A still photo from Zhang Yimou's "Hero." Photo provided to China Daily

"The story is a cliche," Mo tells the stunned audience, and then says, "but Zhang makes it emotionally powerful."

Zhang was not irritated. "People like melodramas," he says. "Theatrical releases need to be melodramatic, or they will soon be withdrawn from today's Chinese theaters. I try to convey something unique from a melodrama, a story many people have told before, which is very challenging."

Mo compares the film with Red Sorghum, the product of their first collaboration in 1987 and China's first winner of the Berlin Film Festival, which made both of them superstars.

"Red Sorghum is a film with flaws, but its intensity, energy and wildness are not seen in Coming Home," he says. "You can watch Red Sorghum with your legs on the coffee table, but Coming Home shows that still waters run deep."

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