Cinema irreversibly influenced my whole life,” says Zhang Yimou, 70, the esteemed filmmaker from China’s so-called Fifth Generation, whose work ranges from lush period pieces (Raise The Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad) to blow-out actioners (Hero, The Great Wall). Now he’s digging back into his early years with One Second, about a travelling movie show in rural China circa 1975.
What drew you to making One Second?
I started as a cinematographer. When I was young, I studied photography, learning the techniques, using very simple equipment, and I have many memories of developing film. Later I became a film director, and those memories were still vivid. I have always wanted to tell such a story by combining those memories of cinema and celluloid, the material of film, to show people’s obsession…
