Modernity and Globalization

Abstract

This chapter introduces the most acclaimed but still under-researched contemporary director in Chinese cinema, Zhang Yimou. It examines Zhang’s early experiences—his rural life as a sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and his university campus life at the Beijing Film Academy (1978–1982) —and emphasizes the impact that this background will have on his later creative career. The chapter suggests that a study of Zhang’s popular genre films from the late 1980s to the present day can provide insights into the evolution of Chinese cinema, from an inward-looking cultural activity to an expansive commercial industry, albeit one that still struggles to define its identity within the pressures of the global marketplace.