Wuershan (乌尔善) is a Chinese

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

of Mongol descent, who was born in

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

on June 10, 1972. Wuershan's first feature film was ''

Soap Opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' (2004), for which he was awarded the FIPRESCI Award at the

Pusan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held from ...

. He went on to direct blockbusters '' The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman'' (2010), '' Painted Skin: The Resurrection'' (2012), and '' Mojin: The Lost Legend'' (2015), for which he was awarded the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. In 2019, he started on the production of the ''Creation of the Gods'' trilogy.

Early life

Wuershan was born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in 1972. At 16 he enrolled to a high school affiliated to China's

Central Academy of Fine Arts The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy." It is considered one of the most ...

, and in 1992 he was admitted to the

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

department of the latter. However, he dropped out the following year, and in 1994 started studying directing at the

Beijing Film Academy Beijing Film Academy (BFA; zh, first=s, s=北京电影学院, labels=no) is a municipal public college in Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the City of Beijing and co-funded by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, the National Radio ...

, graduating from the latter in 1998. He started his career by making TV commercials, becoming successful in the business. He continued to work as a TV commercials director, video artist and avant-garde artist until his debut in movie industry with the 2004 film ''

''.

Career

Wuershan's film debut came with ''

'' (2004). For this movie, he won the FIPRESCI Award at the

in 2004.

''The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman''

On September 16, 2010, Wuershan's second feature film debuted at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. '' The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman'' premiered on September 16, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness section marking the first time a film from China has been shown at this sidebar. It received mixed reviews from critics. The film was also screened at the

Pusan Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

. It was presented by

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...

at the festival. It was released theatrically on 17 March 2011 in Southeast Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand simultaneously. Described as an avant-garde martial arts comedy, the film is split into three stories titled "Desire", "Vengeance" and "Greed," and it follows the "journey of a mystical blade as it passes through the hands of three ambitious men."

''Painted Skin: The Resurrection''

Wuershan's third feature film, '' Painted Skin: The Resurrection'', was released on June 28, 2012. The film, which has an 83% approval rating on aggregate site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, and is described as a "deliciously nutty love story," tells about Xiaowei, a malevolent fox spirit, who consumes men's hearts to preserve her beauty and is looking for a heart that must be freely given to her in order to become human, while lovesick Princess Jing, who wears a mask to conceal her scarred face, looks for true love. She winds up deciding to exchange her pure heart for the fox daemon's beauty. With a total box office gross of $115.07 million, the film became the highest grossing domestic film in China beating the previous record holder '' Let the Bullets Fly''.

''Mojin: The Lost Legend''

His fourth feature film was '' Mojin: The Lost Legend'', an

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

based on the novel ''

Ghost Blows Out the Light ''Gui Chui Deng (Ghost Blows Out the Light)'' (), also referred to as ''Candle in the Tomb'', is a fantasy novel series written by (天下霸唱) about a team of grave robbers seeking a hidden treasure haunted by ghosts, with the first book publ ...

''. It was released on December 18, 2015. The film won several awards, including Best Visual Effects at the

Beijing College Student Film Festival Beijing College Student Film Festival, first held in 1993, is an annual event organized by Beijing Normal University and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television. It is held in April or May, and is one of the biggest film festivals ...

and the

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Golden Horse Awards () are a film festival and associated awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. The festival and ceremony were founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Repub ...

, and Wuershan was named Best Director at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. The movie however received mixed reviews from western critics. The film was a huge box-office success, grossing over US$278 million from a budget of 37.

''Creation of the Gods''

In 2019, he began on the production on the ''Creation of the Gods'' trilogy. Sometimes dubbed as "China's '' Lord of the Rings''", it is the "most ambitious and expensive production in Chinese history." The production has a crew of over two thousands employees. The movie is a retelling of ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese titles () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major Written vernacular Chinese, vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Min ...

'', a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major

vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as ''baihua'', comprises forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular varieties of the language spoken throughout China. It is contrasted with Literary Chinese, which was the predominant written form ...

works in the gods-and-demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644). The novel combines elements of history, folklore, mythology, legends and fantasy, with a story set in the era of the decline of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

(1600–1046 BC) and the rise of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

(1046–256 BC). It tells about the downfall of King Zhou, the Shang Dynasty's last ruler. He becomes a tyrant after having been "bewitched by a fox spirit posing as his concubine." An epic battle "rages to defeat him, involving gods, demons and other supernatural beings." Barrie M. Osborne, producer of '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', was involved in the production. The first film of the trilogy, '' Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms'', was released in 2023, and a sequel, '' Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force'', was released in 2025.

Filmography

Director

* ''

'' (), 2004 * '' The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman'' (), 2010 * '' Painted Skin: The Resurrection'' (), 2012 * '' Mojin: The Lost Legend'' (), 2015 * '' Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms'' (), 2023 * ''The Traveller'', 2024 * '' Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force'' (), 2025 * ''Creation of the Gods III: Creation Under Heaven'', TBA

Producer

* ''Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms'', 2023 * ''The Traveller'', 2024

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{authority control 1972 births Chinese film directors Living people People from Hohhot Chinese people of Mongolian descent