Table Of ContentTRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION
n
WhenmyformercolleagueatthemagazineChinaScreen,ZhangDan,in-
vitedmetolunchwithourmutualfriendProfessorNiZhenoftheBeijing
FilmAcademy,Iacceptedwithalacrity.ProfessorNiiserudite,cultured,
andsomethingofagourmet,soIexpectedbothinterestingconversation
andgoodfood.LittledidIknowIwouldalsobeaskedtoconsidertrans-
latingthisbook.IwasawareofthehonorProfessorNiwasbestowingon
me,butworriedif Ihadthetime.WhenIreadthemanuscript,however,
suchconcernsevaporated:Iknewatoncethatthiswasamostunusualand
excitingwork.Therefore,myfirstthanksaretoZhangDanforarranging
lunchandtoProfessorNiforgivingmetheopportunitytotranslatethis
fascinatingbook.
Theappealof MemoirsfromtheBeijingFilmAcademyformeliesinits
unusual and accessible style and in its scholarly significance: it is both a
goodreadandacontributiontoknowledgeanddebate.Noonecoulddis-
putethattheemergenceofthe‘‘FifthGeneration’’ofChinesefilmmakers
inthemid-1980swasthebreakthroughthatbroughtChinesecinematothe
attentionoftheworld.AstheEnglishcriticTonyRaynswrites,‘‘It’stempt-
ingtoputanexactdatetothebirthofthe‘NewChineseCinema’:12April
viii TRANSLATOR’SINTRODUCTION
1985.Thatwastheeveningwhen YellowEarthplayedtoapackedhousein
theHongKongFilmFestivalinthepresenceof itstwomaincreators,di-
rectorChenKaigeandcinematographerZhangYimou.Thescreeningwas
received with something like collective rapture, and the post-film discus-
1
sionstretchedlongpastitstimelimit.’’
Giventhiscrucialrole,theabsenceofamonographineitherChineseor
EnglishdevotedspecificallytotheFifthGenerationisstriking.Iamhappy
tosaythatMemoirsfromtheBeijingFilmAcademyfillsthatgap.Inthepro-
cessitgatherstogetheralargeamountofvitalinformationabouttheearly
days of the Fifth Generation and also rectifies many misunderstandings
about them. As Professor Ni points out in the preface hewrote specially
forthisedition,theprominenceattainedbyChenKaigeandZhangYimou
through successes such as Farewell, My Concubine and Raise the Red Lan-
tern has obscured the fact that the Fifth Generation includes manyother
equallydistinctivefilmmakers,eachwithhisorherownstyleandinterests.
ThereasonsfortheabsenceofamonographontheFifthGenerationin
ChinaitselfarereadilyinferredfromProfessorNi’spostscript,whichwas
alsowrittenspeciallyforthisedition.There,hefranklylaysoutthecritical
fateoftheFifthGenerationinpost-TiananmenChina,wheretherhetoric
of postcolonial theory has been appropriated to accuse these filmmakers
ofpanderingtotheWesterncolonialdesirefortheexotic.Inthisway,he
makesitclearthatthisbookisintendedasacriticalinterventioninthatde-
bateandareminderoftheidealsandconcernforChinathathavemotivated
theFifthGenerationfromtheirearliestdays.
MemoirsfromtheBeijingFilmAcademyalsoremindsusthatcriticaldis-
course cannot be divorced from the operations of power that either sup-
pressorfacilitateitsproductionanddistribution.Forallthelooseningof
governmentcontrolinthePeople’sRepublic,wecannotlosesightofthe
factthatnoneofthelocalusesofpostcolonialandpostmoderntheoryin
Chinatodaywouldbepossibleiftheyoffendedtheregime.However,al-
thoughthesecontemporarycriticalcurrentsmaysuittheregime,theyare
the products of today’s intellectuals.Therefore, we also need to ask why
so manyof today’s generation in China feel a need to denigrate and dis-
miss the more radical culture of the 1980s,which culminated in the 1989
DemocracyMovement.Isitreallysimplythattheyarecallous,materialis-
tic,andunmovedbyallthoseliveslostonormaybe—astheChinesegov-
ernment insists—‘‘only’’ near Tiananmen Square? Orare theyangry with
TRANSLATOR’SINTRODUCTION ix
Fromleft:NewZealand
scholarPaulClark;head
ofXi’anFilmStudioand
directorofOldWell,Wu
Tianming;thetranslator
ofthisvolume,Chris
Berry;andZhangYimou,
inBeijingin1986.Photo
courtesyoftheauthor.
theirpredecessorsbecauseultimatelytheyfailedtoproducelastingpoliti-
calandculturalreformtomatchChina’seconomictransformation?Oris
itthattheregime’sdeterminationtokeeppoliticalreformofftheagenda
meansthatdismissingthe1980siscrucialtomaintainingsocialcohesionin
thePeople’sRepublictoday?Atpresent,wecanonlyspeculateaboutthis,
forthefrankdiscussionofthetopicremainsoff-limitswithinthePeople’s
Republicitself.
