Reporter: what made you decided to make a wuxia film?

Zhang: I always enjoy wuxia (martial art literature). I am a fan of wuxia. I read my first wuxia novel in the 60’s. (It’s called) Hawk Claw King. (It had) 17 books and each one was very thin. It’s the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976) at that time and there wasn’t much we can read. We just read it in turns. You garbed part 3 and I got part 8. Big mess. It has been more than 20 years, (but) I still remember many (of its) characters. About other (wuxia novels) - Louis Cha’s are more traditional and were written in chapters. I prefer Gu Long’s which have momentums. Wen Ruian’s are also good. He pushed Gu Long’s style into an extreme and later was too extreme.

I always want to make a wuxia movie. Several years ago I started to work on this script (of HERO). At that time, I wanted to adopt one of Louis Cha or Gu Long. Hope can buy the film right once the script was done but I failed. Then I started to work on my own. Several years later our script was done and I felt quite impressed. Then Ang Lee’s CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (pause) became a hit (laugh). We started in ahead, and now they say we try to imitate (Ang Lee).

But CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON has positively influenced the market. (It) created a very big market. The west is very interested in this subject and we can have plenty of room to stretch. Now there are so many wuxia movies have been made and the market will be completely ruined pretty soon. The market created by Ang Lee can still survive for another two or three years, but if there was nothing but bad movies, it will be all over. Intentionally or unintentionally, we have taken the responsibly. If we were successful, the market can last another two or three years. Without one or two good movies in two or three years, the heat will cool down pretty soon.

Reporter: Are you targeting more at the market of western audiences or Chinese audiences?

Zhang: I don’t know much about the West. I’m not Ang Lee who knows so much about western market and the taste of western audiences. My English is not as good as his. In the past, am I just a farmer director? (laugh) But I think we need the international market. The budget is high. To make sure the boss (investor) make money, only focusing on the domestic market is not enough. Piracy has destroyed the domestic market. Now a movie with 30 million returns would be something very incredible and the producer can only get 10 to 15 million. This is only 100 thousands US dollars. This is not enough!

Reporter: Actions from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON has the beauty of zero-gravity. How are you going to show the spirit of wuxia in HERO?

Zhang: I can’t tell you that. Hope (I) can preserve my own style and the touch of creating something new. Because I wrote the story, I have my own understanding of it.

HERO is a commercial action film (in contrast to artistic film). I will add my understanding of Chinese culture into it. Trying to make some personal views  entertaining is very enjoyable. Ang Lee is right. Wuxia is a fantasy world exists in everyone’s mind. Sometimes you will find out that transforming your fantasy into reality is very enjoyable but is also hard to do. Such as one move of a sword described in a wuxia novel, the strength and the speed, you have plenty of room to imagine, very exciting. But in a movie, it’s just less than one second, not much to excite about. Then you have to transform the feeling (from paper to film). This is my first wuxia movie and I must consider this before trying to make something with my own.

HERO is a combination of my personal feeling and the commercialism. It won’t work with only my personal feeling. That’s experimental film and the boss will lose everything. Just like taking a joyride at other’s expense. The so-called commercialism includes elements like story, plots, rhythms and large big scenes.

THE ROAD HOME (1999), made Zhang Ziyi a household name in China	A TERRA-COTTA WARRIOR:  (1989): Zhang Yimou played a warrior from the Qin Dynasty (decades after the time of HERO) became immortal and woke up in the 1930's. Co-stared Gong Li (top) and directed by Ching Siu-tong (the action director of HERO).

The Future

Reporter: Will you make more action movies in the future?

Zhang: Possible. Much of the shooting has done and so far I haven’ feel challenged. I told the boss next time I would know what to do in ahead. I like wuxia and I will make more.

Reporter: I think you should make more movies with social issues.

Zhang: Net necessarily. I don’t really want to stick (with one subject) and I have tried something new, like prosified and poetized film THE ROAD HOME. But myself don’t have that kind of quality, never even dreamed about it. Either Maggie Cheung or Sylvia Chang, walked to me after the screening and said she had never seen this side of me!

