# Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige (Chinese: 陈凯歌; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese filmmaker. A leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, Chen is known for his visual flair and epic storytelling. Chen won the Palme d'Or at 1993 Cannes Film Festival and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award in 1993 for directing Farewell My Concubine.

## Early life

Chen Kaige was born in Beijing, China into a family of Changle, Fuzhou origin, and grew up with fellow Fifth Generation alumnus Tian Zhuangzhuang as a childhood friend. His father Chen Huai'ai [zh] was a well-known director in his own right. His mother Liu Yanchi (刘燕驰) was a senior screenwriter. During the Cultural Revolution, Chen joined the Red Guards. As a teenage member of the Red Guards, Chen, like many other youths, denounced his own father, a fateful decision he eventually learned to regret. Indeed, this period of his life continues to influence much of his work today, notably in the unblinking depictions of the Cultural Revolution in Farewell My Concubine, and in the father-son relationship in Together. In 1969, Chen became a sent-down youth in Xishuangbanna Agricultural Reclamation Bureau for a short while before enlisting in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) next year. In 1975, Chen was discharged from the army and returned to Beijing, where he worked as a worker in Beijing Film Printing Factory. In 1978 Chen joined the Beijing Film Academy, where he graduated in 1982 as part of the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers.

## Career

Upon graduating, Chen was assigned to the Guangxi Film Studio, along with a fellow graduate, Zhang Yimou. His first movie, Yellow Earth (1984), established itself as one of the most important works of Fifth Generation filmmaking; though simple, its powerful visual imagery (courtesy of cinematography by Zhang) and revolutionary storytelling style marked a sea change in how films were seen and perceived in the People's Republic of China. The film is unique in terms of concept, structure, and style, in line with the "cultural roots seeking" trend that emerged in China in the 1980s. The purpose of filming this film is to attempt to explore the deep cultural heritage of national history and spirit from a cultural perspective.The Big Parade (1986) and King of the Children (1987) expanded on his filmic repertoire. In 1987, he was awarded a fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council and served as a visiting scholar at the New York University Film School. Early in 1989, he did further experimenting in a music video for the song "Do You Believe in Shame?" by Duran Duran. Later that year, he made Life on a String, a highly esoteric movie which uses mythical allegory and lush scenery to tell the story of a blind sanxian musician and his student. In the same year, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.
His most famous film in the West, Farewell My Concubine (1993), nominated for two Academy Awards and winner of the Palme d'Or at 1993 Cannes Film Festival, follows two Beijing opera stars through decades of change in China during the twentieth century. This made him the first Chinese director to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Chen followed up the unprecedented success of Farewell My Concubine with Temptress Moon (1996), another period drama starring Leslie Cheung and Gong Li. Though it was well received by most critics, it did not achieve the accolades that Concubine did, and many were put off by the film's convoluted plot line. Almost as famous is his The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), an epic involving the legendary King of Qin and the reluctant assassin who aims to kill him.
In 2002, Chen made his first, and to-date only, English-language film, Killing Me Softly, a thriller starring Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes, though it proved to be both a critical and popular disappointment. This is also Chen Kaige's first work to enter Hollywood, which he referred to as a "secular, life" film. His more recent Together (2002) is an intimate film about a young violinist and his father.It showcases the true desire of young people to grow according to their spiritual guidance, full of sensibility and warmth. "Deep in Flowers" is a collection of short films that opened the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2002. Chen Kaige was responsible for filming "Ten Minutes, Aging", which is the finale of the series. The film selects a theme with strong Chinese and Beijing characteristics - demolition, and tells the story of the mentally ill "Mr. Feng" moving in a seemingly humorous tone. In 2005, he directed The Promise, a fantasy wuxia picture. The Promise saw Chen shifting to a more commercial mindset, a shift regarded by some as a "radical stylistic turn" from his previous works.
In 2006, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2008, Chen directed the semi-biographical Forever Enthralled, which is a return for him in the sense of directing a film based on Chinese opera. He later went on to direct Sacrifice (2010), which is a re-imagining of the famous play The Orphan of Zhao. His 2012 film Caught in the Web was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. His Monk Comes Down the Mountain (2015) is a critical bomb but a box office success. He then directed Legend of the Demon Cat (2017), a big-budget Chinese-Japanese co-production. The movie is adapted from the novel of the same name by Japanese fantasy novelist Mombasaur.
Since 2019, Chen directed or produced a series of propaganda films that are sometimes commissioned by the Chinese government, including co-directing The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), China's highest-grossing film of all time.
Chen has also acted in several films, including Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987) and his own The Emperor and the Assassin and Together.

