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looking back, zhang yimou is already 73 years old this year. chinese people often say that it is rare for people to live past 70.

at an age when ordinary old men are already at home walking their birds, growing flowers, and enjoying their retirement, the national director zhang yimou is still working on the front line of directing, continuing to shine for the chinese film and television industry.

when everyone else has retired from society, why is he the only one who becomes more and more evil as he gets older?

i think, in the final analysis,

the essential qualities of a successful person are the diligence to work hard and the stubbornness to never give up.

author | colon fish

editor | xiaobai

typesetting | die

recently, the topic #zhang yimou is at the right age to break into the television industry# has become a hot search.

the story started when zhang yimou, as the producer, visited the set of the web drama "snow labyrinth". his enthusiasm and seriousness infected everyone on the scene. some netizens even jokingly called him a "rock-solid man."

coincidentally, just last week, the 7th china film new power forum was held in changchun, jilin, with the theme of "inheritance, innovation, and practice - movies and audiences together".

zhang yimou attended the forum and said that filmmakers must adapt to the changes of the new era and tell good chinese stories. the stories they shoot must not only be liked by themselves, but also by the people, and everyone must voluntarily buy tickets to watch them in the cinema. only in this way can a virtuous circle be formed, directors will get more creative opportunities, and more young people and new forces will emerge.

this message is not only zhang yimou's sincere expectation for the younger generation, but also a true reflection of his own practical experience.

looking back, zhang yimou is already 73 years old this year. chinese people often say that it is rare for people to live past 70.

at an age when ordinary old men are already at home walking their birds, growing flowers, and enjoying their retirement, the national director zhang yimou is still working on the front line of directing, continuing to shine for the chinese film and television industry.

when everyone else has retired from society, why is he the only one who becomes more and more evil as he gets older?

i think, in the final analysis,

the essential qualities of a successful person are the diligence to work hard and the stubbornness to never give up.

01

in 1950, zhang yimou was born in an ordinary family in tianshi town, lintong, shaanxi province. however, because his father zhang bingjun had served as a quartermaster for the kuomintang on the eve of liberation, zhang yimou's family always walked on thin ice in that era when family background was very important.

in order to avoid being beaten and scolded, zhang yimou learned to read people's faces and worked hard to copy big-character posters and draw portraits of chairman mao. in this way, he spent his childhood in fear and honesty.

in 1968, the 18-year-old zhang yimou was sent to work in the countryside in qian county, shaanxi province for three years before finishing junior high school. after returning to the city, by chance, he entered the xianyang national cotton factory and worked as a worker for seven years.

for zhang yimou, the step from the countryside to the factory was extremely difficult, but one he cherished very much.

zhang yimou had a talent for painting since he was young. with his good painting skills, he drew slogans and propaganda posters for factories and gradually became famous in the factory. later, he was transferred to the craft workshop to do manuscript design, and thus came into contact with cameras. under the influence of his cousin, he fell in love with photography.

he knew that if he wanted to learn photography well, he had to lay a solid foundation in photography theory. as he became more famous, he got to know more people, and he was popular, so he soon borrowed some photography theory books from his friends.

what should a young boy who hasn't even graduated from junior high school do if he doesn't understand?

"reading a book a thousand times is not as good as reading it once with your hands." zhang yimou firmly believed in the old saying, "read a book a hundred times and its meaning will become clear." he worked very hard, first copying all the books by hand, and then studying them over and over again on his own.

theory is solid, practice must keep up. but at that time, the salary of workers in the national cotton mill was 30.2 yuan a month, and a camera cost nearly 200 yuan. he had to go without food and drink for five months to save up so much money.

but the seeds of the dream had been planted, and no matter how many difficulties and obstacles there were, they had to be overcome. in his early 20s, zhang yimou worked in a factory during the day to save money to buy a camera, and studied theory at night to lay the foundation for photography. three years later, zhang yimou bought a seagull camera.

zhang yimou was blessed with divine help. he poured all his passion for life into photography, and with his natural talent for art, he clumsily but diligently created one work after another.

