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August 21, 2008

Famous Chinese Film Director Expresses Commonly Held Opinion of Western Workers: Lazy! Therein Lies a Lesson for Business Managers

Chinese, as we well know well, are supremely capable of putting in long hours. Indeed, suffering quietly is a badge of honor. Hong Kong Chinese work even while asleep (or so it seems). Well, they do often pass the evening in the office or factory. Taiwanese follow as close runners-up only because they are known to give up Sundays to spend with family. I've not found Mainland Chinese workers to be self-starters, but generally resist little when compelled by circumstance (poverty) or a berating management. Pleasure or entertainment is, without doubt, not a focus of Chinese existence. Does the quality of life suffer as a result these profoundly held ideas?

Americans, to the contrary, are no longer willing to suffer much -- the Protestant work ethic has just about gasped its last breath. We would rather be safe, fat and happy. Americans believe they work long hours, but generally maintain a 5 day schedule lasting perhaps 10 hours. Lazy? Perhaps...

Lazy!

Zhang Yi-mou（張藝謀）, film director and Olympic Impressario, describes to Southern Weekly (南方周末）the frustration of working with Western artists, whom he had the displeasure to direct:

南方周末：外国人还感叹，看开幕式之后，至少他们在评论中使用的语言，想象不到还有谁用这样的资源，制作这么大一个作品出来，他们在对你的采访提问中有这样的误会或疑问吗？

张艺谋：他们都没有说这个，他们只是觉得——其实我觉得我们是两种东西在一起，1+1产生的效果，就是人的表演。我老跟他们开玩笑说，说我们人的表演是天下第二，天下第一是朝鲜，就是整齐到了一个相当的程度，整齐死了！就是这种传统的整齐的动作带来的美感，这一步我们中国人能做到，中国人通过严谨的训练、刻苦的训练能做到。像那活字模，那完全是口令，代表一听口令，完全做到，像电脑一样，外国人很惊叹，这是我们中国人的志气，我们把人的表演通过我们的努力和聪明能做到这一步，这是人的表演，这一步是很多外国人做不到的。

我排过西方的歌剧，那个麻烦呀！一个星期只工作四天半，中间要喝两次咖啡，不能加任何的班，稍微有一点不舒服都不行，因为人权，那个排练能把人急死，哎哟！一个星期，我都觉得咱早就能把它排整齐了，他有时候队伍还没站整齐。你还不能说谁，他是有组织的人，也很严格的，就是明儿“哗”给你换一批人来了，你刚有点熟了，又换一批。他都是有各种制度，工会制度。咱们不是，咱们刻苦，能吃苦耐劳，咱的训练一个星期下来绝对是他两个月的层次，所以我们可以把演员做到这样的表演质量，我觉得是除了朝鲜，世界没有一个国家能做到。

The Washington Times translates this interview, in part, thus:

"North Korea is No. 1 in the world when it comes to uniformity. They are uniform beyond belief! These kinds of traditional synchronized movements result in a sense of beauty. We Chinese are able to achieve this as well. Through hard training and strict discipline," he said. Pyongyang's annual mass games feature 100,000 people moving in lockstep.

Performers in the West, by contrast, need frequent breaks and cannot withstand criticism, Mr. Zhang said, citing his experience working on an opera performance abroad. Though he didn't mention a specific production, he directed an opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2006.

In one week, we could only work four and a half days, we had to have coffee breaks twice a day, couldn't go into overtime, and just a little discomfort was not allowed because of human rights," Mr. Zhang said of the unidentified opera production.

[Editor's Note: Tan Dun's The First Emperor, Dec. '06.]