Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese filmmaker. A leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, Chen is known for his visual flair and epic storytelling.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers. Columbia University Press, pg. 83; (7 January 1994) FILM / Critical Round-up independent.co.uk For Farewell My Concubine (1993), Chen became the first Chinese director to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Early life Chen Kaige was born in Beijing, China into a family of Changle, Fuzhou origin, and grew up with fellow Fifth Generation alumnus Tian Zhuangzhuang as a childhood friend. His father was a well-known director in his own right. His mother Liu Yanchi () was a senior screenwriter. During the Cultural Revolution, Chen joined the Red Guards and denounced his own father, a fateful decision he eventually learned to regret and informs much of his work, notably in the unblinking depictions of the Cultural Revolution in Farewell My Concubine, and in the father-son relationship in Together. In 1969, Chen became a sent-down youth in Xishuangbanna Agricultural Reclamation Bureau before enlisting in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) next year. In 1975, Chen was discharged from the army and returned to Beijing, where he worked as a worker in Beijing Film Printing Factory. In 1978 Chen joined the Beijing Film Academy, where he graduated in 1982.

Career Upon graduating, Chen was assigned to the Guangxi Film Studio, along with a fellow graduate, Zhang Yimou. His first movie, Yellow Earth (1984), established itself as one of the most important works of Fifth Generation filmmaking; though simple, its powerful visual imagery, courtesy of cinematography by Zhang, and revolutionary storytelling style marked a sea change in how films were seen and perceived in the People's Republic of China. The film is unique in terms of concept, structure, and style, in line with the "cultural roots seeking" trend that emerged in China in the 1980s. The purpose of filming this film is to attempt to explore the deep cultural heritage of national history and spirit from a cultural perspective. The Big Parade (1986) and King of the Children (1987) expanded on his filmic repertoire. In 1987, he was awarded a fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council and served as a visiting scholar at the New York University Film School. Early in 1989, he did further experiment in a music video for the song "Do You Believe in Shame?" by Duran Duran. Later that year, he made Life on a String, a highly esoteric movie which uses mythical allegory and lush scenery to tell the story of a blind sanxian musician and his student. In the same year, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.

His most famous film in the West, Farewell My Concubine (1993), follows two Beijing opera stars through decades of change in China during the twentieth century. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Palme d'Or at 1993 Cannes Film Festival and the 1993 International Federation of Film Critics Award. Chen followed up the unprecedented success of Farewell My Concubine with Temptress Moon (1996), another period drama starring Leslie Cheung and Gong Li. Though it was well received by most critics, it did not achieve the accolades that Concubine did, and many were put off by the film's convoluted plot line. Almost as famous is his The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), an epic involving the legendary King of Qin and the reluctant assassin who aims to kill him.

In 2002, Chen made his first, and to-date only, English-language film, Killing Me Softly, a thriller starring Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes, though it proved to be both a critical and popular disappointment. Together (2002) in the same year, which marked the beginning of his wife Chen Hong as his producer, is an intimate film about a young violinist and his father, showing the desire of young people to grow according to their spiritual guidance. In the short "Ten Minutes, Aging", the finale of the collection "Deep in Flowers," which opened the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2002, Chen selects the theme of urban renewal, a nation-wide program across China at the time characterized by large-scale demolition, and tells the story of the mentally ill "Mr. Feng" moving in a seemingly humorous tone. In 2005, he directed The Promise, an all-star fantasy wuxia picture, which saw Chen shifting to a more commercial mindset, regarded by some as a "radical stylistic turn" from his previous works.

In 2006, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2008, Chen directed Forever Enthralled, a biopic of Peking opera artist Mei Lanfang, followed by Sacrifice (2010), a re-imagining of the Chinese play The Orphan of Zhao. His 2012 film Caught in the Web, a reflection on internet culture—sometimes interpreted as his response to the parody frenzy surrounding The Promise—was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. His film Monk Comes Down the Mountain (2015), which may have suffered from editing issues due to the drug scandal involving one of its stars, Jaycee Chan, was a critical failure but achieved commercial success. He then directed Legend of the Demon Cat (2017), a big-budget Chinese-Japanese co-production adapted from the novel of the same name by Japanese fantasy novelist Baku Yumemakura.

Since 2019, Chen directed or produced a series of propaganda films that are sometimes commissioned by the Chinese government, including co-directing The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), with Tsui Hark and Dante Lam. China's highest-grossing film of all time.

