Zhang Yuan
Encyclopedia
Zhang Yuan is a Chinese
film director
who has been described by film scholars as a pioneering member of China's Sixth Generation of filmmakers. He and his films have won ten awards out of seventeen nominations received at international film festivals.
, the capital of Jiangsu
Province, Zhang received a BA
in cinematography
from the Beijing Film Academy
in 1989. Having initially emerged onto the film scene shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
, he is frequently referenced as an exemplar of the pioneers who are grouped into the loosely-defined Sixth Generation. Despite a diploma from the prestigious Film Academy, Zhang decided to eschew his assigned position within the People's Liberation Army
-connected August First Film Studio, choosing instead to produce his films independently. As a fledgling filmmaker, he chose to shoot in a documentary style and has referred to these early films (Mama
, Sons
, and Beijing Bastards
) as "documentary feature-films."
Aside from some original short subjects he directed as a student filmmaker, the official debut of his career in 1990 is Mama
, a semi-documentary account of a mother and her retarded son, which is considered to have a historical spot as one of the first features of the Sixth Generation movement and as China's "first independent film since 1949". His next film, 1993's Beijing Bastards
follows Beijing's disaffected youth subculture and another title, Sons, in the same manner as Mama, blends the line between fiction and documentary film, as the actors, playing themselves, recreate the actual destruction of their family due to alcoholism and mental illness. However, the transgressive nature of these films (which depicted Chinese youth and society in harsh and unflattering imagery and terms), quickly came to the attention of the Chinese authorities. By April 1994, the Ministry of Film, Television and Culture issued a statement banning Zhang from filmmaking. Also banned were fellow Sixth-Generation directors He Jianjun
, Wang Xiaoshuai
, the documentary filmmaker Wu Wenguang
, Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang
, and Zhang's wife, screenwriter Ning Dai, whose sister, director Ning Ying
, is a transitional figure between the Fifth and Sixth Generation. In 1996, two years after the ban went into force, Zhang was ready to present his next, and most-controversial, work, the surreptitiously-filmed East Palace, West Palace
, also known as Behind the Forbidden City, China's first feature with homosexual characters and, furthermore, their persecution by the police. A print was secretly taken out of China and screened at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.
After East Palace, West Palace, Zhang's style began to shift away from documentary-like neo-realist dramas to more conventionally filmed features. 1999's Seventeen Years
, a family drama and also the first Chinese film with approval to shoot inside a Chinese prison, nevertheless proved a significant international success winning the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival
. 2002–2003 continued to see Zhang approaching more commercially viable works as well as his most prolific period yet, directing three films in the course of a year. The cinematic version of the Communist opera Jiang Jie, the celebrity-helmed romantic mystery Green Tea, and the romantic drama I Love You
were successful, if a far cry from his earlier "underground" works. In 2006, he directed Little Red Flowers
, based on writer and Chinese cultural icon Wang Shuo
's semi-autobiographical novel It Could Be Beautiful. The film garnered a CICAE award at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.
, in the immediate years following the events of the 1989 Democracy demonstrations. The surreptitious shoot took the guise of a program production crew for China Central Television
(CCTV).
The late 1990s, meanwhile, saw Zhang indulging again in his interest in documentary form with Demolition and Relocation in 1998, an account of the destruction of Beijing's Hutong
s. In 1999, Zhang made Crazy English
, which followed Crazy English
-founder and motivational speaker Li Yang
in a film Zhang himself described as a cross between Triumph of the Will
and Forrest Gump
. 2000's Miss Jin Xing, meanwhile, follows Zhang's interest in society's marginalized with a touching portrait of China's most famed transsexual, Jin Xing
, a man who in 1996 decided to become a woman. Jin's story is told through a series of interviews with those who know her as well as with Jin herself.
s and commercials. His most fruitful collaboration was with Chinese musician Cui Jian
, resulting in several music videos, including the winner of the Best Asian Video, Wild in the Snow, at the 1991 MTV Music Video Awards.
