{"id":129547,"date":"2012-01-07T23:19:18","date_gmt":"2012-01-08T06:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=129547"},"modified":"2012-01-09T00:19:40","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T07:19:40","slug":"a-filmmaker-walks-a-line-between-artistic-acceptance-and-official-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/01\/a-filmmaker-walks-a-line-between-artistic-acceptance-and-official-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"A Filmmaker Walks a Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times profiles Zhang Yimou<\/strong><\/a>, whose recent work, including the just-released Flowers of War, has earned him criticism for sticking too close to the party line:<\/p>\n

\nIn the first part of his career, Mr. Zhang made beautiful art films set in rural China that were banned by censors here. In the second part, he made beautiful historical epics that alienated many of his early supporters, who say Mr. Zhang\u2019s narratives now toe the party line.<\/p>\n

THEN there was his stint designing the cast-of-thousands opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics<\/a>. It was a moment of pride for many Chinese and for Mr. Zhang, though some critics said he had become China\u2019s Leni Reifenstahl.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Xi\u2019s criticism of Mr. Zhang in 2007 shows that Mr. Zhang does not necessarily command respect from Chinese leaders. And Mr. Zhang said he did not see himself as a voice of the government.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Mr. Zhang criticized the capricious system by which a film is selected to be the country\u2019s Oscar entry. That choice is left up to the powerful agency regulating the film industry. \u201cIt should really be the job of a committee of experts in the film industry, so that the film that is artistically the best will be recommended,\u201d Mr. Zhang said.<\/p>\n

As for censorship, Mr. Zhang said the script and final cut of \u201cThe Flowers of War\u201d had to be approved by officials, as does any domestic film for which theatrical distribution is sought here. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read reviews of Flowers of War<\/a>, and more about Zhang Yimou<\/a>, via CDT, including:<\/p>\n

– Zhang Yimou\u2019s Qin Shi Huangdi Complex \u2013 Cui Weiping<\/a>
\n– Zhang Yimou and State Aesthetics<\/a>
\n– \u201cThe Way Art Works\u201d: An Interview With Zhang Yimou (1)<\/a>
\n– Hero: A distortion of history?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times profiles Zhang Yimou, whose recent work, including the just-released Flowers of War, has earned him criticism for sticking too close to the party line: In the first part of his career, Mr. Zhang made beautiful art films set in rural China that were banned by censors here. In the second part, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,14744,100,1051],"tags":[15004,15005,15006,1888,5976],"class_list":["post-129547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-level-2-article","category-politics","category-top-article","tag-artistic-freedom","tag-arts-censorship","tag-directors","tag-film-industry","tag-zhang-yimou","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nA Filmmaker Walks a Line<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/01\/a-filmmaker-walks-a-line-between-artistic-acceptance-and-official-approval\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Filmmaker Walks a Line\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times profiles Zhang Yimou, whose recent work, including the just-released Flowers of War, has earned him criticism for sticking too close to the party line: In the first part of his career, Mr. Zhang made beautiful art films set in rural China that were banned by censors here. 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