| Born in Shanghai in 1960, Yan Pei Ming was a child of the Cultural Revolution. As a young official painter in the Regime, he produced certain grand portraits of General Mao in the streets of the city.
Rejected from the Art school of Shanghai due to his stutter, he gained admission to Beaux-Arts in Dijon in the beginning of the 1980s and has since been living in France. He soon became famous for his enormous portraits of Mao whose image he continues to represent while distorting, always in black and white or in red. After Mao, Ming went on to attack Buddha, Bruce Lee, his father?
This film documents many years in the period between 1991-2001 of the artist's life. Shots of Ming at work are mixed with glimpses into his personal life, moments of joy, of parties and of sadness that pull us deeper into the canvas, and allow us to better comprehend his work.
"Michel Quinejure's Film is built on a swinging pendulum between France and China to show us the itinary of a remarkable artist. We see him attacking his portraits, the stroke of the brush resounds like a slap - We're closer here to Kung-Fu than we are to watercolours. The results are surprising. The camera grasps the gesture, shows the construction - almost magical - of a face. The film presents 'the mystery of Ming' as Clouzot had done with the mystery of Picasso". Harry Bellet, Le Monde
(Translation from the original French : Meryl Job)
With the participation of France 3 and France 5 | |
