From China, a Comeback

And people complain that getting their films made in Hollywood is a trial. Try China, where director TIAN ZHUANGZHUANG'S award-winning The Blue Kite (1992) earned him a government blacklisting. In his several-year break from directing, Tian spent a lot of time watching movies and helped produce a few. But "the kind of film I wanted to make was not allowed," he says through an interpreter. "And those the government likes I didn't want to do. I waited to see if either the government changed or I was changed by them." Lucky for filmgoers, Beijing blinked first, and Tian is back with...