I have experience doing something I have never done before and that’s all I need. More important, (I) must make sure the investor to breakeven. This is also a director’s responsibility. I have pretty good record on that, therefore I have never worried about money.

NOT ONE LESS (1999)	THE STORY OF QIU JU (1992)

The Hollywood

Reporter: Have you ever had any opportunity to make a movie in the West?

Zhang: For over ten years I always had, but I don’t speak English.

Reporter: Your disadvantage?

Zhang: Not really. Everyone is different. You must know what you are capable of. I must stick with Chinese language films. For so many years, many people have come to me, said language is just a tool, no big deal. But I don’t feel like that, (I am) just not sure. Making THE STORY OF QIU JU in English (note: one of Zhang Yimou’s films)? How can I feel? (laugh) The actors don’t even look like (people speaking English). There are some cultural and historical reasons.

JU DOU (1990)	RAISE THE RED LANTERN (1991) - this one made Zhang Yimou famous in the West

Reporter: As a martial art film, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON has been highly praised in the West, but when (it was) shown in China, some audiences even fell sleep.

Zhang: Ang Lee was educated in the West and his English is good. All subtitles of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON were rewritten and edited by himself. Usually, during the time an actor can speak three sentences and only two sentences can be subtitled. (The sentences) are very pithy. Ang Lee would adjust the subtitles and his choice of words is right on the target. The foreigners (i.e., non-Chinese) can enjoy it fully and can be moved by it. (They) can understand (it) and can accept (it). It’s totally different when we were watching it. (We watched) the original (without the subtitles), plus the Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh’s (low) Mandarin level. It was very hard for the (Chinese) audiences to swallow. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON IS made for the Western audiences and he targeted (it on the Western market). It’s success was inevitable. In the US market, I think, he has set two really hard-to-break records. (One is) setting the box-office record, over 100 million (US dollars), of foreign language films, not just Chinese language, but also French and Italian language films; (the other one is getting) so many Oscar nominations and awards. Because America is strong and is a concentration of world cultures, when he won the Oscar, the world was watching. We wouldn’t say these awards have the highest artistic value, but the commercial value is very high. I never dreamed to achieve those. (He had) such opportunity and talent, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON has achieved an unprecedented success. I really admire him.

TO LIVE (1994) - still not released in the mainland China	RED SORGHUM (1987), Zhang Yimou's directing début

Zhang Yimou: TO LIVE (directed by Zhang Yimou) is more enjoyable. I had a presentiment – I might not pass censorship. So I let people see it first and broke the rule of no opening screening without the approval (from the Film Bureau). I held an internal screening in Beijing. Many people from the entertainment circle showed up, over a thousand of them. After the screening, most of them didn’t like it. TO LIVE is a mainstream movie with an ordinary story and without some unique style. It does not have the visual tension you can find in RED SORGHUM and RAISE THE RED LATTERN(note: both were directed by Zhang Yimou and RED SORGHUM was his directing début). It does not have new style. TO LIVE is very plain. At that time, someone from the inner circle told me TO LIVE was “politically reactionary and artistically mediocre”. The time was 1993 and 1994. People expected something new, something unique and (they) disliked plain massage. It has been seven or eight years since then and quite often I hear people like you saying they love it and has seen it many many times. Even some young people like Zhang Ziyi told me they had seen it four or five times. No one has ever told me how many times he saw a movie, not even for RED SORGHUM. Only TO LIVE. TO LIVE has much deeper meaning than RED SORGHUM does, but RED SORGHUM has the strength of a newcomer.

For any country, as long as there are such movies, it would be extraordinary and would be a big leap forward. Under the big political umbrella, a man is just like a leaf in the ocean, with no control of his destiny and does not have any choice. In China there are many subjects like this. Because during these decades (our) Chinese could not control our destiny, (we) can make many movies like TO LIVE. But passing censorship would be very hard.

SHANGHAI TRIAD (1995)	TURANDOT (1998)

To do art, one thing should always remember – subjects of people in misery have deep meanings. People in misery is what most important in art. Entire strength was born from it. For so many years, (our) Chinese have been through so many miseries. There are endless subjects. I hope before I am getting too old and when my mind is still functioning, I can tell some better stories.