How China’s Fifth Generation filmmakers defied censorship and criticism to break new ground
- New ways of storytelling and rich political allegories were the innovations that this new breed of maverick directors introduced
- Bold in abstraction and symbolism, their films relied on images rather than dialogue for expression
It has been 41 years since China’s Fifth Generation filmmakers started classes at the Beijing Film Academy, and 35 years since The Yellow Earth, directed by Chen Kaige and photographed by Zhang Yimou, changed the face of filmmaking in the country.
The Chinese film industry has modernised so quickly that the innovations this disparate group brought to filmmaking in the country, and the courage they showed in the face of censorship by the state authorities, has been all but forgotten.
A retrospective at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) aims to set the record straight. The five-film retrospective presents classic early works by the Fifth Generation, including The Yellow Earth, Tian Zhuangzhuang’s semi-abstract masterpiece The Horse Thief , and the cheeky satirical comedy The Black Cannon Incident.
Zhang Junzhao’s little-seen and once-banned One and Eight, which is generally considered the first of the Fifth Generation’s films, will also be screened, as will Zhang Yimou’s vibrant directorial debut Red Sorghum.
“We have been wanting to run this retrospective for quite some time,” says Geoffrey Wong, director of programming at the HKIFF. “The timing is finally right as the five major works in the programme have been restored.”