## Personal life

Chen's first wife was Sun Jialin (孙加林), whom he knew while working at the Beijing Film Factory from 1975 to 1978; they married in 1983 and divorced three years later. His second wife was Hong Huang, daughter of Zhang Hanzhi, a diplomat and English teacher of Mao Zedong. They separated in 1991 and divorced in 1993. From 1991, Chen lived with Ni Ping, a television personality, in a six-year relationship. In 1996, Chen married actress Chen Hong. They have two sons, Chen Yu'ang and "Arthur" Chen Feiyu.
Chen Kaige is a holder of green card to the United States.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Chinese Title | Notes |
| 1984 | Yellow Earth | 黃土地 | |
| 1986 | The Big Parade | 大閱兵 | |
| 1987 | King of the Children | 孩子王 | |
| 1991 | Life on a String | 邊走邊唱 | |
| 1993 | Farewell My Concubine | 霸王別姬 | Palme d'Or winner at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival |
| 1996 | Temptress Moon | 風月 | |
| 1998 | The Emperor and the Assassin | 荊柯刺秦王 | |
| 2002 | Killing Me Softly | 温柔地杀我 | |
| 2002 | 100 Flowers Hidden Deep | | Segment in the anthology film Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet |
| 2002 | Together | 和你在一起 | 2002 Silver Seashell for Best Director at the San Sebastián International Film Festival |
| 2005 | The Promise | 無極 | |
| 2007 | Zhanxiou Village | | Vignette in the anthology film To Each His Cinema |
| 2008 | Forever Enthralled | 梅兰芳 | |
| 2010 | Sacrifice | 趙氏孤兒 | |
| 2012 | Caught in the Web | 搜索 | Fictional treatment of the human flesh search engine. |
| 2015 | Monk Comes Down the Mountain | 道士下山 | |
| 2017 | Legend of the Demon Cat | 妖猫传 | |
| 2019 | My People, My Country | 我和我的祖国 | |
| 2021 | The Battle at Lake Changjin | 长津湖 | |
| 2022 | The Battle at Lake Changjin II | 长津湖之水门桥 | |
| 2023 | Flowers Bloom in the Ashes | 尘埃里开花 | |
| 2023 | The Volunteers: To the War | 志愿军：雄兵出击 | |
| 2024 | The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death | 志愿军：存亡之战 | |
| TBA | Swan Song | | |

### Television (as director)

| Year | English Tltle | Chinese Title | Notes |
| 1984 | Emergency Take-off | 强行起飞 | |
| 2002 | Lubu and Diaochan | 吕布与貂蝉 | |

### Executive producer

| Year | English Tltle | Chinese Title | Notes | Ref |
| 2020 | Something Just Like This [zh] | 青春创世纪 | iQiyi web series | |
| 2020 | The Eight [zh] | 民初奇人传 | iQiyi web series | |

### Actor

| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | The Last Emperor | 末代皇帝 | Captain of Imperial Guard | |
| 1999 | The Emperor and the Assassin | 荊柯刺秦王 | Lü Buwei | |
| 2001 | The Grand Mansion Gate | 大宅门 | An official | guest |
| 2002 | Together | 和你在一起 | Yu Shifeng | |
| 2009 | The Founding of a Republic | 建國大業 | Feng Yuxiang | |
| 2012 | The Monkey King 3D: Uproar in Heaven | 大闹天宫3D | Dragon King of the East China Sea | Voice role |

