Zhang Yimou

Filmmakers

Zhang Yimou (张艺谋; November 1951) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. Part of the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers (which includes Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, Zhang Junzhao, Li Shaohong, Wu Ziniu, Wu Ziniu, Hu Mei, Li Shaohong and Zhou Xiaowen), he made his directorial debut with Red Sorghum (1988), which began a long collaboration with actress Gong Li. His films are particularly noted for their rich use of colour, and recurrent themes of the resilience of Chinese people in the face of hardship and adversity.

He has won numerous awards and recognitions, with Best Foreign Film nominations for Ju Dou (1990), with Li, Li Baotian, Li Wei, and Zhang Yi; Raise the Red Lantern (1991), with Li, Ma Jingwu, He Saifei, Cao Cuifen, and Jin Shuyuan; and Hero (2002), with Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen and Chen Daoming; along with Silver Lionand Golden Lion prizes at the Venice Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 1993, he was a member of the jury at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, which received considerable international acclaim.

His other films with Gong Li include Codename Cougar (1989), with Ge You, Liu Xiaoning, and Wang Xueqi; The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), with Lei Kesheng, Liu Peiqi, Ge Zhi Jun, Ye Jun, and Yang Liu Chun; To Live (1994), with You, Niu Ben, Guo Tao, and Jiang Wu; Shanghai Triad (1995), with Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Sun Chun, and Wang Xiaoxiao; Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), with Chow Yun-fat, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Qin Junjie, Ni Dahomg, Chen Ji, and Li Man; and Coming Home (2014), with Chen Daoming and Zhang Huiwen.

Other notable films include Keep Cool (1997), with Li Baotian, Jiang Wen, Ge You, Qu Ying; Not One Less (1999), with Wei Minzhi and Zhang Huike; The Road Home (1999), with Ziyi, Sun Honglei, Zheng Hao, and Zhao Yulian; Happy Times (2000), with Zhao Benshan, Dong Jie, Fu Biao, Li Xuejian, and Niu Ben; House of Flying Daggers (2004), with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro; Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005), with Ken Takakura; ally A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009), with Sun Honglei, Ni Dahong, Xiaoshenyang, and Yan Ni; Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010), with Zhou Dongyu and Shawn Dou; The Flowers of War (2011), with Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe, Shigeo Kobayashi, and Cao Kefan; The Great Wall (2016), with Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, and Lau; Shadow (2018), with Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Wang Qianyuan, Hu Jun, Wang Jingchun, Guan Xiaotong, Leo Wu.

Films in the 2020s include One Second (2020), with Zhang Yi, and Liu Haocun; Cliff Walkers (2021), with Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, Zhu Yawen, and Liu Haocun; Sniper (2021), with Zhang Yu, Chen Yongsheng, and Zhang Yi; Full River Red (2023), with Shen Teng, Jackson Yee, Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin, and Yue Yunpeng; Under the Light (2023), with Lei Jiayin, Zhang Guoli, Yu Hewei, and Zhou Dongyu; and Article 20 (2024), with Lei Jiayin, Ma Li, Zhao Liying, Gao Ye, and Liu Yaowen. His daughter, Zhang Mo, is also a filmmaker and has collaborated with him on various films.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

Cinematographer

  • One and Eight (1983) – by Zhang Junzhao
  • Yellow Earth (1984) – directed by Chen Kaige
  • The Big Parade (1986) – directed by Chen Kaige
  • The Old Well (1987) – directed by Wu Tianming – co-cinematographer – also actor

Director

  • Red Sorghum (1988)
  • Codename Cougar (1989) – co-directed with Yang Fengliang
  • Ju Dou (1990) – co-directed with Yang Fengliang
  • Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
  • The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
  • To Live (1994)
  • Shanghai Triad (1995)
  • Lumière and Company (1995) – directed with Raymond Depardon, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Theo Angelopoulos, Andrei Konchalovsky, Nanni Moretti, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Joel & Ethan Coen, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Amos Gitai, Jane Campion, Atom Egoyan, Aki Kaurismäki, Olivier Assayas, Youssef Chahine, Tsai Ming-liang, Lars von Trier, Raoul Ruiz, Claude Lelouch, Gus Van Sant, Roman Polanski, Michael Cimino, David Cronenberg, Wong Kar-wai, Abbas Kiarostami, Billie August, Elia Suleiman, Manoel de Oliveira, Walter Salles, Wim Wenders, Chen Kaige, Ken Loach, & David Lynch – anthology
  • Keep Cool (1997)
  • Not One Less (1999)
  • The Road Home (1999)
  • Happy Times (2000)
  • Hero (2002)*
  • House of Flying Daggers (2004)
  • Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)
  • Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)

  • To Each His Own Cinema (2007) – directed with Raymond Depardon, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Theo Angelopoulos, Andrei Konchalovsky, Nanni Moretti, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Joel & Ethan Coen, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Amos Gitai, Jane Campion, Atom Egoyan, Aki Kaurismäki, Olivier Assayas, Youssef Chahine, Tsai Ming-liang, Lars von Trier, Raoul Ruiz, Claude Lelouch, Gus Van Sant, Roman Polanski, Michael Cimino, David Cronenberg, Wong Kar-wai, Abbas Kiarostami, Billie August, Elia Suleiman, Manoel de Oliveira, Walter Salles, Wim Wenders, Chen Kaige, Ken Loach, & David Lynch – anthology
  • A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009)
  • Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010)
  • The Flowers of War (2011)
  • Coming Home (2014)
  • The Great Wall (2016)*
  • Shadow (2018)
  • One Second (2020)
  • Cliff Walkers (2021)
  • Sniper (2022) – co-directed with Zhang Mo
  • Full River Red (2023)
  • Under the Light (2023)
  • Article 20 (2024)