The Esthetic Resort In Zhang Yimou’s Films

During Chinese films’ constant pursuit for perfection in cinematicart, the relations between films, nationality, and culture are becoming anincreasingly prominent problem. It manifests itself not only in the spiritualconnotation of films, but also in their esthetic resort in the pursuit of art. As amember of the Fifth Generation Directors, Zhang Yimou has been absolutelyoutstanding. The profound reflection about films and innovation in artistic formrepresent his salient artistic features. With the prevailing commercial culturenowadays, Zhang Yimou’s cinematic creation gradually rids itself of the culturalspirit of artistic films, which is a cultural phenomenon deserving attention inChinese films. This paper conducts studies on Zhang Yimou’s films from the verypoint of esthetic resort, and discusses the issue in the following four parts:The first chapter analyzes the social effect of Zhang Yimou’s films fromseveral aspects, including his personal esthetic understanding and value orientation,and the films’ cultural reflection and humanistic concerns.The second chapter analyzes the artistic aspect of Zhang Yimou’s films,displaying, through his works, the artistic pursuit and attitude, as well as theportrayal of artistic characters and nationalized artistic expression.The third chapter analyzes the commercial aspect of Zhang Yimou’s films.There is a strong presence of the transformation of films in a commercial economy,striking visual and sound effect, attempt at entertainment-orientation, and mutualcombination of commerce and art.The fourth chapter studies Zhang Yimou’s films from the perspective ofcultural inspection on esthetic resort, recognizing Zhang Yimou’s effort in the pluralcombination of traditional Chinese culture and western film model. However, theproblem resides in the absence of cultural connotation. The long-term developmentof films still depends on national spiritual culture.