16 | Friday, May 7, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Still images (from left) of the espionage film Cliff Walkers featuring Liu Haocun, Zhu Yawen, Qin Hailu and Zhang Yi, who play four Communist Party agents. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY License to thrill Director and master storyteller conquers new genres as he continues to entertain audiences, Xu Fan reports. t the age of 71, Zhang international distribution. Yimou still relishes the Alex Yeung, vice-chairman of “lights, camera, action” Emperor Motion Pictures and the moment of his work. The movie’s co-executive producer, iconicA master of China’s celebrated recalls that his father Albert Yeung fifth-generation directors still met with director Zhang for the first enjoys his packed schedule, which time in June 2018. demands creativity and productiv- “They hit it off immediately. They ity. soon agreed to collaborate on a Five months after One Second, con- quality film that makes people shout sidered the auteur’s love letter to cine- ‘bravo’. In the same year, we further ma, received widespread acclaim, his developed this film and production latest offering Cliff Walkers hit local kicked off in 2019,” recalls Alex theaters on April 30 as one of 12 new Yeung. movie releases. On May 3, it deposed Datong in Shanxi province dou- My Love as the top grossing movie in bles as old-time Harbin, with recon- the country. structions of buildings and streets, In more good news for his diehard while snowy scenes were shot in fans, they will not have to wait too Xuexiang, or Snow Town, in Hei- long to enjoy the renowned film- longjiang province. maker’s next project. The Coldest Admitting that the film has also Gun, the tale of a legendary sniper enriched his knowledge about Chi- which Zhang co-directs with his na’s revolutionary martyrs, he daughter, is scheduled to hit cine- says: “I felt quite overwhelmed mas in October. when I heard this story for the first Marking Zhang’s first foray into time. That generation (the early the espionage genre, Cliff Walkers — members of the Communist Party set in the Japanese-occupied puppet of China) was stoic and dedicated. state of “Manchukuo” during the They are the true nameless heroes War of Resistance Against Japanese who contributed to build a safe and Aggression (1931-45) — follows four harmonious society and deserve to Soviet Union-trained Chinese be remembered.” agents attempting to sneak into With China effectively bringing Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang COVID-19 under control, and the province, to rescue an escapee from Director Zhang Yimou on the film set of his first spy movie Cliff Walkers in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. distribution of vaccines, the domes- a camp where the Japanese are con- tic film industry has seen a recov- ducting lethal experiments on pris- ery from the second half of last oners. cess, Zhang says that, since then, More than 10 Chinese managed to year. During his recent interviews few hit spy movies have been pro- escape from the prison, but most “There is no doubt that the govern- with the popular video platforms duced. As a result, he decided to died soon after being recaptured or ment has helped us resume work and Bilibili and Douyin, Zhang says he delve into the genre after being I felt quite overwhelmed when I heard this from hunger and injury. Only a few production in an orderly manner by has always been interested in step- contacted to direct Cliff Walkers. story for the first time. That generation managed to survive. taking effective measures to control ping into new genres, as he believes Scriptwriter Quan Yongxian says One of the survivors — who died the pandemic,” Alex Yeung says. the Chinese film industry needs to the story is sort of a loose prequel of (the early members of the Communist Party on the battlefield fighting the Japa- “I firmly believe that the Chinese expand its variety of movies to his 2012 TV series The Brink, about a of China) was stoic and dedicated. nese two years later — was the inspi- film market will continue to flour- match its massive market scale. couple of heroic underground Com- ration for the film’s plot. Quan ish. However, I think that the audi- Despite spy films being a popular munist Party members. They are the true nameless heroes.” conceived the script as a tribute to ence’s aesthetic sensibility is genre in world cinema, China’s sil- Quan, a native of Jiamusi in Hei- mark those lesser-known heroes. continually increasing, and that Alex Yeung, co-executive producer of Cliff Walkers, ver screens have, in contrast, gener- longjiang province, says he has a also vice-chairman of Emperor Motion Pictures China’s revolutionary titles are they have higher expectations for ally depended on action strong personal interest in the war- mostly produced by Chinese main- the content and production of mov- blockbusters or comedies. time history of northeastern China land companies, but Cliff Walkers ies, which spurs filmmakers to Highlighting the