[nicolas_t]

China's movies have peaked in the 90s. Take a director like Zhang Yimou, he hasn't made any decent movies in the las 15 years because of state censorship. None of his best movies could be directed today: To live, Ju Dou, The Story of Qiu Ju or Raise the Red Lantern. The same with Chen Kaige or any of the great directors in Mainland China. Even a relatively recent movie like Beijing bicycle would not be possible today.

Even if a lot of those movies were banned in China on release, there were much less consequences for a director of a banned movie than nowadays.

[echelon]

I miss the Zhang Yimou that directed Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Those were some of my favorite films of that time.

[rurban]

Yes, these were his sellouts, the real bad ones.

[nicolas_t]

Lol yes, I'd say the release of Heroes is precisely when I date Zhang Yimou's fall. The photography and use of colours is great for sure but it's his first movie with a mostly empty story that tries not to ruffle anyone.