Zhang Yimou, a colleague of Chen, photographed the film. Richard James Havis, author of "Changing the Face of Chinese Cinema: An Interview with Chen Kaige", said that the film was the first Chinese film "at least since the 1949 Communist Liberation, to tell a story through images rather than dialog." Therefore, the film attracted controversy in China. Havis added that the film "was also equivocal about the Communist Party's ability to help the peasants during the Communist revolution", a position which differed from that espoused by the propaganda films that were produced after 1949."