Line #13 Creator/ZhangYimou


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zhangyimou_0.jpg]]
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3	Zhang Yimou (张艺谋, 1951- ) is one of the leading lights of Chinese film and is often considered one of the greatest living Chinese directors. He tends to favor stories set in rural/historical China, often with an emphasis on the dark side of the setting, and also has a very strong visual style. Many of his movies contain remarkable SceneryPorn even within quite restricted settings. Was romantically involved with Creator/GongLi for a number of years and featured her, and later Creator/ZhangZiyi as leads in many of his films.
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5	He gained a lot of applause for directing the truly spectacular opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing UsefulNotes/OlympicGames. He was chosen again to direct the said ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Olympics as well.
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7	!!The films of Zhang Yimou include:
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9	* ''Red Sorghum'' - An adaptation of the Creator/MoYan novel.
10	* ''Film/JuDou'' - Co-directed with Yang Fengliang
11	* ''Film/RaiseTheRedLantern''
12	* ''The Story of Qiu-Ju''
13	* ''Literature/ToLive''
14	* ''Shanghai Triad''
15	* ''Keep Cool''
16	* ''Not One Less''
17	* ''The Road Home''
18	* ''Happy Times''
19	* ''Film/Hero2002''
20	* ''Film/HouseOfFlyingDaggers''
21	* ''Film/CurseOfTheGoldenFlower''
22	* ''Amazing Tales: Three Guns'' / ''A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop'' / ''A Simple Noodle Story'' - His first (epically failed) attempt at comedy, a remake of Creator/TheCoenBrothers film ''Film/BloodSimple'' to boot.
23	* ''Under the Hawthorne Tree''
24	* ''Film/FlowersOfWar''
25	* ''Film/TheGreatWall''
26	* ''Film/Shadow2018''
27	* ''One Second''
28	* ''Cliff Walkers''
29	* ''Snipers'' (co-directed with his daughter, Zhang Mo)
30	* ''Full River Red''
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32	!!Tropes found in or relating to Zhang Yimou's work include:
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34	* BannedInChina: In 1994, his film ''To Live'' was banned for having a negative portrayal of CCP policies and Zhang was also barred from making films for two years (along with its lead actress Creator/GongLi). In 2019, his film ''One Second'' was abruptly pulled from the 69th Berlin International Film Festival after being previously scheduled to screen; while no official reason was ever given, many film critics suspected censorship since the movie's subject matter was related to the Cultural Revolution.
35	* ColorMotif: Striking and heavily symbolic use of color is considered to be part of Zhang's SignatureStyle -- the color-coded armies in ''Film/CurseOfTheGoldenFlower'' and ''Film/TheGreatWall'' for example. Besides his {{wuxia}} films, ''Raise the Red Lantern'' is also a striking example.
36	* CreatorsOddball: His film "A Simple Noodle Story" is a remake of the Coen Brothers comedy ''Blood Simple'', which Zhang says is one of his favourites. It's rare for him to do a remake or a comedy.
37	* TheMuse: Gong Li, in his earlier period.
38	* SceneryPorn: His films typically use vividly colorful visuals and extremely detailed sets and costumes.
39	* {{Wuxia}}: Some of his recent films have all more or less been wuxia, in contrast to his slower-paced, more contemplative[[note]]And contemporary: his earlier films mostly dealt with 20th-century China, while the Wuxia films are set in ImperialChina[[/note]] earlier works.

Context Creator / ZhangYimou