The Village Voice
robert brink interviews li yang
At 8:30 tonight, Chinese film director Li Yang’s celebrated Blind Mountain will screen at the School of International and Public Affairs in Altschul Auditorium. For SIPA, Blind Mountain’s significance lies in its honest look at legal and human rights issues in China. For film students, the daring nature of the film will likely be a cause for conversation. Richard Pena, professor in the department of film studies, notes that Yang is “one of the leading members of a vibrant new generation of Chinese filmmakers who are taking long, hard looks at the human cost of their nation’s near-wondrous economic and social transformation. He’s that rare engaged artist whose works are both politically daring and emotionally affecting.” Blind Mountain opens at Film Forum on March 12 and runs until March 25. The advance screening at SIPA will be followed by a discussion with professors Andrew Nathan and Carole Vance.
What calls you to a new project?
I’m always concerned about how social change influences the family dynamic. So my next project is still about the people living on the edge.
In Blind Shaft, you went to the mines to do first-hand research. Was there a similar process preparing for Blind Mountain?
I spent two months in the rural countryside to do the research. I grew up in bigger cities. It’s not my particular life. So I needed to familiarize myself with everything.
What drew you out of the city?
Eighty percent of the population in China still lives in the village. The life of those people is richer than in the city. My film, the purpose of my film, is to focus and pay attention to people who are underprivileged.
I understand that you collaborated with non-actors as well as a trained actor in your lead role. What prompted this choice?
My film and my characters live on the edge of society. It’s about peasants and jobless people. All these actors right now in China are too pretty, too clean. I’m telling a real story—I can’t stand the fake acting. My non-actors—even though they don’t know how to act—they know how to be real.
Do you have demographic information on where your films have been viewed in China? Have they been viewed in the country, or just in the city?
My domestic distribution plan was to go over the bigger cities first, then the secondary cities, and then the countryside. We haven’t reached that yet. But of course pirated DVD goes faster than my distributor goes around the nation, so probably they will see the DVD version.
What is the impact of censors on filmmaking art?
Censorship is one of the most difficult challenges. The censorship system in China is structured like this: first of all, before you start any production, you need to submit your script to the Film Bureau. After the script is proofed, you get your permit.
Because of the censorship, many of the private film investors in China hesitate to invest in films that focus on this kind of genre. So the result of censorship is that we don’t have financiers for this particular kind of film.
So I used some of my money (most of my money), then borrowed money from friends, from relatives—my mom, my brother. The financial situation made it very hard to make a film like this to criticize political and social issues in China. But I think China needs this kind of film. We can’t just do that type of commercial film.
In the United States, we don’t face official censors directly, but we do have financial censorship, and there’s the issue of audience demand and readiness. Do you have to grapple with that?
My film is not for the mass audience. I can’t say everybody will love my film, but it’s for a particular crowd. The ones who care about social and political issues are always the intellectuals, no matter which dynasty in society. That’s a small number of the audience. The general population, they love comedies, mainstream Hollywood films.
When I did this film, I was prepared: my audience pull is going to be small. If one of a hundred of this population can see my film, that’s a massive number already.
Back to script censorship and the Bureau: were there many adjustments in getting the permit?
Yes, I changed my script a couple of times to get the shooting permit. The censorship depends on the particular official’s mood, and at the moment, what kind of political atmosphere surrounds that particular office. It varies.
Do you rule certain things out—adjust your film in advance to deal with projected censor issues?
I wasn’t ready for their comments. I couldn’t imagine what comments they would give me. There isn’t a set principle, so everything is plausible.
Were these cuts difficult to make?
Of course it’s very difficult for me to make alterations, because the final print is what I really wanted to express—but sometimes I sacrifice. It’s a hard choice, but in order to get theatrical release in China, it’s very important. I want my film to have an audience, even if it’s a small group.
With the economic change, political restrictions have loosened up in China in recent years. The censorship is a lot better than the last decade—the situation is improving.
Actually, as everybody here knows, the MPAA is another kind of censorship, and also—as you mentioned—the financiers censor everything before they put in their money. The unfortunate monster is the one who has tons of money, but an illiterate mind. Often in China, when we try to finance a film, the investor will say, “Oh, this is how I want it. This is the girl I want.” Many of those investors and distributors are doing things in the name of the audience. The various dictators will say, “Oh, the audience wants this and that. The audience doesn’t want yours.” But if my film is never in the theater in the first place, how can you imagine what the audience will want?
At least I have the final cut, right? Compared to the Hollywood director, I’m lucky.
Do particular filmmakers inspire you?
I went to school in Germany, and spent 14 years in Germany. I’m strongly influenced by the European directors and European artists: [Rainer Werner] Fassbinder and [Michelangelo] Antonioni. I’m influenced by Italian neorealism. My current, most favorite directors are the two brothers from Belgium who won Cannes [Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne].
Do you have a favorite Chinese film?
I like the Chinese films in the 1930s and ’40s, such as The Goddess. In the 1940s, many of the Chinese films focused on social criticism. I particularly like those.
For the sort of spectator who enjoys your work: what Chinese films do you recommend?
Yellow Earth, To Live, Farewell My Concubine, Pickpocket. It’s from the fourth generation, right after the Cultural Revolution. Of course, and mine too. \\\