fact that The and how people there resisted the aged to read historical records, camp located in Beiyinhe village attracted the attention of the Hong improve,” he concludes. Message — a 2009 Chinese espio- Japanese invaders. stumbling upon the thrilling details outside Harbin, where the Japanese Kong studio Emperor Motion Pic- nage movie starring Zhou Xun and As his elder sister worked at a of a prison break from Zhongma army conducted biological warfare tures, which is one of its main pro- Contact the writer at Li Bingbing — was a box-office suc- local chronicle archive, Quan man- Fortress in 1934. This was a death research on prisoners. ducers and will handle the movie’s [email protected] White Horse legend gallops into the present on talent show By XU FAN change their minds with these fresh and creative remakes.” Ancient legends can enjoy anoth- Echoing Huang’s words, Liu Feng, er lease of life, and reach new gener- another of the five winners, says the ations, when their tales are adapted show caters to the changing prefer- for a modern audience. The Song of ences of youngsters, who are becom- the White Horse exemplifies how ing more interested in creating true this is. The classic poem was artistic productions that blend written more than 1,800 years ago ancient Chinese culture with trendy, by Cao Zhi, the son of Cao Cao, a fashionable elements. powerful warlord during the Three A student at the National Acade- Kingdoms (220-280) period. It viv- my of Chinese Theatre Arts, Liu idly depicts a fearless warrior vow- excels in playing the sanxian, a Chi- ing to sacrifice everything for his nese instrument which has three country and save it from the ravages strings. In his musical performance, of invaders. Liu plays a swordsman who uses the On April 30, the masterpiece got a instrument as a weapon. new musical rendering in the finale Huang Zihongfan, a US-educated singer, sings The Song of the White Horse (left) and performs in a musical piece about a time-traveling Zhou Cong, the program’s chief of the popular variety show Bravo mammoth (right) on the variety show Bravo Youngsters. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY director, says most of the more than Youngsters, a 10-episode program 30 contestants are top students which aired on multiple platforms, from conservatories, music majors including several channels of China back, Huang’s rendering took audi- they relocated to Chengdu, Sichuan mammoth traveling in a time than in previous eras. from universities or promising Central Television. More than 190 ences, and jurors, back to an era of province. machine to a futuristic world, man- But the show’s top draw for musicians from State-level troupes musical works were performed on war-torn turbulence. It earned him Growing up in a city that houses a aging to escape being hunted by Huang — who, in a twist of fate, took and are all younger than 26. the show. a winning score, propelling him into giant panda research base, Huang early humans and avoiding the part after a friend’s suggestion — is Zhou says that the crew’s early As one of 35 young contestants one of the five berths of a new music soon developed a curiosity about the extinction of its species. that the program encourages young research found that the love and selected from around 50,000 candi- group formed by the show’s top per- relationship between nature and Of course, in reality, these woolly talent to incorporate their imagina- pride of young audiences for their dates from home and overseas, formers, which will be promoted humankind, as well as a deep appre- creatures became extinct, due large- tion and professional skill to rede- country and their ethnic culture Huang Zihongfan, a 22-year-old stu- with the help of the show’s producer, ciation of the importance of protect- ly, scientists believe, to a warming fine classical music and traditional have reached a new high in recent dent of Berklee College of Music in and the country’s largest broadcast- ing endangered animals. climate and hunting. Huang says operas. years, coinciding with China’s rise as the United States, employed West- er, China Media Group. Before he offered an interpreta- the piece — a remake of singer Huo “Many young people commonly a global economic powerhouse. He ern techniques to sing the poem. A native of Lanzhou, Northwest tion of The Song of the White Horse, Zun’s The Time Travel of a Mam- think of classical music as boring adds that he hopes the show will With a giant electronic screen China’s Gansu province, Huang left Huang, along with three other con- moth — marks his hope that people and outdated, and they are reluc- reach more young people to help installed on the stage to display a his hometown with his musically testants, performed a science fic- in the 21st century will pay greater tant to study and practice classical them recognize the charm of tradi- video clip featuring troops on horse- inclined family at the age of 9 when tion-themed musical piece about a attention to biological diversity works,” says Huang.