Inadditiontoitscontributiontoknowledgeanddebatesaboutrecent
Chinese cinema and society, the narrative style of Memoirs from the Bei-
jingFilmAcademyisstrikingandunusual.Inthefirstchapter,ProfessorNi
remarks that the storyof the Fifth Generation is ‘‘like a legend.’’ And in-
deed,hetellsthestoryasthoughitwereanepisodeaboutabandofRobin
Hood-styleheroesfromTheWaterMarginorasimilarChinesemartialarts
classic.This strategy is an interesting one. First, it communicates the ap-
pealoftheFifthGenerationphenomenonforitsmanysupporters,andit
makes the book a joy to read. Second, it highlights theway in which all
historynarrativizesfactualdata,aswellastherolethatthisprocessplaysin
decidingwhatandwhogetsthespotlight.Forexample,asoneoftheDuke
UniversityPressreaderspointedout,thereisnodoubtthatthelegendof
theFifthGenerationisamaleone.Thefemalemembersofthegroup,al-
thoughnotignored,getrelativelylessattention.Itisalsoahighlypatriotic
narrative.
Theuniquestyleinwhichthisvolumeiswritten—blurringthebound-
x TRANSLATOR’SINTRODUCTION
aries of conventional academic analysis, biography, and storytelling—is a
strongpartofitsappeal.Whenweconsidertheauthor’sbackground,how-
ever, this style is not a surprise. Professor Ni is not only one of China’s
leading film scholars, he is also one of the teachers of the Fifth Genera-
tion and a leading screenwriter responsible for some of their most note-
worthyfilms.InhisworkasaprofessorattheBeijingFilmAcademysince
1980,NiZhencametoknowtheFifthGenerationasstudentsandfriends
longbeforetheyevermadefilms,givinghimaccesstothepersonalhisto-
riesandfrankcommentsgivenhere.AsthechiefeditoroftheAcademy’s
journal, he has also written numerous scholarly articles, some of which
havepreviouslyappearedinEnglish.Moreover,ProfessorNiistheauthor
of a number of the most important contemporary monographs on Chi-
nese cinema, including The Exploratory Screen and Reform and the Chinese
2
Cinema. This scholarlyeffort accounts for the rigorous research and de-
tailofthevolume.Finally,ProfessorNi’sstorytellingskillsareattestedto
byhisnumerousfilmandtelevisionscreenplays,includingtheFifthGen-
erationclassicsBlush,directedbyLiShaohong,andRaisetheRedLantern,
directed by ZhangYimou,which was nominated foran Academy Award
forBestForeignLanguageFilm.
ProfessorNihasalsobroughthisscholarlyeyefordetailheretothepro-
ductionoftheEnglishedition.TohelpthereaderlessfamiliarwithChina
andtheworldofChinesecinema,hehasnotonlyproducedanewpreface
andpostscript,butalsoworkedwithmetoprovidethenecessarycitations
forquotationsandreferencesthattheeducatedChinesereaderwouldtake
for granted.We have also inserted the dates of all films mentioned in the
maintextontheirfirstappearance,exceptwherethedateisclearfromthe
immediatecontext.Inaddition,IamparticularlygratefultoProfessorNi
fortakingtimeoutfromhishecticscheduletoanswermynumerousques-
tionsaboutthetextitself.Muchofthisadditionalworkoccurredduringa
tripfundedbytheInternationalResearcherExchangeProgramoftheAus-
tralianResearchCouncil.Itwasalsoduringthisperiodofworktogether
thatwedecidedtoaddtheelementsmentionedabove.
