QUICK TAKES - March 5, 2009

“Raise the Red Lantern” director Zhang Yimou plans to make a movie to mark the 60th anniversary of communist China, cementing his shift from a dissident to a government-favored artist.

Zhang is still working on the script for the film, China Central Television reported Wednesday.

Zhang designed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in August, and was earlier chosen by the government as the director of an Oct. 1 gala celebrating the People’s Republic of China’s 60th anniversary.

The 59-year-old filmmaker, who has told unflinching stories about hardships during China’s turbulent 20th century, was once considered a troublemaker and had several of his movies banned.