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
who has been described by film scholars as a pioneering member of China's Sixth Generation of filmmakers. He and his films have won ten awards out of seventeen nominations received at international film festivals.
Feature films
Born in NanjingNanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, the capital of Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
Province, Zhang received a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
from the Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...
in 1989. Having initially emerged onto the film scene shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, he is frequently referenced as an exemplar of the pioneers who are grouped into the loosely-defined Sixth Generation. Despite a diploma from the prestigious Film Academy, Zhang decided to eschew his assigned position within the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
-connected August First Film Studio, choosing instead to produce his films independently. As a fledgling filmmaker, he chose to shoot in a documentary style and has referred to these early films (Mama
Mama (film)
Mama is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan's directorial debut, Mama is today considered a seminal film in the history of Chinese independent cinema, and by extension, as a pioneering film of the Sixth Generation of which Zhang is a member.Shot on an extreme budget within Zhang...
, Sons
Sons (1996 film)
Sons is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Detailing the collapse of a family due to alcoholism, Sons straddles the line between fiction and documentary, as the film's "actors" all play themselves in reenactments of their own lives....
, and Beijing Bastards
Beijing Bastards
Beijing Bastards is a 1993 drama film by sixth generation director Zhang Yuan, and is one of the first independently produced Chinese films....
) as "documentary feature-films."
Aside from some original short subjects he directed as a student filmmaker, the official debut of his career in 1990 is Mama
Mama (film)
Mama is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan's directorial debut, Mama is today considered a seminal film in the history of Chinese independent cinema, and by extension, as a pioneering film of the Sixth Generation of which Zhang is a member.Shot on an extreme budget within Zhang...
, a semi-documentary account of a mother and her retarded son, which is considered to have a historical spot as one of the first features of the Sixth Generation movement and as China's "first independent film since 1949". His next film, 1993's Beijing Bastards
Beijing Bastards
Beijing Bastards is a 1993 drama film by sixth generation director Zhang Yuan, and is one of the first independently produced Chinese films....
follows Beijing's disaffected youth subculture and another title, Sons, in the same manner as Mama, blends the line between fiction and documentary film, as the actors, playing themselves, recreate the actual destruction of their family due to alcoholism and mental illness. However, the transgressive nature of these films (which depicted Chinese youth and society in harsh and unflattering imagery and terms), quickly came to the attention of the Chinese authorities. By April 1994, the Ministry of Film, Television and Culture issued a statement banning Zhang from filmmaking. Also banned were fellow Sixth-Generation directors He Jianjun
He Jianjun
He Jianjun is a Chinese film director and screenwriter. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, He is considered a leading voice in the so-called "Sixth Generation." He is occasionally credited under the name "He Yi."- Career :...
, Wang Xiaoshuai
Wang Xiaoshuai
Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the Sixth Generation of the Cinema of China....
, the documentary filmmaker Wu Wenguang
Wu Wenguang
Wu Wenguang 吴文光 is a Chinese independent documentary filmmaker. He is known internationally as one of the founding figures of Chinese independent documentary. His first film, Bumming in Beijing: The Last Dreamers, featured a large amount of handheld camerawork and unscripted interviews...
, Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer.Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an amateur photographer and then as an assistant cinematographer at the Beijing Agricultural Film...
, and Zhang's wife, screenwriter Ning Dai, whose sister, director Ning Ying
Ning Ying
Ning Ying is a female Chinese film director often considered a member of China's "Sixth Generation" filmmaker coterie, a group that also includes Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yuan and Wang Xiaoshuai. However, this is more a result of a shared subject matter than anything else, as chronologically, Ning is...
, is a transitional figure between the Fifth and Sixth Generation. In 1996, two years after the ban went into force, Zhang was ready to present his next, and most-controversial, work, the surreptitiously-filmed East Palace, West Palace
East Palace, West Palace
East Palace, West Palace is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan starring Hu Jun, Si Han. It is also known as Behind the Forbidden City or Behind the Palace Gates....