in 1978, the spring breeze of reform was blowing everywhere, and the college entrance examination was resumed, and finally it was no longer just based on personal family background. with the recommendation of his friend tian jun, zhang yimou prepared to apply for the photography department of the beijing film academy.

but when zhang yimou received the admissions brochure, he was disappointed: his age was over the limit for photography. when he was at a loss, tian jun suggested again that he could try to write a letter to huang zhen, the minister of culture.

as if grasping a life-saving straw, zhang yimou diligently wrote a long letter overnight, attached his carefully selected photographs, and asked someone to pass it to minister huang. after reading it, minister huang was amazed. after some mediation and discussion, he made an exception and admitted zhang yimou.

in this way, the older candidate zhang yimou became the first batch of students in the photography department of the beijing film academy after the resumption of the college entrance examination.

from a farmer to a worker, and then to a photographer, this young man, with his passion, the guidance of noble people, and the opportunities of the times, transformed himself and entered the top film school in the country.

this story of the development of a domineering boss, which seems to be extremely exciting in online literature today, is actually a true story.

many years later, zhang yimou wrote in his autobiography "zhang yimou's homework": "failure is common, perfection is unattainable. if you fail all the time, you are not afraid of failure - thin-skinned people are prone to failure, thick-skinned people are trained, they know it is not easy, they know how to work hard, and if they mess up, they can only say: wait and see, the next one may be better."

perhaps it was the extreme loneliness and fear in his childhood that shaped zhang yimou's patient and hardworking character.

in "13 invitations season 3", in an interview with xu zhiyuan, zhang yimou said that he never "cares about his reputation" and is not a talented director but a hardworking director.

from zhang yimou's childhood experience, we can see that he is like an old ox, working hard, believing in the meaning of hard work and struggle, and believing that no effort is wasted.

02

in the 1980s, when big-character posters questioned the rationality of the school's expansion of student enrollment, zhang yimou was in danger of being forced to drop out of school. after he pleaded repeatedly, the ministry of culture finally agreed to his request. in 1982, the 32-year-old zhang yimou graduated from university.

according to his own account, due to the unpleasant experiences at school when he enrolled, some leaders had prejudices against him, and he was eventually assigned to the remote and backward guangxi film studio.

in the era of the job distribution system, everyone wanted to stay in beijing, or somewhere with a slightly better economy. zhang yimou was assigned to the economically backward guangxi, and he naturally refused to accept it. but even heroes have to bow their heads, and zhang yimou decided to accept the arrangement of fate.

at that time, zhang yimou secretly vowed in his heart, "after going to the guangxi studio, i must work hard and do something good so that the school can invite me back and prove them wrong."

according to normal studio rules, young people who are just starting out should first work as apprentices or assistants, and then climb up step by step under the guidance of their masters.

however, since they had just graduated from the beijing film academy and arrived at the guangxi film studio, zhang yimou's students were highly valued by the leadership, and soon they were given the right to make films independently.

in may 1983, the guangxi film studio held a meeting and approved the establishment of the country's first "youth film crew" on an exceptional basis. it issued a production order to start producing the film "one and eight", with zhang junzhao as director, zhang yimou and xiao feng as photographers, he qun as art director, and guo baochang as art director.

less than a year after graduating from university, he started making films independently, which is unprecedented in the chinese film industry.

although the film suffered some suppression and criticism under the background of the times, "one and eight" has withstood the test of history with its pioneering significance and became the "pioneering work" of china's fifth generation of directors, thus going down in history.

cinematographer zhang yimou also began to appear.

soon after, the film yellow earth was released. the photography with large blocks of color and strong color perception showed endless meanings in the image and beyond the image. the panoramic view of the yellow earth with thousands of gullies and ravines appeared particularly solemn and majestic against the backdrop of the setting sun, presenting the national temperament unique to the yellow earth in northern shaanxi, and became a classic in film history.

