CHNS 3639

Chinese Cinema

Week 8: Chen Kaige (陈凯歌)

Fifth Generation Filmmakers (第五代导演)

ü Most of the filmmakers who constitute the Fifth Generation graduated from
the Beijing Film Academy in 1982, including Zhang Yimou (张艺谋), Tian
Zhuangzhuang （田壮壮）, Chen Kaige (陈凯歌), and Zhang Junzhao (张军
钊).

ü These graduates were the first group of filmmakers to graduate since the
Cultural Revolution.

ü Fifth Generation directors were the first to receive widespread international

recognition and critical acclaim as well as moderate financial success.

ü Zhang Junzhao’s One and Eight (一个和八个) (1983) and Chen Kaige’s
Yellow Earth (黄土地) (1984) marked the arrival of the Fifth Generation.

ü The most famous of the Fifth Generation directors, Chen Kaige and Zhang
Yimou, went on to produce celebrated works such as King of the Children
(孩子王) (1987), Ju Dou (菊豆) (1989), Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬)
(1993) and Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂) (1991).
Fifth Generation Filmmakers (第五代导演)

ü Fifth Generation films departed from the Soviet style filmmaking of the
Fourth Generation directors.

ü Fifth Generation films usually questioned rather than praised socialism and
the status quo.

ü Despite many differences, Fifth Generation films are similarly characterised

by

1) diversity – their new experimentalism is noteworthy given Chinese

cinema’s adherence to formality in the past.

2) adoption of various traditional artistic Taoist elements in their films.

ü This helped create a new visual style and new narrative conventions which
set Fifth Generation filmmakers apart from the Fourth Generation.
Fifth Generation Filmmakers (第五代导演)

ü The rise of the Fifth Generation of filmmakers brought increased

popularity of Chinese cinema abroad starting from the mid-late
1980s.

ü It was during this period that Chinese cinema began reaping the
rewards of international attention, including

the 1988 Golden Bear for Red Sorghum (红高粱),

the 1992 Golden Lion for The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司),
the 1993 Palme d’Or for Farewell My Concubine, and
three Best Foreign Language Film nominations from the Academy
Awards.

(BTW: All these award-winning films starred actress Gong Li, who became
the Fifth Generation's most recognizable star, especially to international
audiences.)
Fifth Generation Filmmakers (第五代导演)

ü The Fifth Generation directors’ films unanimously rejected the

socialist-realist tradition in Chinese filmmaking during the Mao era.

ü They reacted against

1. the ideological purity of Cultural Revolution cinema;

2. ‘politics in command’;
3. the socialist emphasis on ideological indoctrination and education;
4. class struggle (together with clear-cut black-white dichotomies);
5. the privileging of the revolutionary classes;
6. ‘social-realist’ characterisation, together with the archetypical
revolutionary hero (高、大、全); and
7. other ‘social-realist’ filmmaking techniques (such as framing, the use of
colour, close-ups).

(But despite an early manifesto by the New Wave group within the Fifth
Generation to break with ‘socialist realism’ and use only ‘unspoiled actors’,
this line did not prove feasible and was rarely upheld.)
Definitive Characteristics of Fifth Generation Films

Ø Instead of stories depicting heroic military struggles, as

is typically the case with Fourth Generation films, Fifth
Generation films turn to the drama of ordinary people’s
daily lives;

Ø Rather than relying on the use of character, the younger

directors preferred psychological depth along the lines of
European cinema.

Ø They introduced an intricate style of filmmaking

characterised by complex plots, ambiguous symbolism,
evocative imagery, extensive colour, and long shots.
End of the Movement

The Fifth Generation movement virtually ended

after the Tiananmen events of 1989, although its
major directors continued to produce notable
works.

Several of its filmmakers went into self-imposed

exile: Wu Tianming (吴天明) moved to the
United States (but has since returned), Huang
Jianxin (黄建新) left for Australia, while many
others went into television-related work.
Chen Kaige (陈凯歌)
Life and Career

Born on 12 Aug 1952 in Beijing.

His father, Chen Huai’ai, was a well-known film director.

Grew up with fellow Fifth Generation alumnus Tian Zhuangzhuang (田壮壮)

as a childhood friend.

Joined the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.

Denounced his father, like many children of parents who were labelled
‘counter-revolutionaries’, ‘rightists’ or ‘bad elements’. This was something he
eventually learned to regret.

Traces of this period of his life can be found in Farewell My Concubine (霸王
别姬), and in the father-son relationship in Together (和你在一起).
Life and Career
Entered the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 – the year the
university entrance examinations. Graduated from the
Academy in 1982.

Assigned to the Children’s Film Studio upon graduating

1982.

Transferred to Guangxi Film Studio in 1984 and became

a colleague of his fellow student at the Beijing Film
Academy Zhang Yimou.

His first movie, Yellow Earth (1984) (with Zhang Yimou

as cinematographer) marked a sea change in how films
were seen and perceived in the PRC and established
itself as the most important work of Fifth Generation
filmmaking.
Life and Career

Awarded a fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council in 1987 and

served as a visiting scholar at the New York University Film School.

Farewell My Concubine (1993) shared the Palme d’Or with Jane

Campion’s The Piano at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In the same
year, the Chinese government banned an already-censored version
after a two-week run in Shanghai and a single showing in Beijing.
Authorities cited homosexual conduct as justification for the ban.

His to-date only English-language film, Killing Me Softly, a thriller

starring Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes, was a critical and
popular disappointment.

Awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th Moscow

International Film Festival in 2006.

Chen has also acted in Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987) and
his own The Emperor and the Assassin and Together.
Work
- Yellow Earth (黃土地) (1984)
- The Big Parade (大阅兵) (1986)
- King of the Children （孩子王）（1987）
- Life on a String (边走边唱) (1991)
- Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬) (1993)
- The Emperor and the Assassin (荊柯刺秦王) (1999)
- The Promise (无极) (2005)
- Forever Enthralled (梅兰芳) (2008)
- Sacrifice (赵氏孤儿) (2010)
- Daoist Down the Mountain (道士下山) (2015)
- Legend of the Demon Cat (妖猫记) (2017)
- My People, My Country (我和我的祖国（2019）
- Flowers Bloom in the Ashes（尘埃里开花）（2020）
- The Battle at Changjin Lake（长津湖）（2021）
Work

vChen Kaige is widely known in China as a

‘cinematic philosopher’.

vHis films are known for their visual flair,

epic storytelling, and philosophical
reflections on national cultural traditions
and historical continuity and change.
Discussion: Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬)

Key words:

Play within a play

Living and acting/life and opera
Loyalty and betrayal
Male and female relations
Friendship, love, infatuation
Life and the state
Reality and dream
Duan Xiaolou
Cheng Dieyi
Juxian
Xiaosi (Little Snake)
The Japanese
The Nationalists
The Communists