## Awards and nominations
### International

| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
| Cannes Film Festival |||||
| 1988 (41st) | King of the Children | Palme d'Or | Nominated |
| 1991 (44th) | Life on a String | Palme d'Or | Nominated |
| 1993 (46th) | Farewell My Concubine | Palme d'Or | Won |
| 1993 (46th) | Farewell My Concubine | FIPRESCI Prize | Won |
| 1996 (49th) | Temptress Moon | Palme d'Or | Nominated |
| 1999 (52nd) | The Emperor and the Assassin | Palme d'Or | Nominated |
| Berlin International Film Festival |||||
| 2009 (59th) | Forever Enthralled | Golden Bear | Nominated |
| Academy Awards |||||
| 1994 (66th) | Farewell My Concubine | Best International Feature Film | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards |||||
| 1994 (51st) | Farewell My Concubine | Best Foreign Language Film | Won |
| 2006 (63rd) | The Promise | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated |
| César Awards |||||
| 1994 (19th) | Farewell My Concubine | Best Foreign Film | Nominated |
| Tokyo International Film Festival |||||
| 2008 | | Akira Kurosawa Award | Won |
| Montreal World Film Festival |||||
| 1987 (11th) | The Big Parade | Jury Grand Prize | Won |
| Locarno Festival |||||
| 1985 (38th) | Yellow Earth | Silver Leopard Award | Won |
| 1985 (38th) | Yellow Earth | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Won |
| Thessaloniki International Film Festival |||||
| 2006 (47th) | | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |

### Domestic

| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
| Golden Rooster Awards |||||
| 2004 (22nd) | Together | Best Director | Won |
| 2004 (22nd) | Together | Best Picture | Nominated |
| 2009 (27th) | Forever Enthralled | Best Picture | Won |
| 2009 (27th) | Forever Enthralled | Best Director | Nominated |
| 2020 (33rd) | My People, My Country | Best Director | Nominated |
| 2022 (35th) | The Battle at Lake Changjin | Best Director | Won |
| Hundred Flowers Awards |||||
| 2020 (35th) | My People, My Country | Best Director | Nominated |
| Huabiao Awards |||||
| 2009 (13th) | Forever Enthralled | Outstanding Director | Won |
| 2009 (13th) | Forever Enthralled | Outstanding Film | Won |
| 2011 (14th) | Sacrifice | Outstanding Film | Won |
| China Film Directors Association |||||
| 2018 (9th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Film of the Year | Nominated |
| 2018 (9th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Director of the Year | Nominated |
| Chinese Film Media Awards |||||
| 2003 (3rd) | Together | Best Director | Nominated |
| 2011 (11th) | Sacrifice | Filmmaker of the Year | Won |
| Huading Awards |||||
| 2020 (27th) | My People, My Country | Best Film Director Award | Nominated |
| Shanghai International Film Festival |||||
| 2010 (13th) | | Chinese-language Film Outstanding Contribution Award | Won |
| Beijing College Student Film Festival |||||
| 2009 (16th) | Forever Enthralled | Best Director | Won |
| 2009 (16th) | Forever Enthralled | Best Film | Won |
| 2018 (25th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Best Director | Nominated |
| 2018 (25th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Best Viewing Effect Award | Won |
| Hong Kong Film Award |||||
| 2004 (23rd) | Together | Best Asian Film Award | Nominated |
| 2009 (28th) | Forever Enthralled | Best Asian Film Award | Nominated |
| Macau International Movie Festival |||||
| 2018 (10th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Best Picture | Nominated |
| 2018 (10th) | Legend of the Demon Cat | Best Director | Nominated |