If cinema is a medium to narrate a story – Zhang Yang is one of the greatest film makers from Asia. His films presents human saga interwoven with affectionate humor. Turn away from art house destined costume epics of emperors, conquerors and concubines; he depicts the lives of ordinary citizens. He is a great talent as a teller of compassionate tales.
In his first movie - spicy love soup is considered to be the first box office hit of an independent film in Chinese film history. This celluloid work was based on 5 love stories, with changing tone and feel for each story, yet continues to follow a certain charming rhythm and style.
The first story is about a boy who loves sounds. He daily records sounds which please him. One day he came across the most beautiful sound in his life - sound of a girl student in his class. Using his recording and editing skills he creates a beautiful but manupulated conversation with the girl. It was his first gift to the girl ...may be the last also. In the second story we came across a boy who makes a dinner with a hope to reconcile his bickering parents. He adds some magic love potion (given by his grandmother) in the dinner to unite them. In the third story a husband and wife in the verge of alienation rediscover their love through toys…!! The fourth story is about a love at first sight …
In the centerpiece of the film, is the most heart touching story of a retired nurse who tries to find out her new life partner…..
Da Ming, goes home to Beijing when he receives a letter from his mentally challenged brother Er Ming thinking that his father had died. He finds his father working at the family's bathhouse (the false message was a ruse of Er Ming, to get Da home). Da stays a couple days, observing his father being social director, marriage counselor, and dispute mediator for his customers and a boon companion to Er. Da is caught between worlds: the decaying district of his childhood and the booming south where he now lives with a wife who's not met his family. When Da realizes his father's health is failing and the district is slated for razing, he must take stock of family and future.
His third film Quitting was a sensation in China. It depicts the story of a drug addicted actor- Jia, who tries to find out his existence through alienating himself from his family and society. . The film is a striking social document as well as a gripping personal story. The film is also a passage through the impacts of post modern "Beatles Culture" on the young generation of China in early 90’s.
Sunflower was his fourth film. "Sunflower" is a powerful and touching look at the compelling inner dynamics of post-Cultural Revolution Chinese society. As the political atmosphere of the country changed Zhang Gengnain, a self trained painter rejoins with his family from the labor camp. The physical torture in the labor camp made him incapable to continue the profession of an artist. But he wants to fulfill his dreams through his son Xiangyang. The films time period spans the course of three decades--focusing on the years 1976, 1987 and 1999--in the lives of Zhang Gengnian and his son.
His latest film is Getting home released in 2007. It is also a pulse counter of modern China. The film reflects the humane side of Chinese society as well as the emerging callous class difference and developmental paradigm of the society.
The plot follows Zhao as a construction worker whose best friend dies, leaving him to fulfill a promise that he will return his body to his distant hometown. Short on money, the determined Zhao decides to carry his friend's corpse on his back, relying on help from the people he meets on his travels…"Getting Home" is a road film in the purest sense, progressing in anecdotal fashion through Zhao's encounters with a variety of quirky characters, some of whom help and some of whom hinder him in his journey. The plot revolves around a number of small, personal stories and is frequently unpredictable, as the viewer never knows what lies around the corner, or who he will run into next. Through this, the film works well as a series of clever observations on the lives of everyday people in modern rural China, and is both believable and fascinating. Despite the subject matter, it makes for upbeat and life affirming viewing, helped by the fact that the honest and loyal Zhao makes for a great, sympathetic protagonist who the viewer really comes to care for. His efforts to fulfil his promise are very touching, as are many of the tales of the people he meets, and Zhang shows his usual skill in avoiding cheap sentiment, keeping things heartfelt and unforced throughout.
Zhang's works have emotional core which drives the film and which really pulls the viewer into the story. Few other directors working in modern Chinese cinema or indeed from anywhere else in the world are his equal in this respect. Funny and poignant in equal measures, it makes for great entertainment and again goes to show that the best films to come from China in recent times have been the small, personal ones rather than the big budget blockbusters.
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