Zhang Yimao Quotes

A number of Chinese filmmakers, including Chen Kaige and Li Shaohong, imitated Zhang's visual style in the early 1990s by multiplying various erotic images of the oriental Other for global consumption. Consequently, these films, usually sponsored by multinational corporations and catering to the tastes of global audiences, can be perceived as following the same model -- the Zhang Yimou model. To a great degree, this model also marks the end of formal experiment for the Fifth Generation directors because they must adopt a much more conventional way of filmmaking in order to meed the demand of the global market. ~ Tonglin Lu

To do art, one thing should always remember - subjects of people in misery have deep meanings. ~ Zhang Yimou

According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn't get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants."
"Dang it!" Frank Barked, which Leo figured was probably severe profanity for him.
No doubt Frank would've cursed some more -busting out the golly gees and the gosh darns- but Percy interrupted by doubling over and groaning.
"Did the world just turn upside down?" he asked.
Jason pressed his hands to his head. "Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow? ~ Rick Riordan

Addie was warm and radiant next to me, making up half of us. But I - I was Eva, Eva, Eva, all the way through. ~ Kat Zhang

Didn't it bother him that he was teaching his students poetry when he was certain it wouldn't make a difference in how their lives turned out? Didn't it bother him to be so sure that it was futile to even try? And what about us? What standards did we have? Weren't our fates sealed as well? What was I ever going to become? What stopped other people from looking at us and pitying us, how we didn't see the pointlessness in working so many jobs, moving from one shit place to another and scrimping on pennies, how we couldn't face the reality of our situation: that non of this was leading up to anywhere that was any different from where we had just been. ~ Jenny Zhang

They were catalysts, the fingers that tipped the first domino. They started things that grew into nothing things that were much greater than themselves. A touch, a nudge in the wrong direction, and everyone fell down. ~ Amy Zhang

Obviously I'd love to work with any of these great directors because every time I've worked with them I've gained a tremendous amount as an actor. Each director has his own way of pushing you towards improving yourself. ~ Zhang Ziyi

Computer hacking was like a chemical bond holding us all together. ~ Rachel Zhang

Pain was unimportant. Failure was unthinkable. ~ Rick Riordan

They never talked about it, but they both knew what they feared. More than anything, they feared they wouldn't have each other someday. ~ Amy Zhang

Hazel studied Reyna's outfit with concern. "Your sword's in the truck. Don't you want to take a shield or something?"
"Nah. I've got my cloak. It'll turn aside most weapons." Reyna brushed the collar of her sweater wrap. Instantly it unfurled into her usual purple cape.
Frank's smile faded. "Does my cloak do that?"
"See you, guys!" Reyna climbed behind the wheel.
"Wait, does my cloak deflect weapons?" Frank called after us. "Does mine turn into a sweater wrap?"
As we pulled away, I could see Frank Zhang in the rearview mirror, intently studying the stitching of his cape. ~ Rick Riordan

China reformed its state sector before, in the late 1990s. Tens of millions were laid off at the time. That was scary and we had warnings of social unrest. But it did not happen. Instead, there was a restructuring in our economic system. I am not sure if China will follow a Western playbook in this respect. ~ Zhang Xin

One second. A snapshot of fear and sweat and blood. ~ Kat Zhang

I remember threading my fingers through his and pressing our life lines together ~ Amy Zhang

I long to come home, but now, I will always come home to my family as a visitor, and that weighs on me, reverts me back into the teenager I was, but instead of insisting that I want everyone to leave me alone, what I want now is for someone to beg me to stay. ~ Jenny Zhang

Only my people can receive my glory and dwell with me in the holy city. Only those who are holy can be my people, and they may inherit eternal life. Only those who obey my commands can be holy, and they may be watched over by me. Only those who understand my word can obey my commands, and they may have the splendor of wisdom. ~ Zhang Yun

Miracles do not belong to fairy tales. Miracles belong to the desperate, because only the desperate believe in bullshit. ~ Amy Zhang

Whenever I'm home for a few days, I start to feel this despair at being back in the place where I had spent so many afternoons dreaming of getting away, so many late nights fantasizing about who I would be once I was allowed to be someone apart from my family, once I was free to commit mistakes on my own. How strange it is to return to a place where my childish notions of freedom are everywhere to be found - in my journals and my doodles and the corners of the room where I sat fuming for hours, counting down the days until I could leave this place and start my real life. But now that trying to become someone on my own is no longer something to dream about but just my ever-present reality, now that my former conviction that I had been burdened with the responsibility of taking care of this household has been revealed to be untrue, that all along, my responsibilities had been negligible, illusory even, that all along, our parents had been the ones watching over us - me and my brother - and now that I am on my own, the days of resenting my parents for loving me too much and my brother for needing me too intensely have been replaced with the days of feeling bewildered by the prospect of finding some other identity besides "daughter" or "sister." It turns out this, too, is terrifying, all of it is terrifying. Being someone is terrifying. I long to come home, but now, I will always come home to my family as a visitor, and that weighs on me, reverts me back into the teenager I was, ~ Jenny Zhang