afterwards, zhang yimou shot and starred in the film "old well", winning the best actor award at the 2nd tokyo international film festival. perhaps being an actor broadened his career options. in 1988, he made his directorial debut with "red sorghum", which won the golden bear award at the 38th berlin international film festival, shocking the film industry.

from then on, films such as "ju dou", "raise the red lantern", "qiu ju goes to court", "to live", "if you are the one", "no one less", and "my father and mother" were released one after another, and the era saw the unique zhang yimou.

fighting for one's dignity became the annotation of young zhang yimou.

from wanting to make some achievements in the guangxi film studio to impress the school at the beginning, to later standing on a bigger stage to fight for chinese films, zhang yimou's stubbornness and courage enabled him to go through many hardships and still move forward recklessly after returning.

03

2002 was a turning point in zhang yimou's artistic career - "hero" was released, becoming the first film in mainland china to gross over 100 million yuan at the box office, and also ushered in the era of blockbuster films in the mainland film market.

at the same time, "hero" also caused great controversy in the domestic public opinion. people thought that it lacked internal historical facts and details, and only had grand scenes and pictures, which was a typical example of a film with only a good appearance but not a good reputation.

next door, chen kaige also suffered a waterloo when he filmed the promise. netizen hu ge used the promise as the main material, re-arranged and edited the content of the movie, and produced mantou, which was performed as a tv host telling the audience about the investigation process of "a bloody case caused by a mantou" that occurred in a certain city in a certain month in 2005. in anger, chen kaige took legal action, which attracted widespread attention.

many years later, hu mei filmed "a dream of red mansions part two", which did poorly at the box office. facing the ridicule and criticism from netizens, hu mei cursed loudly online and even posted netizens' id accounts in an attempt to silence them by covering their mouths.

zhang yimou had the same experience and was overwhelmed by the criticism at that time. however, unlike other directors, he remained silent and just quietly let go of all the negative emotions, cleaned himself up, and started again.

from the commercial films "house of flying daggers", "curse of the golden flower" and "movies and tv series" to the return of literary and artistic atmosphere in "under the hawthorn tree", "the flowers of war" and "coming home", and then to "the great wall" and "shadow", zhang yimou explored and shuttled back and forth between genre films and author films, capturing the fate entanglements of small people against the backdrop of the great era, and clearly shocking every individual audience member.

in addition, there are the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 beijing olympic games, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 beijing winter olympics, the gala to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china, and the musical "dialogue fable 2047". zhang yimou's cross-border exploration is still ongoing.

in terms of film creation, zhang yimou has been working even harder since 2020, releasing "one second", "on the cliff", "sniper", "red river", "rock solid" and "article 20" one after another. such speed and efficiency make people feel as if they are still in their prime.

but for him, all this is actually the same as when he was studying by lamplight and saving money in the xianyang national cotton factory, working day and night and trying his best.

if you mess up, move on to the next one as soon as possible. be thick-skinned and the road will be easier.

04

as members of the "fifth generation directors", zhang yimou's peers are in different situations.

tian zhuangzhuang was born into a film and television family and is respected as "zhuang ye" by people in the industry. however, his creative journey was rather tortuous. in 1984, he directed the film "the hunting ground zasa", which was the most tian zhuangzhuang style, but it was not released in mainland china due to the censorship "not understanding", and was eventually forced to be released in taiwan.

in 1985, he collaborated with wu tianming, zhang yue and others to shoot the film "the horse thief", which explored the local cultural characteristics and buddhist traditions of tibet, but was cut when it was submitted for review.

in 1992, tian zhuangzhuang directed the film "blue kite". because the subject matter involved the "cultural revolution", he was banned from making films for 10 years. although he won the grand prize at the 1993 tokyo film festival, the entire chinese film delegation withdrew from the tokyo film festival in protest.

this marked the beginning of a dark night of the soul in tian zhuangzhuang's directorial career.

during the ban on filming, tian zhuangzhuang turned to being a producer, and produced films such as "clouds and rain in wushan" directed by zhang ming, "growing up" directed by lu xuechang, and "the shoulder pole girl" directed by wang xiaoshuai, providing protection for young chinese film directors at that time.