IalsowanttothankDukeUniversityPresseditorReynoldsSmithfor
hisgoodhumor,patience,andpersistence.ThanksalsotoCuiJianforan-
sweringmy‘‘stupidforeigner’’questionsasItranslatedthemanuscript.My
old friend and colleague from China Film Corporation, Shan Dongbing,
who has always been generous with his time and knowledge, helped me
TRANSLATOR’SINTRODUCTION xi
again by tracing numerous English export titles of films and reading my
translation against the original. I am forever in his debt.Cui Junyan also
checkedthetranslationagainsttheoriginal.Ireliedonthatmostdedicated
fan of Hollywood classics,Chen Mei, to help me trace back the original
English titles from the Chinese, and on Aiko Yoshioka, Dr. Raj Pandey,
Seio Nakajima, and Professor Chong Suwon to help me trace Japanese
names and film titles. Sally Ingleton helped with film production termi-
nology,andDr.BillRouttwithreferencestoSovietcinema.Toallofthem,
Iamverygrateful.Last,andmaybemostimportantofall,FredaFreiberg
gavegenerouslyofhertimetoreadthefinalmanuscriptandmakenumer-
ousastutesuggestionsregardingcorrectandfelicitoususeofEnglish;with
gratitude,Iincorporatednearlyallofthem.Anyremainingproblemsand
errorsare,ofcourse,myown.
ChrisBerry
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
n
When they came to Beijing in March 1994, my Japanese friends Kimata
Junji and Seki Masami urged me towrite a book about the earlydays of
theFifthGeneration.Theyrequestedanaccountoftheiryouthfulexperi-
encesbeforeenteringtheBeijingFilmAcademyandduringthemovement
tosendeducatedyouthsupintothemountainsanddowntothecountry-
side, their student days at the Academy, and the production of their first
films.AsIunderstoodit,theywantedmetowriteakindofprehistoryof
FifthGenerationcinema.
Theystipulatedaccuratehistoricalmaterialsandlivelywritingwithan
emphasis on fact overcommentary, so that readers could trace the emer-
genceoftheFifthGenerationforthemselves.BecauseIbeganteachingat
the Beijing Film Academy in the early 1980s, I became both mentorand
friendtotheFifthGeneration.WhenOneandEightand YellowEarthap-
peared, I alsowrote quite a few reviews to drawattention to them.That
is why Kimata Junji and Seki Masami felt I would be suited to the task
they proposed. And this is how the first edition of this book came to be
publishedinJapaneseinNagoya,Japan.
Intheearly1980s,ZhangYimou,ChenKaige,TianZhuangzhuang,Li
xiv PREFACETOTHEENGLISHEDITION
ShaohongandtheothermembersoftheFifthGenerationwerestillonly
students,buttheiroutlineswerebecomingvisibleonthehorizon.Events
fromtheirstudentdaysinaflotillaofbuildingslandlockedbythefieldsof
ZhuxinVillageoutsideBeijingcamereadilyandvividlytomymind.How-
ever, they had taken separate creative paths over the last decade, and so I
feltIshouldintervieweachofthesedirectors,cinematographers,soundde-
signers,andproductiondesignersthatIusedtobesocloseto.Withtheir
agreement,betweenMarchandMay1994Itookadvantageofgapsintheir
busyshootingschedulestoseekthemoutonebyoneandconductdetailed
interviewswiththem.
What a wonderful and happy time that was! We went over familiar
andmovingstories,delvingdeepintotheirmemoriesforpastevents.We
remembered bitter and almost unbelievable incidents from the Cultural
Revolution period. And we reviewed the many slings and arrows Fifth
Generationcinemahadenduredasitemerged.Whilewetalked,Iexperi-
encedthemixtureofdistanceandunderstandingthatcharacterizesthespe-
cialrelationshipbetweentwogenerations.Iheardmanystoriesfromtheir
youths that were unique yet also had much in common with other tales
fromtheupheavalsoftheCulturalRevolution.Together,theyconstituted
theprehistoryofafilmartmovementthatthisbooksupplies,aswellasa
collective biographyof the Fifth Generation filmmakers. From these em-
pirical materials, I not only gained a deeper understanding of the artistic
tendenciesofearlyFifthGenerationcinema,butIalsoformedthestructure
ofmyargument,whichrevealsitself betweenthelinesofthistext.
WheneveranyonementionsChina’sFifthGenerationcinematoday,the
focus of attention is sure to be on Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. This
tendency evolved gradually over the last fifteen years. There is no ques-
tion that their work together produced the stark look, powerful emo-
tions, national anxiety, and deep reflection that characterize early Fifth
Generationcinema.Theircollaborationandlatersplitshapedthisfilmart
movementdecisively.However,themostnoteworthyhistoricalfactsdocu-
mented here concern the development of another Fifth Generation film-
maker,Tian Zhuangzhuang. Hewas very prominent during theircollege
daysandaroundthetimeoftheirgraduation,andhislyricalartisticstyle,
organizational abilities, and personal charisma indicated that hewas des-
tinedtoleadagroupofartists.Yet,ultimately,itwasZhangYimou,with
hisassertivelyexpressivefilmstyle,extraordinaryartistryandenergy,abso-
PREFACETOTHEENGLISHEDITION xv
Theauthor,ProfessorNiZhen,teachingintheAcademy’sProductionDesignDepartment
in1981.PhotocourtesyofBeijingFilmAcademy.
