Zhang Yimou is a Chinese cinematographer, director, producer, writer, and actor. He is renowned for making films that address political issues and sexual repression. His film Judou criticized the politics and culture of the People’s Republic of China in the 1990s. The Chinese government disliked his depictions of them. Therefore, they ended up banning his movies.
His film, ‘To Live’, is a Chinese-style black comedy film. It uses the experiences of people that have a rich and noble life to depict the pain of how Chinese commoners could not control their lives in the past but were taught “how to live”. Hence, showing the unavoidable hardships of Chinese commoners, the film was eventually banned because it was too realistic and had many historical elements.
Due to how the Communist Party was portrayed in the movie, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television has decided to ban it in China. According to a 1994 Screen International article, Zhang also received a two-years filmmaking ban.
However, Zhang received the support of the Chinese government when his work covered less controversial subjects. For instance, the film , “Raise the Red Lantern”, was extremely popular in China as it illustrates how women were mistreated and treated unequally prior to the Communist Revolution.
Zhang’s “Raise the Red Lantern’ is a bold and frightening parable in which women are ruled and governed in a hierarchical society of long-established customs. Zhang tried his best to show strong male repressions and dominance back then.
The lantern was a figurative concept in the film. The film depicts the concubines trying to win the husband’s attention, which also means getting more lanterns. Every time they won a favor, their lanterns would light up. If they are disliked, they would lose the favor and their lanterns would be extinguished. Having more lighted lanterns meant that they could ask their husband for more favors. Hence, the concubines ended up trying their best to please their husband. The more lanterns there are, the more biased the husband will be towards her.
Zhang expertly uses lighting in his films. In “Raise the Red Lantern”, he deliberately uses dim yellow tones, which convey sadness in the scenes. With the dim yellow light setting, the actor’s discomfort and sadness can be felt through the screen. The disparity between the size of the characters and the environment is greatly emphasized, increasing the contrast between them. Additionally, the dramatic contrast between the big background and the few characters on the screen enhances the feeling of emptiness that the characters feel towards the audience. It appears cold and gloomy when combined with dim yellow tones in the film.
As mentioned in the film: “It was the rule, even if it was unreasonable, you had to obey it.”, “Power is the ability to make others submit to the unreasonable.”
Zhang is so influential as his films reflect humanity and allow the viewers to think about it themselves and see how it relates back to their own lives.
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