There are so many things I hated about this movie that I don't know where to begin. Props first, Zhang Yimou is doing an awesome job behind the camera which, in my opinion saved it from total anonymity.
Yellow Earth, according to me is a very pretentious work of art. Chen Kaige has one immortal quote saying something like :"I don't care about the public, I do art"(sorry if it's not the exact words, I had the quote in french). That's wrong, that's terribly wrong. You can't do art without people to watch and appreciate it. That's what art is about. Art is about things being seen and appreciated. I appreciated Yimou's camera work, but everything else I hated. Poor acting, poor exploitation of a good idea, annoying Chinese traditional signing...and this damn Chinese obsession with doing nothing. It's like Kaige's characters were frozen up by Mao's broken promises. I know that was Kaige's idea to show that, but all in all it gave a pretty boring movie , targeted to a very slim audience. Word is that even the Chinese didn't liked it.
Yellow Earth, according to me is a very pretentious work of art. Chen Kaige has one immortal quote saying something like :"I don't care about the public, I do art"(sorry if it's not the exact words, I had the quote in french). That's wrong, that's terribly wrong. You can't do art without people to watch and appreciate it. That's what art is about. Art is about things being seen and appreciated. I appreciated Yimou's camera work, but everything else I hated. Poor acting, poor exploitation of a good idea, annoying Chinese traditional signing...and this damn Chinese obsession with doing nothing. It's like Kaige's characters were frozen up by Mao's broken promises. I know that was Kaige's idea to show that, but all in all it gave a pretty boring movie , targeted to a very slim audience. Word is that even the Chinese didn't liked it.