, also known as Behind the Forbidden City, China's first feature with homosexual characters and, furthermore, their persecution by the police. A print was secretly taken out of China and screened at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.
After East Palace, West Palace, Zhang's style began to shift away from documentary-like neo-realist dramas to more conventionally filmed features. 1999's Seventeen Years
Seventeen Years (film)
Seventeen Years is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Li Bingbing in her feature film debut. Seventeen Years was screened at several international film festivals where it garnered numerous accolades, including the Director's Award at the 56th Venice Film Festival.The film is...
, a family drama and also the first Chinese film with approval to shoot inside a Chinese prison, nevertheless proved a significant international success winning the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. 2002–2003 continued to see Zhang approaching more commercially viable works as well as his most prolific period yet, directing three films in the course of a year. The cinematic version of the Communist opera Jiang Jie, the celebrity-helmed romantic mystery Green Tea, and the romantic drama I Love You
I Love You (2002 film)
I Love You is a 2002 Chinese drama film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Xu Jinglei and Tong Dawei. The film was a co-production between the Xi'an Film Studio and Jewel Film Investment Company....
were successful, if a far cry from his earlier "underground" works. In 2006, he directed Little Red Flowers
Little Red Flowers
Little Red Flowers is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. The film was a co-production between China's Beijing Century Good-Tidings Cultural Development Company LTD and Italy's Downtown Pictures...
, based on writer and Chinese cultural icon Wang Shuo
Wang Shuo
Wang Shuo is a Chinese author, director, actor, and cultural icon. He has written over 20 novels, television series and movies. His work has been translated into Japanese, French, English, Italian, and many other languages...
's semi-autobiographical novel It Could Be Beautiful. The film garnered a CICAE award at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.
Documentaries
Between his feature film efforts, Zhang strives to continue producing long-form documentaries. 1994's The Square documents daily life in Tiananmen SquareTiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
, in the immediate years following the events of the 1989 Democracy demonstrations. The surreptitious shoot took the guise of a program production crew for China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
(CCTV).
The late 1990s, meanwhile, saw Zhang indulging again in his interest in documentary form with Demolition and Relocation in 1998, an account of the destruction of Beijing's Hutong
Hutong
Hutongs are a type of narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China.In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one...
s. In 1999, Zhang made Crazy English
Crazy English (film)
Crazy English is a 1999 Chinese documentary directed by Zhang Yuan. The film premiered along with Zhang's Seventeen Years at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival...
, which followed Crazy English
Crazy English
Crazy English is a brand name related to a non-traditional method of learning English in mainland China conceived by Li Yang. Li believes that the traditional way of learning English in China is ineffective. Li Yang's method places heavy emphasis on practicing English orally...
-founder and motivational speaker Li Yang
Li Yang (Crazy English)
Li Yang is the Chinese creator of Crazy English, an unorthodox method of teaching English. He claimed to have taught English to more than 20 million people in a decade.-General Experiences:...
in a film Zhang himself described as a cross between Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of...
and Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump (character)
Forrest Gump is a fictional character who first appears in the 1986 eponymous novel by Winston Groom. Forrest Gump also appeared on screen in the 1994 film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis. Gump was portrayed as a child by Michael Humphreys and portrayed as an adult by Tom Hanks, who...
. 2000's Miss Jin Xing, meanwhile, follows Zhang's interest in society's marginalized with a touching portrait of China's most famed transsexual, Jin Xing
Jin Xing
Jin Xing is a ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer and actress from the People's Republic of China, and owner of the contemporary dance company "Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre". Although usually credited as Jing Xing, the proper pinyin spelling is Jin Xing...
, a man who in 1996 decided to become a woman. Jin's story is told through a series of interviews with those who know her as well as with Jin herself.
Other media
Besides films, Zhang has also directed numerous music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s and commercials. His most fruitful collaboration was with Chinese musician Cui Jian
Cui Jian
Cui Jian is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" , he is considered to be a pioneer in Chinese rock music and one of the first Chinese artists to write rock songs...
