Zhang Junzhao
Encyclopedia
Zhang Junzhao (b. 1952) is a Chinese
film director
and screenwriter
who was mainly active in the 1980s. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy
and a contemporary of such acclaimed directors as Zhang Yimou
, Chen Kaige
, and Tian Zhuangzhuang
, Zhang Junzhao was a prominent early member of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers. His 1984 film One and Eight
(Yi ge he ba ge) is well known as a film that marked the advent of the Fifth Generation, while The Shining Arc (弧光; Hu guang, 1988) was nominated for the Golden St. George award at the 1989 Moscow International Film Festival
.
province, China
. He became involved in the propaganda
plays put on by the Red Army
during the Cultural Revolution
, both as an actor
and a director
. In 1978 he entered the newly reopened Beijing Film Academy
; four years later, in 1982, he and his classmates Chen Kaige
and Zhang Yimou
were assigned to Guangxi Film Studio in Nanning
.
and designer He Qun
to make a war film called One and Eight
(Yi ge he ba ge). Set in 1939 against the backdrop of World War II
and communist China
's long standing conflict with Japan
, the film tells the story of nine men being held as prisoners by the Kuomintang
armies under Chiang Kai-shek
. When almost all the regular soldiers are killed, these nine men make the choice to fight beside the remnants of the army and acquit themselves with honor and bravery.
Although it was the first film production of Guangxi Studios, predating the internationally acclaimed Yellow Earth
(1984), the release of One and Eight
was stalled for three years by "official objections to portions of the storyline and consequent re-shooting and re-editing." Nonetheless it, along with Yellow Earth
, is widely considered to be one of the inaugural Fifth Generation films. Moreover, although wartime setting and the protagonists' overriding patriotism
were common elements of communist Chinese
cinema
, its emphasis on the individual over the group, its existential
tone, and its beautiful and innovative cinematography
helped to set it apart as the herald of a new generation of Chinese filmmakers.
film
scene with The Shining Arc (弧光; Hu guang). Its protagonist is a young woman, portrayed by Bai Ling
, who convinces herself that she is a witch. Placed in a mental hospital
, she is given over to the care of a probing female psychiatrist
. The film, like One and Eight
, "aims to pose existential
questions" and also "capture a certain mood of oriental mysticism
."
The Shining Arc was one of China
's entries into the 1989 Moscow International Film Festival
. It was nominated for the Golden St. George award, but lost to the Italian
film The Icicle Thief
.
and The Shining Arc, Zhang Junzhao also made two other, unremarkable films: Come on, China! (1985) and The Lonely Murderer (1986). The former was a sports film made in the wake of the four-year world championship of the Chinese
national women's volleyball
team; about the latter, even less information is available. Neither garnered a great deal of attention, and both are often omitted in surveys of Zhang Junzhao's work.
tradition." However, Zhang Junzhao was the first of them to turn away from such films for the sake of popular entertainment. Justifying his actions, he "suggested finding a middle ground between the elite and the popular taste, calling, somewhat naively, for compromise and harmony between audiences and artists." Still, Junzhao also took into account what he believed to be political necessity when it came to the content and structure of his films, claiming that his conservative and conventional work was necessary to survive in the face of China
's political censorship
policies: "Horse Thief
and On the Hunting Ground lost tens of thousands of yuan between them, and no one went to them,” he said in one interview, talking about fellow director
and Beijing Film Academy
graduate Tian Zhuangzhuang
. “Do you think the Xi’an Film Studio will dare to use him again?”
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
who was mainly active in the 1980s. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...
and a contemporary of such acclaimed directors as Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
, Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
, and Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer.Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an amateur photographer and then as an assistant cinematographer at the Beijing Agricultural Film...
, Zhang Junzhao was a prominent early member of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers. His 1984 film One and Eight
One and Eight
One and Eight is a landmark Chinese film from 1983. The film tells the story of eight criminals and a deserting Chinese officer in the communist Eighth Route Army caught in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Zhang Junzhao, One and Eight also features cinematography by the...
(Yi ge he ba ge) is well known as a film that marked the advent of the Fifth Generation, while The Shining Arc (弧光; Hu guang, 1988) was nominated for the Golden St. George award at the 1989 Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
.
Early life and career
Zhang Junzhao was born in 1952 in HenanHenan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He became involved in the propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
plays put on by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, both as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and a director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. In 1978 he entered the newly reopened Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...
; four years later, in 1982, he and his classmates Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
and Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
were assigned to Guangxi Film Studio in Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
.
