Zhang Yimou

Chen Kaige

Tian Zhuangzhuang

Banned Mainland films

Mainland Chinese Cinema

After the death of Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976, and the subsequent ending of the devastating Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping took the reins of power and began a new wave of social, cultural and political reforms to bring China back on its feet. In 1977, one of his reforms reopened the Beijing Film Academy, which had shut in 1966 by Mao due to its "bad influence". The first class to graduate after its reopening - the class of '82 - was headed by three leading students: Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Known as the "Fifth Generation", they were sent to the Guangxi Film Studio after their graduation to follow accomplished directors, but they had not realised that due to the Cultural Revolution, there were no directors left for them to follow. Left on their own devices, they formed their own "Youth Team", and in 1983, they made their first film together - the drama One and Eight, directed by Zhang Junzhao, with Zhang Yimou behind the camera. A year later, Chen Kaige directed the critically acclaimed Yellow Earth, which was also filmed by Zhang Yimou.

Yellow Earth would be the film that propelled Chen and Zhang into the limelight, and made the West sit up and notice the arrival of the Fifth Generation into world cinema. It did not take long for the Fifth Generation to start winning awards too; in 1988, Zhang Yimou directed Red Sorghum, and won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. Not only could the Fifth Generation make beautiful intimate films, but they established themselves as a commercial success as well. The pairing of Zhang and his star actress Gong Li was also a tremendous success in both Asia and they both went on to team up for further projects, even making a name for themselves for their off-screen relationship.

As Zhang was receiving international acclaim, China was going through some immensely radical changes to the extreme left. Deng, who had opened China to the world with his economic reforms, suppressed the outspoken Chinese academics, and restricted political freedoms. Knowing how fragile China was during this time, he held the reins of power with a tight fist, although he wanted China to emerge into a world economic powerhouse.

Zhang's next film, Ju Dou (1989), won an unprecedented international critical acclaim, and was a huge commercial hit as well. But the anti-government overtones within the narrative meant that the government tried to ban it for suggesting treason. It was banned in China, and the government had even tried to stop the film from being nominated for an Academy Award.

Then came June 4, and the massacre at Tiananmen Square, which horrified the world. The events that took place on that fateful date, with unforgettable images of tanks rolling into the square along the historic walls of the Forbidden City, condemned Deng and his party of persecuting his own people for basic human rights. Suddenly, all eyes were on China, and local filmmakers had a deeper desire to express their feelings onto film for the world to see.

Years after the June 4 incident, the government has not relaxed their laws on restricting filmmaking, but they still allow filmmakers (both locally and from abroad) to film in China. The reason for this is that the government has been reaping the rewards for the usage of their lands. Labour is relatively cheap in China, and the economic benefits are high enough for the government to let filmmakers come into China to film.