Wu Ziniu

Template:Chinese name Template:Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor Wu Ziniu (born November 3, 1953), is a Chinese film director and a member of the "Fifth Generation" film movement, a movement of filmmakers who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in the early 1980s. Unlike his better-known contemporaries, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, who made their name with historical dramas, Wu Ziniu is known for his war films. His 1985 film on the Sino-Vietnamese War, Dove Tree, was the first film by a Fifth Generation director to be banned by the Chinese government.

Directorial career

A member of the 1982 graduating class of the Beijing Film Academy, Wu was assigned to the Xiaoxing Film Studio. There he directed four films, including the children's film, The Candidate, the war films Secret Decree and Dove Tree, and the drama, The Last Day of Winter. After The Last Day of Winter, Wu expanded to other studios, working with the August First Film Studio to produce the war film, Evening Bell, which, despite the heavy hand of censorship, managed to win several international awards, including a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Throughout the late 1980s, Wu would continue to direct films, often highlighting the brutality of war and the effect on civilians, as in 1988's Joyous Heroes and its sequel Between Life and Death. With the 1990s, Wu would draw on foreign capital, primarily from Hong Kong to help produce his historical films Sparkling Fox and The Big Mill.

Filmography

Film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Notes
1983	The Candidate	候补队员	Directorial debut; co-directed with Chen Lu; also known as A Probation Member
1984	Secret Decree	喋血黑谷	Co-directed with Li Jingmin
1985	Dove Tree	鸽子树
1986	The Last Day of Winter	最后一个冬日
1988	Evening Bell	晚钟
	Joyous Heroes	欢乐英雄	Also known as To Die Like a Man
	Between Life and Death	阴阳界
1990	The Big Mill	大磨坊
1992	Mountains of the Sun	太阳山
1993	Sparkling Fox	火狐
1995	Don't Cry, Nanking	南京1937	Also known as Nanking 1937
1999	National Anthem	国歌
2000	The Sino-Dutch War 1661	英雄郑成功	Also known as Hero Zheng Chenggong
2005	Zhenguan Changge	贞观长歌	TV series. Also known as The Story of Zhen Guan

External links

• Wu Ziniu at IMDb
• Wu Ziniu at AllMovie
• Wu Ziniu at the Chinese Movie Database