly cool.

"I think it's pointless to worry about what people say," he says. "I don't think about them anymore. If I did, I wouldn't be able to shoot any more films."

Decked out in a casual chic outfit of black jeans, black leather boots, dark green jacket, and black Nike cap, Zhang is animated and sharp, serious, but not solemn. He is esconced in a small production studio in the north of Beijing that from the outside looks like any other beat-up warehouse; the interior, however, gleams with computers and high-tech film editing equipment. This secret enclave is where Zhang's two latest films are going through their post-production phase.

"No One Must Miss School" is scheduled for release in May, while "My Mother and Father" is due out in October. The former is particularly keenly anticipated to be filmed in the small village of Chicheng in Hebei Province, it uses an entirely non-professional cast to tell a simple tale of a 15-year old substitute teacher's efforts to keep a group of village children in school. "My Mother and Father" is a period love story from the 1950's which will introduce Zhang's newest female lead, Zhang Ziyi.

"There are always parts that you are not satisfied with, but basically the two films achieved what I wanted to achieve. The audience will like at least one of them. The two films are about emotions and passion ... about love in a general sense. About how people should have more love and be more sympathetic as we move into the new century, so that we can overcome our shortcomings and misunderstandings and improve communication between people."

Zhang had experimented with non-professional actors in a previous film, 1992's "The Story of Qiu Ju," but only for very minor roles. With "No One Must Miss School" he takes the experiment several steps further. "Non-professionals can be natural. Real. We looked for people who had the same role in life as the character has in the movie. That way the people are playing the roles as themselves. That is one thing that professional actors cannot offer.

"Professional actors are always pretending to be something they are not. No matter how well they study the role, they are principle funding for his movies should come from within China.

"That's what they say," he commented drily. "The funding (for the new films) is from China, and the main reason for this is that it is easier, relatively speaking, for domestically-funded films to pass the censors.

"Domestically-funded films only have to pass the Bureau-level censorship, but jointly invested or foreign-funded films have to pass censorship at the Ministerial level (the Ministry of Television, Film and Broadcasting). In the 1980's, the government was much more tolerant of foreign-funded films, but in the 90's they have made a complete turnaround. Although the government welcomes the investment, the topics and scripts of foreign-funded films must pass stricter censorship, because they believe it will spread to a wider audience. This is the regulation. So I'd rather shoot domestically funded films. It's much easier."

Zhang casts a wide net when looking for subjects to film. He subscribes to every literary periodical in the country's more than 50 publications. When he has time to rest, he reads. Every one of his movies has been based on a novel, and the two new films are no exception.

"There are very few professional screenwriters in China. Some young writers write scripts for TV series and they have earned lots of money, but few people write for film and film directors. Today, Chinese directors have to go looking for topics themselves. They look in novels or ask people to write a script. There is not a single person who writes a script without knowing who the director will be.

"This is because first, if you write a script and no director picks it up, you have just wasted a lot of time. Second, all scripts have to be censored, and yours may not make it through. So nobody wants to waste all that effort. Good writers would rather write novels and stories that can be published in magazines. If their story gets good attention or a positive response, it follows naturally that a director will seek out the author to adapt his work to the screen."

Zhang has taken a lot of flak from Chinese critics who carp that with films like "Raise the Red Lantern" and "To Live" he has only shown the negative side of Chinese society to the world. Another constant theme of criticism is that he panders to Western audiences. Zhang bristles at the mention of these attacks.

"China is very interesting... You know, 'Donkey shit is shiny on the surface.' The Chinese traditional mentality is to dress up and present a beautiful side to everybody. People are not always willing to face reality."

"It's weird, for the past ten or so years, they have always said the same thing about every film I make ... When they talk about me, they use a certain set of words. It's such crap ... I have been to lots of film festivals and international events and have met with many foreigners. But it is always Chinese and overseas Chinese who raise these points. If I were really shooting my films to please foreigners, why don't any of them feel that way? No one ever said to me that they felt I was showing the ugly side of China. They say the opposite, that the films are beautiful, the people in the films are beautiful, and they show the beauty of humanity.