In addition to directing, Chen has acted in several films, including Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987) and his own The Emperor and the Assassin and Together.

Personal life Chen's first wife was Sun Jialin (), whom he knew while working at the Beijing Film Factory from 1975 to 1978; they married in 1983 and divorced three years later. His second wife was Hong Huang, daughter of Zhang Hanzhi, a diplomat and English teacher of Mao Zedong. Through his second marriage, Chen obtained a US green card. They separated in 1991 and divorced in 1993. From 1991, Chen lived with Ni Ping, a television personality, in a six-year relationship. In 1996, Chen married actress Chen Hong, who has been his producer since Together (2002). They have two sons, Chen Yu'ang and "Arthur" Chen Feiyu.

Filmography Year Title Chinese Title Director Writer Producer Notes1984Yellow Earth 1986The Big Parade 1987King of the Children 1991Life on a String 1993Farewell My Concubine Palme d'Or winner at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival1996Temptress Moon 1998The Emperor and the Assassin 2002Killing Me Softly 2002100 Flowers Hidden Deep Segment in the anthology film Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet2002Together 2002 Silver Seashell for Best Director at the San Sebastián International Film Festival2005The Promise 2007Zhanxiou Village Vignette in the anthology film To Each His Cinema2008Forever Enthralled 2010Sacrifice 2012Caught in the Web Fictional treatment of the human flesh search engine.2015Monk Comes Down the Mountain 2017Legend of the Demon Cat 2019 My People, My Country 2021 The Battle at Lake Changjin 2022 The Battle at Lake Changjin II 2023 Flowers Bloom in the Ashes The Volunteers: To the War 2024 The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death 2025 The Volunteers: Peace at Last Swan Song

Television (as director) YearEnglish TltleChinese title Notes/1984Emergency Take-off 2002Lubu and Diaochan

Executive producer Year English title Chinese title Notes 2020 iQIYI web series

Actor YearEnglish titleChinese titleRoleNotes1987The Last EmperorCaptain of Imperial Guard1999The Emperor and the AssassinLü Buwei 2001 The Grand Mansion Gate An official guest2002TogetherYu Shifeng2009The Founding of a Republic Feng Yuxiang2012The Monkey King 3D: Uproar in Heaven Dragon King of the East China Sea Voice role

Awards and nominations International Year Nominated work Award Result Cannes Film Festival 1988 (41st) King of the Children Palme d'Or 1991 (44th) Life on a String 1993 (46th) Farewell My Concubine FIPRESCI Prize 1996 (49th) Temptress Moon Palme d'Or 1999 (52nd) The Emperor and the Assassin Berlin International Film Festival 2009 (59th) Forever Enthralled Golden Bear Academy Awards 1994 (66th) Farewell My Concubine Best International Feature Film Golden Globe Awards 1994 (51st) Farewell My Concubine Best Foreign Language Film 2006 (63rd) The Promise César Awards 1994 (19th) Farewell My Concubine Best Foreign Film Tokyo International Film Festival 2008 Akira Kurosawa Award Montreal World Film Festival 1987 (11th) The Big Parade Jury Grand Prize Locarno Festival 1985 (38th) Yellow Earth Silver Leopard Award Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2006 (47th) Lifetime Achievement Award

Domestic Year Nominated work Award Result Golden Rooster Awards 2004 (22nd) Together Best Director Best Picture 2009 (27th) Forever Enthralled Best Picture Best Director 2020 (33rd) My People, My Country 2022 (35th) The Battle at Lake Changjin Hundred Flowers Awards 2020 (35th) My People, My Country Best Director Huabiao Awards2009 (13th) Forever Enthralled Outstanding Director Outstanding Film 2011 (14th) Sacrifice Outstanding Film China Film Directors Association 2018 (9th) Legend of the Demon Cat Film of the Year Director of the Year Chinese Film Media Awards 2003 (3rd) Together Best Director 2011 (11th) Sacrifice Filmmaker of the Year Huading Awards 2020 (27th) My People, My Country Best Film Director Award Shanghai International Film Festival 2010 (13th) Chinese-language Film Outstanding Contribution Award Beijing College Student Film Festival 2009 (16th) Forever Enthralled Best Director Best Film 2018 (25th) Legend of the Demon Cat Best Director Best Viewing Effect Award Hong Kong Film Award 2004 (23rd) Together Best Asian Film Award 2009 (28th) Forever Enthralled Macau International Movie Festival2018 (10th) Legend of the Demon Cat Best Picture Best Director

Chen Kaige

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