One and Eight
In 1984, as an assistant director at Guangxi Studios, Zhang Junzhao teamed up with cinematographer Zhang YimouZhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
and designer He Qun
He Qun
He Qun is a Chinese filmmaker. A graduate of the 1982 class of the Beijing Film Academy, he is an inaugural member of China's "Fifth Generation" movement.-Early life:...
to make a war film called One and Eight
One and Eight
One and Eight is a landmark Chinese film from 1983. The film tells the story of eight criminals and a deserting Chinese officer in the communist Eighth Route Army caught in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Zhang Junzhao, One and Eight also features cinematography by the...
(Yi ge he ba ge). Set in 1939 against the backdrop of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and communist China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's long standing conflict with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the film tells the story of nine men being held as prisoners by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
armies under Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
. When almost all the regular soldiers are killed, these nine men make the choice to fight beside the remnants of the army and acquit themselves with honor and bravery.
Although it was the first film production of Guangxi Studios, predating the internationally acclaimed Yellow Earth
Yellow Earth
Yellow Earth is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in...
(1984), the release of One and Eight
One and Eight
One and Eight is a landmark Chinese film from 1983. The film tells the story of eight criminals and a deserting Chinese officer in the communist Eighth Route Army caught in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Zhang Junzhao, One and Eight also features cinematography by the...
was stalled for three years by "official objections to portions of the storyline and consequent re-shooting and re-editing." Nonetheless it, along with Yellow Earth
Yellow Earth
Yellow Earth is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in...
, is widely considered to be one of the inaugural Fifth Generation films. Moreover, although wartime setting and the protagonists' overriding patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
were common elements of communist Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, its emphasis on the individual over the group, its existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
tone, and its beautiful and innovative cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
helped to set it apart as the herald of a new generation of Chinese filmmakers.
The Shining Arc
In 1989, after something of a dry spell, Zhan Junzhao reappeared on the ChineseChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
scene with The Shining Arc (弧光; Hu guang). Its protagonist is a young woman, portrayed by Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, who convinces herself that she is a witch. Placed in a mental hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, she is given over to the care of a probing female psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
. The film, like One and Eight
One and Eight
One and Eight is a landmark Chinese film from 1983. The film tells the story of eight criminals and a deserting Chinese officer in the communist Eighth Route Army caught in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Zhang Junzhao, One and Eight also features cinematography by the...
, "aims to pose existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
questions" and also "capture a certain mood of oriental mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
."
The Shining Arc was one of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's entries into the 1989 Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
. It was nominated for the Golden St. George award, but lost to the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
film The Icicle Thief
The Icicle Thief
The Icicle Thief is a 1989 film by Italian director Maurizio Nichetti, named in imitation of Vittorio De Sica's classic Italian neorealist movie, The Bicycle Thief . Some feel "The Icicle Thief" was created as a spoof of neorealism, which predominated Italian cinema after World War II...
.
Minor works
In the period between One and EightOne and Eight
One and Eight is a landmark Chinese film from 1983. The film tells the story of eight criminals and a deserting Chinese officer in the communist Eighth Route Army caught in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Zhang Junzhao, One and Eight also features cinematography by the...
and The Shining Arc, Zhang Junzhao also made two other, unremarkable films: Come on, China! (1985) and The Lonely Murderer (1986). The former was a sports film made in the wake of the four-year world championship of the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
national women's volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team; about the latter, even less information is available. Neither garnered a great deal of attention, and both are often omitted in surveys of Zhang Junzhao's work.
Film and politics
Zhang Junzhao and his fellow Fifth Generation filmmakers "were famous for their participation...in making experimental art films that challenged the socialist realistSocialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
tradition." However, Zhang Junzhao was the first of them to turn away from such films for the sake of popular entertainment. Justifying his actions, he "suggested finding a middle ground between the elite and the popular taste, calling, somewhat naively, for compromise and harmony between audiences and artists." Still, Junzhao also took into account what he believed to be political necessity when it came to the content and structure of his films, claiming that his conservative and conventional work was necessary to survive in the face of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's political censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
policies: "Horse Thief
The Horse Thief
The Horse Thief is a 1986 Chinese film by acclaimed director, Tian Zhuangzhuang. It follows one of Tian's favorite topics, Chinese minorities, a topic he touched upon in 1984's On the Hunting Ground and would return to in 2004's documentary, Delamu...
and On the Hunting Ground lost tens of thousands of yuan between them, and no one went to them,” he said in one interview, talking about fellow director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...
graduate Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer.Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an amateur photographer and then as an assistant cinematographer at the Beijing Agricultural Film...
. “Do you think the Xi’an Film Studio will dare to use him again?”
External links
- Zhang Junzhao at the Chinese Movie Database