"The things foreign people say bring up other issues, like what is beauty, what is ugliness? What is backward, what is advanced? If you show a film about life in the countryside, Chinese people say it shows ignorance and backwardness. Many things are stereotyped in China.

"I mainly shoot films for the Chinese audience. But now that my films are shown internationally as well, I also have to think of the foreign audience. I have to try to make a film that can be understood. When you try to make a humorous film, like 'Keep Cool,' it is not always easy to make it so everybody understands. About 50 percent of the humor is lost in the translation."

With all the international attention Zhang has received in the past 10 years, one might think he would consider himself as an important international figure. But he doesn't see it that way.

"I don't really think I am 'internationalized.' First of all, I can't speak English. I only speak Chinese, so it's not convenient to go abroad. My main activities are all in China."

While Chinese films have been garnering increasing attention worldwide over the past decade, cinematic influence is also flowing strongly in the other direction. Hollywood styles are clearly having a growing impact on the Chinese film industry.

"I think it's a trend. Personally I don't like it, but I can't control it. It has developed especially since China started bringing in the 10 big films a year (since the early 1990s, China has imported 10 films for major release every year, which are invariably Hollywood blockbusters). The main criterion when choosing which 10 films to bring in is which will make the most profit. So these films are usually action or entertainment-type films.

"Everybody started cheering for Hollywood just because this was something new and fresh to China. This has affected the Chinese film industry. Lots of Chinese films started to imitate Hollywood's style.

"The government wants filmmakers to learn from Hollywood, learn how to make money, and to study the popular, easily acceptable style of their films. We are in danger of repeating what happened in Europe, Japan and Korea. If Chinese directors don't have their own ideas, they could wind up losing their individuality very soon. It's like people all over the country are eating the same food. The Chinese film industry is facing difficulties right now.

"In my opinion, the market for films in many countries was not good in 1998. But the commercial Hollywood films made a lot of money. Hollywood is still number one in the film business. All filmmakers should be very clear about that.

"Pure art films have no audience. To survive, filmmakers have to consider both sides of the coin: the film should be entertaining and be able to sell tickets, but it should also keep its own individual characteristics. Just imitating others is not a good way to be."

So what does Zhang have in mind when he is shooting a film? Is the point of making a film to educate or entertain?

"I pay a lot of attention to entertainment elements, because you always have to have something to attract the audience. I don't want to bore my audience, but my initial aim is to direct an art film. The purpose of art films is to express one's ideas, thoughts, style, characteristics, and so on. The goal is not to make money but to make a meaningful independent film.

"Commercial films are basically there to make money. Their makers do market research and try to find out what people want to watch. But we can't deny that there is creative talent and thought in these films, too ... I don't think art film directors are necessarily any better or more pure than commercial film directors. I like to watch commercial films that are well done. I also respect their creativity. I never praise one and condemn the other. I think it's just a difference in ideas and methods, that's all."

But while the ideal for an art film director may be the independence to realize his or her artistic vision, the reality of movie making in China often demands certain compromises.

"In 'Red Sorghum,' I added the Anti-Japanese War section in order to get approved by the censors. This is a fact of life for Chinese directors, not just for that film. The Chinese government requires that an artist should not only say something negative about certain issues, that he is against something, but also have a positive, progressive theme that they can recognize easily.

"Chinese filmmakers have to consider a lot of factors today: political censorship, the market, the audience, investment. You have to mix all of these things together, like making dough for bread. You mix everything in together, but you have to retain your own individuality."

To Zhang, this is the hardest part of being a director in China.

"Putting all of the ingredients together is not easy. Steaming the dough to make bread with your own flavor is even more difficult.

"Survival comes first in the film business. There is no perfect work. So I have a realistic attitude. I have to let my work survive, and I will make all kinds of compromises to realize that goal. But after all the compromises, to still retain my own flavor is very important."