Zhang Yimou’s costume action film SHADOW will screen at the 75th Venice International Film Festival and the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. It is reported that the film will have its global premiere at the famous 1000-person hall—SALA GRANDE on the evening of September 6. With a long history, this hall is the venue for key films (opening and closing films) and the awarding ceremony of the Venice International Film Festival.
SHADOW tells the story of a substitute. It is a martial arts (wuxia) film about the conflict between two feudal groups. In China, during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280 circa A.D.), an exiled king and his people develop a plot to regain control of their land. The events are told from the points of view of the king, his sister, his commander, the women trapped in the royal palace and a common citizen. As China’s leading film director, Zhang Yimou has directed various types of films, created the blockbuster era of Chinese films with HERO, and successfully directed such world-class events as the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Zhang Yimou, starting out as a photographer, is bold in color of filming. In the movie HERO, he carried the colors to the ultimate via black clothes of the Qin army as well as the red clothing and yellow leaves fluttering during the heroic battle. The green bamboos in HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, the golden armors in CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, and the five-color shadow-less imperial guards in THE GREAT WALL are all classical pictures of Zhang Yimou’s movies.
In the creation of SHADOW, Zhang Yimou made changes and no longer used bright colors. The film’s main style is replaced by simple and elegant black and white of wash ink, though it is not true colorlessness of black and white. Instead, the scene, props and clothing are presented in black, white and grey as much as possible by controlling material colors. The characters and some natural colors with scenes are not shown until being slightly reduced in saturation. Zhang Yimou mentioned when he was under an interview, “In the film, we’ve controlled color, but adopted no fading. We did it by controlling materials. It’s a little bit like an interesting Chinese ink painting.” For this change in style, Zhang Yimou said, “I started to think over it many years ago. My motivation comes from challenges it poses on me.” For this film, Zhang Yimou has still chosen to cooperate with his best partner- Photographer Zhao Xiaoding. They have worked together on many films including HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, and CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER.
Talking of Deng Chao and Sun Li who have starred in SHADOW, Zhang Yimou said frankly, “We will choose excellent actors. With a very good storyline, it is very important for actors to give vivid portrayal. Deng Chao has to play two roles, with one being himself and the other being the substitute. In the movie, he himself and the substitute are entangled amid love. Even his wife feels it hard to distinguish between them. This story tortures humanity concerning a people’s destiny and whereabouts. I personally like this story very much. Deng Chao acted very well. For one month, he had to eat like a pig, and train like a mad, and then in more than 20 days he had to lose weight rapidly to portray himself. The contrast between two roles is strikingly distinctive. We have not made physical changes with computer skills. I feel that this is rather a challenge for an actor. ”
This film has also taken the filming process into a documentary film, I MAKE A MOVIE IN CHINA, which shall be presented to the audience simultaneously.