, resulting in several music videos, including the winner of the Best Asian Video, Wild in the Snow, at the 1991 MTV Music Video Awards.
Filmography
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Pinyin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 1990 in film The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2.... |
Mama Mama (film) Mama is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan's directorial debut, Mama is today considered a seminal film in the history of Chinese independent cinema, and by extension, as a pioneering film of the Sixth Generation of which Zhang is a member.Shot on an extreme budget within Zhang... |
妈妈 | Māma | |
| 1993 1993 in film The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:... |
Beijing Bastards Beijing Bastards Beijing Bastards is a 1993 drama film by sixth generation director Zhang Yuan, and is one of the first independently produced Chinese films.... |
北京杂种 | Běijīng zá zhǒng | |
| 1994 1994 in film 1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time... |
The Square | 广场 | Guǎng chǎng | Documentary |
| 1996 1996 in film Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:... |
Sons Sons (1996 film) Sons is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Detailing the collapse of a family due to alcoholism, Sons straddles the line between fiction and documentary, as the film's "actors" all play themselves in reenactments of their own lives.... |
儿子 | Érzi | |
| 1996 1996 in film Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:... |
Danish Girls Show Everything | 丹麦姑娘 | Vignette in a comic anthology film | |
| 1997 1997 in film -Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*... |
East Palace, West Palace East Palace, West Palace East Palace, West Palace is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan starring Hu Jun, Si Han. It is also known as Behind the Forbidden City or Behind the Palace Gates.... |
东宫西宫 | Dōng gōng xī gōng | Screened at Cannes 1997 Cannes Film Festival -Jury:*Isabelle Adjani *Gong Li *Mira Sorvino *Paul Auster *Tim Burton *Luc Bondy *Patrick Dupond *Mike Leigh *Nanni Moretti *Michael Ondaatje -Feature film competition:... |
| 1998 1998 in film -Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:... |
Demolition and Relocation | 钉子户 | Ding zi hu | Short documentary |
| 1999 1999 in film The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep... |
Crazy English Crazy English (film) Crazy English is a 1999 Chinese documentary directed by Zhang Yuan. The film premiered along with Zhang's Seventeen Years at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival... |
疯狂英语 | Fēng kuáng yīng yǔ | Documentary |
| 1999 1999 in film The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep... |
Seventeen Years Seventeen Years (film) Seventeen Years is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Li Bingbing in her feature film debut. Seventeen Years was screened at several international film festivals where it garnered numerous accolades, including the Director's Award at the 56th Venice Film Festival.The film is... |
过年回家 | Guò nián huí jiā | |
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
Miss Jin Xing | 金星小姐 | Jin xing xiaojie | Short documentary |
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
Hainan Hainan | 海南，海南 | Hainan Hainan | |
| 2002 2002 in film The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of... |
I Love You I Love You (2002 film) I Love You is a 2002 Chinese drama film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Xu Jinglei and Tong Dawei. The film was a co-production between the Xi'an Film Studio and Jewel Film Investment Company.... |
我爱你 | Wǒ ài nǐ | |
| 2003 2003 in film The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,... |
Jiang Jie | 江姐 | Jiang jie | |
| 2003 2003 in film The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,... |
Green Tea | 绿茶 | Lǜ Chá | |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Little Red Flowers Little Red Flowers Little Red Flowers is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. The film was a co-production between China's Beijing Century Good-Tidings Cultural Development Company LTD and Italy's Downtown Pictures... |
看上去很美 | Kàn shàng qù hén měi | |
| 2008 2008 in film This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008... |
Dada's Dance Dada's Dance Dada's Dance is a 2008 Chinese film directed by the leading sixth generation director, Zhang Yuan. Unlike earlier films in his career, Dada's Dance successfully negotiated the Chinese censorship apparatus and emerged unedited and unchanged from Zhang's original cut... |
达达 | Dádá | |