- Born
- Nickname
- Lao MouZi, loosely meaning "old schemer/strategist"
- Yimou Zhang was born on November 14, 1951 in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. He is a director and writer, known for Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He has been married to Ting Chen since December 2011. They have three children. He was previously married to Hua Xiao and Hua Xie.
- SpousesTing Chen(December 2011 - present) (3 children)Hua Xiao(1979 - 1988) (divorced, 1 child)Hua Xie (divorced)
- Children
- Often works with the actress Li Gong
- His films, often explore the dark side of life in Chinese rural communities.
- Most of his films begin with the title displayed in Chinese calligraphy style.
- He was fined $1.2 million for having 3 kids, which violated China's family-planning laws at the time. Two years later, the family planning law was repealed and people are no longer fined.
- Chief director of opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic
games in Beijing. - A former photographer
- Jury president of 2007 Venice Film Festival.
- Attended the Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China
- For thousands of years, there's been a tradition of teaching us in
China to think in terms of the collective experience, so we are rarely
able to act in accordance with personal desires or emotions. Now young
people, especially under Western influences, have become much more
interested in themselves and their own values. - The objective of any form of art is not political. I had no political
intentions. I am not interested in politics. - The Chinese censorship system has been in practice for many years. I
don't think there will be much change in society in the short run. This
situation has been present for a long time and it is a reality in
China. I work and live in this system. There has not been a significant
change. - The Cultural Revolution was a very special period of Chinese history,
unique in the world. It was part of my youth. It happened between when
I was 16 and when I was 26. During those 10 years, I witnessed so many
terrible and tragic things. For many years, I have wanted to make
movies about that period - to discuss the suffering and to talk about
fate and human relationships in a world which people couldn't control
and which was very hostile. I would like to make not just one but many
movies, both autobiographical and drawing on other people's stories.
I'll just have to wait. - When I look back at the times I shot artistic movies, I found I learned
quite a lot from them. So in the future, I hope to do both - make more
personal films which I prefer; and in certain circumstances, I will
shoot some other commercial movies like these two [Hero and House of
Flying Daggers].
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