Directing a new course

He also appears for a few minutes in Jiang's 2007 film The Sun Also Rises (Taiyang Zhaochang Shengqi), playing a thinker who guides the hero.

In the same year, he directed an eight-minute short film called The Era of Amending the Hymen (Xiufu Chun Mo Shidai). The film fiercely criticizes traditional Chinese conceptions of women's chastity. Available only online, the film received tens of millions of views but mixed reviews.

His director friends assisted him with the screenplay of Chengdu and advised that he watch more films.

"We actually didn't talk a lot, but I can feel their encouragement; they are generous people," Cui recalls.

In the film, Cui not only pays tribute to the quake-devastated city, but also elaborates upon his understandings of music, dance and kungfu.

But the movie wasn't well received at the Venice Film Festival.

Variety calls it a "laughably inept opening seg". Some critics say it's broken, and tries to address too many things.

Cui accepts responsibility for these shortcomings.

"I'm not capable or experienced enough to make a film," he says.

Actress Tan Weiwei says Cui was mild and reticent on the set. When she couldn't understand him, he would have her listen to some music and told her what he wanted was in the music.

"The film is very stream-of-consciousness," she says. "He is actually using film to describe the music in his heart."

Cui admits he's much better at making music than movies.

"Making music requires fighting with myself, but making a film means fighting with a team," Cui says. "You need to compromise again and again."

Since the filming started last winter, Cui and the other two directors were told by the film's investor Zonbo Media that they had to finish in about three months to make it to Venice.

Cui started first and was consequently under greater stress. He was troubled by all kinds of deadlines - those for casting, wardrobe and special effects. As a singer who could spend several years on one album, Cui was not used to such an intensive schedule.

He wanted to design at least three kinds of wardrobes for the characters and select the best among them. But the time restrictions meant the first try became the final product.

And after he chose the special effects, he had to spend his own money on half of them, because the other two directors were using the facilities the team already had.

"I treat the film like a child and give it my best love, but others treat it like a house and only want it to sell well," he says.

In addition, Cui had to change his screenplay repeatedly to appease censors.

The heroine was a lawyer in his original script, but he later learned that films related to public security and the legal system must be approved not only by the State Film Bureau but also by the ministries of public security and justice. He didn't have enough time to wait for all of the approvals, and he did not want to create problems for the project, because it would be unfair to the other two directors.

For the same reason, he had to use dubbing to replace some lines.

He was agitated when asked if that counted as lip-synching, because he has been the poster boy for the anti-lip-synching campaign since 2002.

"Chinese need more freedom," he says.

"Only being able to paint within a restricted frame severely diminishes the power of art.

"Chinese artists should have the freedom to criticize society more fiercely and comprehensively. This is their natural duty and will improve our society."

Cui believes the film is just a "semi-manufactured" work that conveys only 60 percent of his own ideas. "But I would still do it again, even though I now know how hard it is to make a film," he says.

"We need more people to participate in the industry and strive to create a better environment."

The film will premiere by the end of this year.