On Zhang Yimou's Transformation

Stunning, spectacular, extravaganza, these are some words being poured out by the spectators of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Aesthetically speaking, the ink painting part in the show is one of my favorites. When those ballet dancers in black left various ink traces on the paper through their rhythmic body movement, mimicking the free strokes of paint brush, I think it has really captured the soul of Chinese ink painting; that is seeking the lightness against the gravity of the mundane life. It reminds me of the scene in Zhang Yimou's film Hero, in which two swordsmen are fighting on the surface of a lake - simply by pointing the tip of sword to the surface of the water, both of them could stay in the air. The confluence of dancing and painting is so well choreographed that the whole process itself deserves to be a prominent artwork.

Ever since Zhang Yimou was appointed as the director of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics Games, I had been wondering about his perception and creation. To me, he is such an extraordinary persona rich in artistic vision, yet heavily burdened with the self-styled historical sense to regain the reputation that China once enjoyed in the world. In fact, most directors that belong to the so-called fifth generation in China, including Chen Kaige, are all struggling for free personal artistic creation but unwittingly being constrained by their educational and cultural background on one hand, and heavy-handed censorship on certain subjects such as the Cultural Revolution on the other.

Among his peers, Zhang Yimou probably is the most prominent figure who has survived such a struggle and been successfully assimilated into the system by the authority. If there is any reason for the criticism of his later films, I think this is the major one. However, in my opinion, he has somehow managed to retain independence within the system.

From the Red Sorghum to the Curse of Golden Flower, and finally to the stunning show of the opening ceremony, the trajectory of Zhang Yimou's evolvement around the struggle for personal freedom while facing the oppressive reality is the most interesting subject in studying his works. To elaborate on this subject is certainly beyond the scope of this blog, so the following points are only sketchy.

The most striking part of the opening ceremony comes from the movement of the printing matrix composed by thousands of performers. The visuals change several times, from the Chinese character ‘和’ (peace and harmony) at the beginning, to the Great Wall, and then collapsing itself into a kind of relics, from where bunches of peach flowers emerge.
The reason this majestic scene caught my attention is that the Great Wall was constructed under the order of Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor in the Chinese history who has unified China into one entity. Zhang Yimou seems quite fascinated by this emperor, that he has so far made two films about him. The most popular one of course is Hero, in which he re-inscribes the Master and the Slavery relations into the narrative, by positioning the Unnamed, one of the central characters by Jet Li who is supposed to assassin Shihuangdi, to accept that Shihuangdi is the Master of the world. In my view, such a fatalistic historical view probably reflects the darkest period of his life since his film to Live was banned in China.

His perception of inhuman historical necessity has been taken seriously later on by other critiques to his film the Curse of Golden Flowers, saying that it is a kind of manifestation of Fascism. The Curse has been selected in the mainland China as the most loathsome film in 2007, because so many Chinese audiences are offended by it. However, I take such a unanimous NO by the mass as the signification of the film, exactly because I think it has touched the hidden dark side of the collective psyche of China that which is secretly yearning for the power in the world as the Middle Kingdom per se, and the rigid hierarchical order so bloody oppressive in its long history of feudalism, by putting on the mask of benevolence promoted by Confucius. The greatness of Lu Xun lies exactly in his outspoken writings in attacking such a society as the one eating ordinary man.

I take the Curse as a kind of departure from his previous films since one of the rebellious figures in the film, the Empress, has such an unyielding will to rebel against the Emperor, the symbol of the autocratic power. Unlike his previous films, the end of the film is open and is subjected to various interpretations. It seems to me that the answer to the question left by that end has finally been given by Zhang Yimou, when those beautiful peach flowers emerge from the relics of the Great Wall in the opening ceremony.

Many observers have been swept off by the grandeur visual effect of the openning ceremony, but there is one small detail worth a close look, which is nonetheless very indicative to me. After those beautiful peach flowers emerge from the relics of the Great Wall, all performers hiding in the boxes suddenly appeared on the stage, waving to the audience cheerfully. On the screen, there is a close-shot to these unnamed performers. This shot is disruptive to the smoothness of the narrative, so I think it functions as a kind of recognition for those unnamed performers. I don't know whether this idea is from Zhang Yimou or not. If it is, I think it's highly plausible as he probably has recognized that the real history is made by the people, and the real master is the people. This is really the U-turn in his historical view comparing to the one appeared in Hero. In this light, the climatic scene of lighting the cauldron in the end by the legend gymnast Li Ning is truly inspiring.