Continuing my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at Hero. Hero (2002) is Zhang Yimou’s first entry in the wuxia genre, and it is a cracker: a fast-paced, visually sumptuous action movie that offers viewers all the duels, beautiful locations, and dramatic poses they could desire. Co-written by Zhang, Li Feng, and Wang Bin, Hero is …
Tag Archives: Chinese cinema
Walking on Air: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Review
Before continuing my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I must take a quick detour to a seminal movie in the genre that would define the next stage in Zhang’s career: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Zhang Yimou broke into a new artistic realm in the early 21st century. Having made his name with historical family dramas and off-beat, …
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Laughing That We Might Not Cry: Happy Times Review
Next in my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I review the off-beat Happy Times. Happy Times (2000) is a movie that should not work. The plot is strange and wildly implausible. The tone occupies an uneasy middle ground somewhere between the comic and the tragic, the sappy and the bleak. The conclusion seems likely to leave many …
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Getting Lost along the Way: The Road Home Review
Next in my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at The Road Home. The Road Home, Zhang Yimou’s second movie of 1999, is full of emotionally powerful themes. The movie deals variously with China’s rural-urban divide, especially rural areas’ falling populations and accompanying decline in community life; the generation gap between parents and children; aging; and …
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The Substitute: Not One Less Review
The next installment in my Zhang Yimou retrospective is Not One Less. Following Shanghai Triad and his split from Gong Li, Zhang Yimou made a comedy called Keep Cool (1997). This movie does not appear to be available anywhere with English subtitles, however, so I have to skip over it in this retrospective. (If I …
No Honor among Thieves: Shanghai Triad Review
Next in my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at Shanghai Triad. Shanghai Triad (1995) marked something of a return to familiar territory for Zhang Yimou. After the near-docudrama of The Story of Qiu Ju and the sweeping family saga of To Live, Zhang once again made a downbeat period drama centered around a woman trapped …
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Ordinary People: To Live Review
In the next installment of my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at the magnificent To Live. To Live (1994) is a masterpiece. Director Zhang Yimou, screenwriters Lu Wei and Yu Hua, and the rest of the cast and crew have created a movie of great subtlety that packs an enormous emotional punch. Zhang has returned …
Squeaky Wheel: The Story of Qiu Ju Review
Next in my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at The Story of Qiu Ju. The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) marks a notable change for director Zhang Yimou. The movie departs from his past story-telling template, which had reached a culmination of sorts in his previous movie, Raise the Red Lantern. In contrast to Zhang’s …
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Within the Labyrinth: Raise the Red Lantern Review
Next in my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at Raise the Red Lantern. During his early career, Zhang Yimou was like a musician playing variations on a theme. Over a few years, he made three movies with a common premise and setting: a young woman in early 20th-century China is unhappily married to a wealthy …
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Dying in Color: Ju Dou Review
In the next installment of my Zhang Yimou retrospective, I look at Ju Dou. After his directorial debut of Red Sorghum, Zhang Yimou made a thriller, Codename Cougar (1989), which he co-directed with Yang Fengliang. Codename Cougar is not, as far as I can tell, available with English subtitles, so I have had to skip …
The Cameraman 