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Zhao Tao is one of the most recognizable faces in Chinese art cinema thanks to her longtime collaboration with director Jia Zhangke, whom she married in 2012. From 2000's "Platform" to last year's "Ash is Purest White," her work has plumbed the moral depths of modern China and brought stories of the country's drastic changes to global audiences.
Though often described as Jia's "muse," it's a uncomfortable with. "I do not accept it or reject it. It appeared, and I heard it, "she shrugged. "It's not a term that I've come up with for myself – it's one that the media has come up with for our relationship."
Currently, she is at work on a new literary documentary about the writings of Chinese writers Yu Hua and Jia Pingwa, which is one of the most popular of China's history.
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Zhao was refreshingly candid with Variety about the challenges facing women in the Chinese film Industry in a Kering Women in Motion talk on the sidelines of the Shanghai Intl. Film Festival.
Variety: You often portray strong female characters trying to make their way in a man's world. How do you prepare for these roles?
Zhao: When I get a role, it's really that I need to envision the character. I do not think directly about how to make a strong one. My method is that I get a script and read it through many times, writing down in great detail the feelings it evokes each time. I then love to write a biography for the character. With Qiaoqiao [from “Ash is Purest White”] for example, I started with her kindergarten years. I'm really familiar with Datong, because I'm really familiar with Datong [where it’s set]. I was so young, what kind of fights they had, when she graduated from college, what problems did she face – all the way up to she's 60. In that process, I found that the character was telling me that step by step she had turned into a very simple girl.
How do you collaborate with Jia Zhangke? How involved are you in developing your characters?
After so many years of collaboration, we have an unspoken agreement that I will not interfere with his creative process or put forward any demands. We do not discuss anything during the development phase, and only talk with him about his creative team and I'll play the role. If it does not give it to me, I do not ask for it: I'm not dead-set, because it's not important that I'm in it Depict.
What kinds of female characters resonate with Chinese audiences? You've shot a couple of foreign movies – is it different from what resonates in the West?
Audiences Chinese audiences. Audiences…………………….. An example that makes a particular impression on me was in Italy on the set of "Shun Li and the Poet." The director needed me to express myself with my child, and wanted me to go to the sea for a swim . I said, I can not do it, but from a Chinese woman's point of view, I do not think it would be a good idea to have a swim. He thought about it for a long time, because he really wanted to swim, but in the end, we decided that I was at my happiest place.
No matter whether my character is China or Italy, Fenyang or Beijing, I think the people encounter, especially women, remain the same. We are going to have a good relationship with you, and the responsibility for caring for children, there is no nationality to it. Everyone is the same, but women's burdens and responsibilities in particular are very much the same.
What do you bring to your mind as a more mature, experienced actress that you could not at a younger age?
When I first starred in "Platform" in my early 20s, I did not have a script so I just did my best to follow the story the director explained to me before every scene. Back then, I was acting. Now after so many years, I get the script, badyze it and write my detailed backstory, when I'm in the midst of the pleasure of creation, I feel no longer need to act. Instead, I feel I should be living this character.
What challenge does age pose to Chinese actresses?
It's a particularly big obstacle. We are here to help you learn more about Chinese actresses, and the roles they take naturally in the categories of mothers, grandmas and elders. But it's actually only by the time you're 40 that you've accumulated a wealth of work experience. At that point, you could not just play a crossover role, but it's just a question of what you're talking about, because that's what you're looking for, and that's something that only accumulates over time.
You're the only female member of the jury for the main competition. Why is there under-representation of women in these positions?
This is something we really need to talk about. I think that they are out of respect for women and their independence, we must judge them and their work by the same standards we use for men. So in the Shanghai Festival, we can be happy to see you there. I believe in Chinese cinema, and I believe that Chinese women can shoot exquisite movies.
In your eyes, is it important in China to discuss the role of women in the film industry?
I think it's really important in our industry to discuss the issue of gender. And the law.
The law says that we must respect women, but our society still has many limitations on them. For instance, saying that women should have children, taking care of the family and managing the family, while also being successful in their own work. Honestly, I think we ask too much of women. I only realized when I became Jia's wife and had my own home. Especially in the film industry, the proportion of women is particularly small. Other than actresses or costumers, basically every other person is a man. Under such circumstances, using the same standards to measure women's performance is one of the best things we can do to support women.
What inspires you?
In life I'm actually not someone who really likes to socialize. I'm really quiet. Especially when we're in the midst of a shoot, I'm shooting at the place where I'm shooting, where do they go? eat and play and live. I really like to observe other people. I've made a number of observations about each other's lives – emotional dilemmas, family or money disorders. For me, what's important in cinema is not just telling a story. What's more important is to use the story as a person, it's about, and through that person, witness the changes of an entire era.
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