And tonight - tonight, that was what she wished for. She wished to be happy, and fell asleep with an extra sky watching over her. ~ Amy Zhang

I do whatever pleases me, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. As I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. I am your Father. You are the clay, I am the potter; you are all the work of my hand. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. ~ Zhang Yun

Frank held up the Chinese handcuffs. Keep it simple. ~ Rick Riordan

Some things are easier to forget than other things, I'm noticing. ~ Amy Zhang

He leans back in his chair and just looks at it all, the final diary of a dying girl. ~ Amy Zhang

Frank had decided that whatever his fate was, he wouldn't worry about it. He would just do the best he could to help his friends. ~ Rick Riordan

I feel strongly that it is the selfish person who needs to change, not the selfless person. (Zhang) ~ Derald Wing Sue

Liz Emerson held so much darkness within her that closing her eyes didn't make much a difference at all. ~ Amy Zhang

I really want to do something in Europe. With a small movie, it can be an interesting challenge. But I have to get the right project. I don't think it's so important to go to Hollywood. All that trash that comes out of there! I don't want to do that. ~ Ziyi Zhang

Our lives are all stories, in the end. ~ Kat Zhang

She wasn't here to make memories. She was here for the flashing lights and the sweat and the smoke and the feel of someone else's skin against hers. ~ Amy Zhang

When two people first meet, they can only have a very ordinary kind of friendship. But when you begin to understand each other, when you get close to them, you discover that you're suddenly eager to know him or her even better. ~ Zhang Ziyi

When I started selling air conditioners early on, customers were willing to pay an extra 200 yuan to buy from Suning. Why? Service was good. ~ Zhang Jindong

The Chinese had first learned of the Roman Empire in 139 B.C., when the emperor Wudi had sent an envoy, Zhang Qian, past the deserts to seek allies to the west. Zhang Qian traveled for twelve years to what is now Turkistan and back and reported on the astounding discovery that there was a fairly advanced civilization to the west. In 104 B.C. and 102 B.C., Chinese armies reached the area, a former Greek kingdom called Sogdiana with its capital in Samarkand, where they met and defeated a force partly composed of captive Roman soldiers. ~ Mark Kurlansky

Brain cells are normally not sensitive to light. So by introducing light-sensitive proteins into specific types of neurons, we can now selectively control that specific type of neuron by shining light in the brain. ~ Feng Zhang

Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked.
"No such thing as fair," Frank told himself. "If I'm going to burn, it might as well be bright. ~ Rick Riordan

We race the world, and as fast as it rotates, as fast at it revolves, we are faster. ~ Amy Zhang

Inertia, force, mass, gravity, velocity, acceleration. . .cause and effect.

Liz Emerson doesn't understand any of it.

But I do.

I understand how we fall. Where we fall. Why we fall.

I understand her sadness and loneliness and silence, her shattered heart.

It doesn't have to be this way, does it?

It wasn't always this way, was it?

Stay alive, Liz Emerson, stay alive. ~ Amy Zhang

She was tired. Gravity pulled at her more aggressively than usual. When she closed her eyes, she could feel it, dragging her deeper, deeper. I would have pulled her back. I would have saved her from falling, but she didn't see my hand. ~ Amy Zhang

Investors don't like uncertainty. The market is telling us that they need certainty, they need to see where the economy is heading. If the government is committed to continue the Open Door policy, they will need to come up with concrete policies and execution steps to increase confidence. ~ Zhang Xin

I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. Keep yourselves from idols. Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. For I am a consuming fire, a jealous God. ~ Zhang Yun

Lesson learned: bad things happen to good people. ~ Amy Zhang

The silence was like an unwelcome child, pulling at our hair, running its fingers over our lips. ~ Kat Zhang

Had the world always been like this? Why had it seemed so much kinder when she was younger? Why had it seemed beautiful? ~ Amy Zhang

I remember and then I don't.
I forget and then it all comes rushing back. ~ Amy Zhang

Frank didn't drop you on purpose," she said. "He's not like that. He's just a little clumsy sometimes."
"Oops," Leo said, in his best Frank Zhang voice. "Dropped Leo into a squad of enemy soldiers. Dang it! ~ Rick Riordan

Zhang is a friend of mine: he said forget about acting and just do normal things in the movie. ~ Jet Li