after the ban was lifted, tian zhuangzhuang returned to his alma mater, the beijing film academy, to teach, and has served as a graduate tutor in the directing department ever since.

to this day, tian zhuangzhuang is still active in various film productions, venture capital judges and other activities. compared with director zhang yimou, tian zhuangzhuang has retreated to a more behind-the-scenes position, but he has guided and trained a large number of new forces in the chinese film industry, which can be regarded as a new achievement.

another great director, chen kaige, is also a well-known figure to everyone, but his level of activity today is relatively low.

in 1984, chen kaige and zhang yimou worked together on the film yellow earth, and thus entered the film industry. but soon, the two went their separate ways. in 1993, chen kaige released farewell my concubine, which won the palme d'or at the 46th cannes international film festival in france, and became a big name in the domestic film industry.

in the blink of an eye, the millennium arrived. riding on the wave of commercial blockbusters pioneered by zhang yimou's "hero", chen kaige also launched "the promise" in 2005. however, its exaggerated and messy content caused huge controversy. some people even commented that the film was "eye-catching", which put him in a very embarrassing situation. it is still an untouchable pain in his heart.

zhang yimou also faced a lot of criticism for "hero", "movies and tv series" and "the great wall", but fortunately he was able to produce excellent works afterwards, proving that he is still the national master.

chen kaige, however, could no longer turn the tide and produce a groundbreaking masterpiece to prove his directorial credentials. in 2015, chen kaige entered the education field and became the president of the shanghai film academy. he then frequently appeared on variety shows related to film and television development, intending to increase his exposure.

sometimes, intentionally seeking a sense of existence actually reflects the lack of a sense of existence.

starting from 2019, chen kaige began to specialize in main-theme creation, and successively directed "my motherland and me", "changjin lake" and "volunteers: the heroes go attack", and "volunteers part two" may be released in the upcoming 2024 national day.

born into a family of literati and well-read since childhood, chen kaige may have a strong sense of patriotism in his bones. but compared to zhang yimou, chen kaige's creative path is obviously more focused and narrower.

obviously, compared with his two peers, zhang yimou is more focused on film creation. it is because of his single-minded dedication to creation that he has been able to produce a steady stream of works today.

after all, the original creation process itself is a process that requires the use of thinking and active spirit.

of course, we are not criticizing the choices of other peers. in fact, choosing to be a producer or appearing in variety shows is also a way to spread film culture knowledge, which is also a respectable choice.

just focusing on creation, which requires more creativity and is, in some ways, more difficult and challenging.

zhang yimou, whose status in the industry has long been solid, could have chosen to retreat behind the scenes and enjoy the fruits of his labor. however, he chose to return to the front line and persist in his creation.

maybe it has something to do with his background.

it is no exaggeration to say that among the "fifth generation" directors, zhang yimou came from the poorest family.

as the saying goes, "the early bird catches the worm"; this is the simplicity engraved in zhang yimou's bones.

05

so back to the question at the beginning, why is he becoming more and more evil?

in a sense, he hadn't aged at all.

at that time, he was in his early 20s, lost and confused, stumbled when he first entered the workplace, and also sacrificed himself for help when faced with the gift of fate. fortunately, he was finally chosen by the times and turned what he loved into a career and became the top in the industry.

today, he is still the honest and hardworking young man from the rural area of ​​shaanxi. he is taciturn and walks with his head down, just to thank the opportunities of the times and to thank his hardworking and diligent self for persevering until now.

others changed, but he never changed.

while waiting for the opportunity to come, he could only make various preparations. and it was these choices and decisions that changed his fate. looking back years later, he suddenly realized that what he had seized was an opportunity.

on september 1, 2024, at the 19th china changchun film festival, zhang yimou won the best director award for his film "article 20".

fate once again rewarded zhang yimou, who planned ahead and worked diligently.

reward the young man who has been on the road all his life.