What is the Zhang Yimou phenomenon?

Zhang Yimou is undoubtedly a "phenomenon" at present. He frequently creates earthquakes in China film industry at the rate of one blockbuster every year. The release of "Golden Flower in the City" attracted hundreds of millions of viewers in Chinese mainland alone, setting a box office record since China's film. Brilliant achievements can make all criticisms pale and sour. Zhang Yimou can face criticism again like Capote, calling the performance of this blockbuster "another success".

And all the bits and pieces of the hair and nails of the living Buddha in Tibet can be a panacea for all diseases and become sacred objects, leaving only his followers. I'm not a disciple of Zhang, but I spent a lot of money, thought things were worthless, and I was cheated, so I couldn't sue. I still think I have the right to complain. That is: Zhang Yimou's so-called blockbusters are almost all "big lies"!

The whole world knows that Zhang Yimou became famous by Red Sorghum. As for why he won the "Golden Bear Award" in West Berlin, foreigners have a unique vision and I dare not comment. However, its content is empty and pale, and its narrative is childish and boring, which is in sharp contrast with the red and purple of the whole film style. I won't change my original intention. But fortunately, there is a turn for the better. "The Story of Autumn Chrysanthemum" and "Nothing Less" let us see that he is not addicted to children's fantasies, but has turned his attention to human life and has a little "human flavor". But unexpectedly, he couldn't concentrate for a long time, and soon closed his eyes, turned a blind eye, and began to dream, so there were Heroes, Houses of Flying Daggers, and Golden Flower in the City. Just like a man who is good at dancing and rich, Zhang Yimou can not only dream, but also "talk about dreams" and "sell dreams", just like he can dance nonsense when he is asleep. People who "dream" are not necessarily idiots, and selling dreams seems to have precedents. There is a legend of Conan's dream in the Tang Dynasty, and Capote has a novel about a poor girl selling her dream to a capitalist. However, their "talking about dreams" and "selling dreams" have profoundly revealed the social reality and are rich in life content. Zhang Yimou is certainly not a "poor man", but what dream is he selling to those of us who are far less rich than him? A group of "heroes" that are rare in the world and hard to find in the sky, a group of mysterious gangs that are uninvited and lingering, and of course, there are more events that have no reason and no results, all of which are scheduled and arranged at will by Master Zhang. As for meaningless love jealousy, there are many inexplicable natural events. It's hard to pull and pull, and it's hard to know what to say.

The above is only about the content of his films, and even the artistic form of his films is also lacking. Some people may say that his paintings are exquisite. It is true that Zhang Yimou's films are gorgeous, which is obvious to all people in China, and I have no intention of burying them. But what I want to say is: Can an excellent film photographer be an excellent film director? Or a photo exhibition is equal to a film exhibition, and an expensive slide composed of photos is equal to a shocking "blockbuster"! Zhang's case made me understand the fact that a good photographer can hardly be a good film director, because the former is a technical job, while the latter is an artistic and literary job. Lack of literary accomplishment is becoming the achilles heel of his films. I only make a brief analysis of two points:

Narration of a story

Zhang Yimou once said that his narrative of the story is the most difficult to grasp. Now it seems that this sentence is really not out of his modesty. His grasp of the story is not only poor? It's almost awkward and ridiculous. Hero simulates the detective film of Nile Massacre, trying to promote the development of the story through the constant disclosure of the truth about the stabbing of Qin by the unknown and the king of Qin. However, every time the plot progresses, Zhang lacks the necessary evidence details, which is meaningless and simple repetition. Qin Jun's attack on Zhao, Zhang Ziyi's servant girl and the snow-flying battle are basically useless except burning money to show the big scene. These shortcomings are hard to see in the movie house of flying daggers. Not only those gang members in the bamboo forest can advance and retreat, but Andy Lau and the two catchers they play can also return to the right at any time. The logic between plots naturally gives way to Master Zhang's artistic authority! And Mr. Cao Yu's ups and downs, twists and turns of Thunderstorm, is even more "turning the stone into gold" in "Golden Flower in the City", to the point where I don't know what to say. Modernist films are naturally anti-plot and anti-story, but master Zhang Yimou seems to be dismissive of modernist techniques. He can not only tell stories, but also insist on telling the most bizarre and tortuous stories despite difficulties. Unfortunately, his talent is really out of reach, and the story is always as arbitrary as a child's nonsense. See Zhang Yimou is also a Cang Sang's face, probably nearly "knowing the destiny". I'm curious why he shows the trend of large classes in kindergartens from thinking to telling stories. But even if you eat the elixir of rejuvenation, why should you turn the first-line cinema into the scene of the story meeting of the kindergarten class? No matter how "brainless and unhappy" China people are, they can't resist your jokes.

