China News Agency reporter Gao Kai
"Repetition in art is a sign of weakness. We are willing to use practice to prove what we think, even if it is childish." This is the artistic proposition expressed by Zhang Yimou, a novice in the early 1980s, when he took the photography of One and Eight.
After many years, the courage and enthusiasm for change still remain in his life. On the evening of February 4, Zhang Yimou, the first director of the "Double Olympics", will present his second Olympic Games opening ceremony to hundreds of millions of audiences around the world. For this "great work", Zhang Yimou, who is more than 70 years old, summed it up as "very different" from 14 years ago.
Data picture: Zhang Yimou. Photographed by Hou Yu, a reporter from China News Service Zhang Yimou once said frankly that he is always "anxious", which makes him almost always "running" for change
Fourteen years ago, at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yimou presented a huge opening ceremony "scroll" that condensed China's glorious civilization history of more than 5000 years with a huge cast of actors and neat performances. However, it is reported that Zhang Yimou has not seen the opening ceremony broadcast in China so far. "It is mainly my own panic. I can't bear to watch it. As long as everyone says it is good, this article will be turned over quickly."
Zhang Yimou, born in 1950, is particularly romantic ideal And the sense of urgency to work hard in real life. Before his exceptional admission to the Beijing Film Academy, he once worked as a worker and taught himself art photography. Among the 1982 students of the Beijing Film Academy, he was the oldest one in the school. "Compared with my classmates, I started late and was eager to show my original spirit. I'm afraid I have no time".
Throughout Zhang Yimou's career, he has been famous at home and abroad for his "Red Sorghum", from classic literary and artistic films such as "Raise the Red Lantern", "Autumn Chrysanthemum Fights the Lawsuit" to commercial blockbusters such as "Hero", to the high frequency output of various themes in recent years. Whether Zang or not, he has been constantly touching new creative types and themes.
Since the Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yimou has become the director of a series of major performances: the general director of the 60th anniversary party of the National Day, the director of the APEC welcome dinner and artistic performances, the director of the artistic performances of the "G20 Summit" in Hangzhou, and the general director of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China
"I am energetic and like to create. Maybe my personality also determines that I will try new things constantly," said Zhang Yimou. Perhaps because of this, it is difficult for Zhang Yimou to feel a bit twilight in his speech.
Zhang Yimou is happy to discover and show all kinds of "new" and "change". As the general director of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he once compared it with the "Beijing Eight Minutes" at the closing ceremony of the Pingchang Winter Olympic Games. The performance in Pyeongchang was a real robot, operating accurately on the ground full of snow and ice. This is the progress of a country, the progress of science and technology, and the change of national image. "
Tonight, Zhang Yimou will once again show the world the Chinese people's understanding of the Olympic Games with the opening ceremony of less than 100 minutes.
Like a bird's nest with steel tendons and iron bones, Zhang Yimou in 2008 made 2008 people perform a grand and orderly performance of singing on fou; In 2022, he will invite men, women and children from 5 to more than 70 years old to "put on their favorite clothes" to easily dance square dance here.
For Zhang Yimou, the first director of "Double Olympics", this will be the two landscapes of his artistic creation 14 years later.
"This time, our opening ceremony emphasized the 'people's character'," Zhang Yimou said, "There are no stars or professionals in the hot spot performance, which is the Chinese square dance that people like to see. Why do you want to dance? Because the days are good, the poverty is lifted, the wealth is made, and the happiness of life will be singing and dancing."
Zhang Yimou, who used to be very good at creating visual wonders with the "sea of people", will show his completely different new expression in this creation, "different from any previous one", "using technology will make it less crowded and not empty, make it very full, make it empty and flowing. Using technology and new concepts to perform is full of changes."
Following the times, Zhang Yimou has been looking for changes, but some things have never changed.
From film works to many major performances including the opening ceremony of the "Double Olympics", Zhang Yimou has always been trying to show the brilliance of local culture with innovative means and world language.
In Zhang Yimou's case, he has always been extremely sensitive to the modelling elements that affect vision, such as proportion, color, shape, etc. He accepts all kinds of new things, and at the same time, he can always observe the "unchanged" core of the national history and culture behind the "new" things.
In Zhang Yimou's opinion, "no matter what stage, understanding and expressing oneself is the core of all efforts. All these performances represent a country's culture, also represent a country's attitude, represent a country's changes in the development process, and a spirit of keeping pace with the times. In fact, this is also the valuable enterprising spirit of mankind."
There is no doubt that Zhang Yimou's experience, aesthetics and resources determine that he is the best candidate who deserves to entrust the opening and closing ceremonies of the two Olympic Games with peace of mind. In addition to these abilities that can be listed, the 70 year director's courage to change over the years and his insistence on the same, or another deep fit with his identity as a director of the "Double Olympics". (End)
