Visiting Taipei to promote his comeback feature Springtime in a Small Town (小城之春), Tian Zhuangzhuang (田壯壯) was inundated with questions about his erratic career at a press conference Tuesday.
For a filmmaker who had been praised as "the most talented, outstanding film director in contemporary China" and the "front man of the Fifth Generation filmmakers in China," Tian has been banned from making films for the last 10 years.
It has been tough for the filmmaker, who studied with the likes of Zhang Yimou (張藝謀), Chen Kaige (陳凱歌) and Li Shaohong (李少紅) at the Beijing Film Academy. "[During the 10 years], the most unbearable thing is to be in the film studio watching other people make movies. It's like you're actually healthy but must stay in the hospital."
PHOTO: GROUP POWER
Tian started making films in 1981. The Blue Kite (1991), a film set during the Cultural Revolution, was highly praised by international critics but only brought him trouble back home. The film participated in the Tokyo Film Festival without government authorization and, although it picked up the Tokyo Grand Prix, Tian was blocked from further filmmaking.
After a 10-year absence, Tian has chosen to remake the 1948 classic by director Fei Mu (費穆). "Making this film felt like communicating with a master," said Tian. "I never stopped learning from Fei Mu. That's what made it possible to restart my career as a director."
Tian's remake has received widespread praise, and picked up the San Marco Prize (best film of Counter Current) in last year's Venice Film Festival.
Set in 1940s post-war China, Springtime in a Small Town is a drama about a love triangle. In a ruinous small town, there lives the family of a physically ill former aristocrat. His elegant and dignified wife faces the burden taking care of her husband and the boredom of her existence. Everything changes when a young and spirited doctor comes to visit.
"I had the idea [of remaking the film] in 2000. The millennium was supposed to be a celebration of hope. But I just felt there was still a kind of fear in people's hearts. When I watched the original film I was especially touched by the delicate and complex emotions expressed in it," said Tian.
For his new start, many old friends came to help Tian, including old classmate Li Shaohong, who served as his executive producer, and Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) who lent his cinematographer Mark Li Ping-bin (李屏賓) to take charge of the lens. Oscar winner Tim Yip took care of set and costume design.
On the first day of shooting, sitting in the director's chair again after 10 years, watching his top-notch crew assemble, the tough-looking Tian was moved to tears.
The actors in the film are rather young, although the acting is adept. "He is an artist with much subtlety. But in the studio, he's like a father who takes care of you without your awareness," said actors Hu Jing-fan (胡靖釩) and Wu Jun (吳軍), who star in the film.
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