Character performance

Needless to say, literature is a study of human beings, but even a film based on pictures can't help but write characters. And not only writing, but also because of the visual directness of film art, the characters should be vivid and make public the visual behaviorism of inner psychology. Naturally, there is a precedent of "experimental film" aimed at shooting the light and shadow of the scene, but this is only a small-scale "experiment" aimed at showing photography skills. This is far from the release of director Zhang10 million and the grand vision of the whole country. How does director Zhang Da express the characters? From the "Myanmar Pants" in Red Sorghum to the "Breasts" in Golden Flower, from the long-sleeved curling singer in Zhang Ziyi's "House of Flying Daggers" to the queen's costume in Gong Li's "Golden Flower", Director Zhang held a series of clothing fairs for us in various periods. Have we ever paid attention to the person behind that exaggerated dress? Of course, there are performances, such as Zhang Ziyi's dazzling bony back and Gong Li's longing for full breasts, but apart from their "black and white fat and barren" bodies, I can't feel their different personalities. With Song Dandan's fame in sketches, did her performance in House of Flying Daggers leave any impression on the audience except her poor Mandarin? Therefore, the actors really don't have to envy this girl for becoming famous overnight. Her star path is brilliant and she will become an international movie star. In Zhang Dao's big scene, you are just a simple "prop" suitable for composition, which is no different from those inanimate objects such as bamboo forests, old trees, wardrobes and red lanterns. At most, you are just a model walking on the runway. Rob Gerye also photographed some symbolic figures, but he did so with a purpose, in order to reveal the annihilation of characters' personalities under social pressure, and he was a group of mediocre "anti-heroes" who lost their characteristics. Director Zhang, however, is quite different from his interests, so it is natural to make a blockbuster into a "big shot", so all we see are majestic and murderous "real heroes", all of whom can change history with their gestures. It's a pity that these heroes can't make their own decisions. They are neither restricted by the surrounding environment nor based on their own personality logic. Director Zhang is in control, making matchmaking dolls with peace of mind. The funniest thing is the publicity before each release, which reveals how complicated human nature is and hides the heart, but this kind of "disclosure" is only seen on posters, not in the lens. This deficiency is of course related to Zhang Dao's ignorance of characters, but more importantly, it is caused by his lack of mastery of characters' expression techniques.

So, with these things and these so-called "blockbusters", Zhang Yimou has been firmly seated in the first golden chair of China film directors. High above the dust, year after year, ravage all beings, sow all beings, and reverse all beings. While earning a lot of money, it has also been worshipped by hundreds of millions of people and flowers. It is magnificent and unified the rivers and lakes. Cao Mengde famously said, "If it weren't for loneliness, I really don't know how many people would become kings and emperors". So I want to shout loudly: "Zhang Yimou Phenomenon" is the biggest cultural scam in contemporary China, and Zhang Yimou himself is the biggest cultural "liar" in contemporary China! In fact, even such criticism does not damage Zhang's prestige at all. Imagine: the liar can be the biggest, and the scam can be so brilliant, vigorous and colorful that his reputation is "all over China, giving all flesh and blood" omniscient. In any case, Zhang Can is a top "hero".