> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/sports/olympics/08guru.html?pagewan...
>
> Gritty Renegade Now Directs China’s Close-Up
>
> BEIJING — For much of the past quarter century, the Chinese director
> Zhang Yimou made films that showcased his country’s struggle against
> poverty, war and political misrule to the outside world — films that
> Chinese, for the most part, never saw.
>
> Time and again, Mr. Zhang’s terse, gritty epics were banned by
> government censors for portraying China’s ugly side. When he won an
> award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994, the authorities stopped him
> from attending. Up for an Oscar one year, officials lobbied to have
> his film withdrawn from the competition.
>
> But when the Olympics kick off Friday at China’s new National Stadium,
> with President Hu Jintao of China, President Bush and other world
> leaders in attendance and perhaps one billion people watching live on
> television, Mr. Zhang will preside over the opening ceremonies. ...