lute refusal to accept fate, and meticulous organizational skills, who be-
cametheactualfigureheadof FifthGenerationcinema.Hissuddenemer-
gence unexpectedlychanged the public face of this art movement from a
potentialcontinuationofFourthGenerationlyricismandnaturalisticreal-
ism to peculiarly Chinese imagery in strong and expressive colors. I feel
that uncovering the underlying reasons for this change and the historical
originsofthisartisticformationareimportantcontributionstohistory.
n
At the end of May 1994, I began writing the first chapterof this book in
high spirits. Because the materials were complete and I was familiar with
thecastofcharacters,Ifinishedthechapterinonestretchoverafewdays.
Sadly,justthenmywifeZhaoFengxidiscoveredduringamedicalcheckup
that she had lung cancer and that it was already advanced. This terrible
blowhadanimmediateeffectonmywriting.Ibecameverydistracted.My
wifewasanassociateprofessorintheCinematographyDepartmentofthe
Beijing Film Academy. She had a very close student-teacher relationship
withZhangYimou,HouYong,LüYue,GuChangwei,andmanyothers.
xvi PREFACETOTHEENGLISHEDITION
ShewasalsoatypicallytirelessandselflessChinesewoman.Assheignored
herillnessandexerciseddeterminedself-control,continuallyencouraging
me and spurring me on, I did my very best between June and early Au-
gust to focus on completing the remaining three chapters.There are evi-
dentdisparitiesbetweenthefirstchapterandthelastthree,whichareless
sophisticatedandmorehastilywritten.Furthermore,therearesomeinter-
view materials that I was unable to include in full, to my deep regret. I
will never forget early spring 1995. My wife’s illness had become critical.
Lü Yue, Hou Yong, and Xiao Feng came to her sickbed to express their
concern, and ZhangYimou called from Tokyo,where hewas engaged in
postproduction, especially to extend his sympathy. I have detailed these
events here because I want to express my profound gratitude to my late
wifeZhaoFengxi.Ialsowishtoofferabriefexplanationoftheweaknesses
andinadequaciesofthisbook.
n
Quite a number of overseas scholars expressed an interest in translating
this book for publication in English. My friend Chris Berry was one of
them.HeworkedinBeijingbetween1985and1988,duringwhichtimehe
wastheEnglish-languageconsultantforChinaFilmCorporation’sChina
Screen,thesoleperiodicalonChinesefilminforeignlanguagesatthattime.
Thisexperiencehasbeenanenormousaidtohiminthetranslationofthis
book,forhehimselfwitnessedtheburgeoningofFifthGenerationcinema.
To ensure accurate and expressive translation, he came especially to Bei-
jing for a month in winter 1999, and together we carefully checked the
historicaldetailsinthetranslationmanuscriptandtheprecisemeaningof
Chineseliteraryallusionsandquotationsinthetext.Ihavebeenveryim-
pressed by Chris Berry’s exhaustive work on the English translation and
hismeticulousattentiontodetail.Ihavetakenadvantageoftheoccasion
of the English edition to make a few additions to various chapters, sec-
tions, and passages, but without altering the framework or scope of the
original. Apart from this, the numberof photographs has been increased
significantly,fromtheoriginaltwenty-twotoafinaltotalofeighty-eight.
I would like to express my thanks to all of the Fifth Generation film-
makersdiscussedinthebook.Theirgenerousprovisionofwrittenmateri-
alsandphotographs,aswellastheirwillingnesstobeinterviewed,hasen-
abled the completion of the book and the strengthening of its contents.
PREFACETOTHEENGLISHEDITION xvii
Atthesametime,IwishtothankChrisBerryforhiseffortsonallfronts
concerningthetranslationandpublicationoftheEnglishedition,aswell
asDukeUniversityPressandReynoldsSmith,withoutwhosededication
itspublicationwouldhavebeenlessswift.
Imustalsomentionmyfriend,Mr.ShanDongbing.Hisassistancein
proofreading,carefullycheckingtheEnglishtranslationagainsttheorigi-
nal Chinese manuscript, and his work in finding source materials for the
filmographyhaveinvolvedalotofeffortandhavebeenanenormoushelp
inproducingtheEnglisheditionofthisbook.Here,Iexpressmygratitude
tohim.
