Balance Between Popularization And Individuation

Zhang Yang's films present an aesthetic feature of balance between popularization and individuation. This paper will explore the feature from many aspects such as theme selection, audio-visual language, and culture and so on.Part I: expressions of correspondence: rewriting of the relationship between father and son.The father-and-son relationship is always an important theme in Zhang's film. His works after Spicy Love Soup all focus on discussion about family problems, especially on complex father-and-son relationship; in this sense, Bath, Quitting, Sunflower directed by him constitute a father-and-son trilogy.In Zhang's works, such as his father-and-son trilogy, he makes profound analysis on the father-and-son relationship as well as its underlying value systems. In his film stories about father-and-son relationship, the returning process of the son from rebel to recognition is displayed by tracing the psychological axis of "resistance-compromise-understanding". On the one hand, the paper tries to understand Zhang Yang from the perspective of the cultural market demand; on the other hand, the rebel-to-recognition process can cater to the public because, to some extant, it is the psychological commonness of human beings. And we will analyze this correspondence with model Lacan in psychoanalysis.Part II: refraction of urban debris: the urban fable during the process of modernization.As a member of the sixth-generations directors, something young or personal can be traced in Zhang's film stories of urban life, however, different from marginalization and minority of other contemporary films, Zhang Yang shows us urban life on the stand of the ordinary people who are in the center of the urban life. His expressions on this subject are still related to the subtle balance between popularization and individuation.When Zhang Yang presents the city life, his goal is not only to quickly display a stylish urban context, but also to reveal urban survival situation. This awareness determines three features of his urban films, i.e., first, urban landscapes with tall buildings, flourishing streets and crowed throngs; second, bustling of the city providing a contrast to humanity peace; third, deep perspectives of opposition between lifestyles and values. The three aspects above construct Zhang's metaphor of the current era in his film. While reflecting on images of rural China by the fifth-generation directors, Zhang Yang is also prudent to urban civilization. He observes history from his own point of view and reconstruct self-value on the edge of cities with modern industrial civilization. It is said that Zhang Yang's urban films not only reflect objective scenes and emotional stories, but also produce a far call-response between home and cities, which was put forward by American scholars, Be11 &Valentine.Part III: subtle balance between popularization and individuation.When making films Zhang Yang tries to keep balance between commercial and cultural elements, and meanwhile he pays attention to personal expression and artistic pursuit. This value orientation is embodied not only in Zhang Yang's theme selection, but also in his application of languages. First, Zhang Yang's experimental chippy narration takes on the personal style. But furthermore it implies traditional linear narrative structure, respecting people's Ying-xi mentality. Second, in aesthetic style, his films, greater or lesser, show the general tendency which is popular in the sixth-generation director, such as self-record, self-writing, etc. But in his stories, the speculation upon families and human beings infiltrated with traditional Chinese culture is an integral part of cultural parlor, which makes his films a return to traditional aesthetic values. Third, Zhang's films have adopted a variety of music. The contextualization of popular music, symbolization of classical music and the life of rock music all take on the uniqueness of his films.Part IV: independent film production mode.When we research Zhang Yang's film, we cannot ignore Luo Yi and his Yi Ma Film technology Limited Company in Xian.Inseparable from Luo Yi and his company's principles, Zhang's films keep good balance between box-office and arts. From the father-and-son trilogy at the very beginning, Zhang Yang's film production team has gradually been powerful with the increase in funds. It is believed that Zhang Yang now has favorable conditions for film production. In this case the movie creation is so easily affected by the market that the directors gradually lost their own features. But Zhang Yang maintains his style successfully. He constantly produces effective business-attraction, and meanwhile he depicts the sprats'fortune and experiences standing on the position of the ordinary, the sprats and even the marginal people of Chinese society, which makes his creations, remain calm, moderate, humanistic features by the author.Part V: conclusionZhang Yang is always trying to find a delicate crosspoint between the public and the individuals. After this films can not only convey the director's personal reflection but also access to the emotional resonance and exchanges in the level of public acceptance. In the domestic market, on the one hand, films with high-input, big-production, lofty-tone and high box-office are produced continuously. However, deep cultural crisis is hidden behind the false prosperity; on the other hand, while a series of films, such as Still Life by Jia Zhangke, win a number of rewards in the international art circle, the box-office at home is on the downturn. Against this background, no doubt his pursuit of art should be of more concern. And his creative thinking and mode of operation bring another kind of choice and expectation to the current Chinese films.