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What were some important experiences that inspired you to become a director?
Actually, I was the same as you.
The place where my parents and I lived in when I was small, had a big movie theater next to it.
Its name was the Apollo, located in the Sham Shui Po district.
It was a very big theater. All theaters were big back in the days.
I would always see a lot of movie posters and billboards.
I loved to watch movies, which probably had something to do with my mother. She was a movie-lover.
It didn't matter if they were Cantonese operas or old Cantonese movies.
As a result, I began to like watching movies as well.
As a child, I would always pinch some money from my piggy bank and go by myself to buy movie tickets.
The cheaper tickets were always for the seats in the front row.
Back then, the tickets costed about twenty or forty cents.
Every week, I would choose the earlier screen times, which featured film reruns.
Or I'd choose movies shown during off-work hours. Those hours usually featured English language films.
Screening times aren't like what they are today. Instead of random times, they were on a fixed schedule.
Starting at noon, there was one at 12:30, 2:30, 5:30, 7:30, and 9:30.
The movies shown during off-work hours were very cheap.
Those screentimes featured reruns of English movies.
So, because of this, I loved to watch movies as a child.
I believe my parents wanted to put me in a good secondary school because I was the eldest son.
My other brothers and sisters did not have that chance,
They went to a more conventional school.
They hoped that as the eldest son, I would get a legitimate job after finishing school.
They would've thoguht, "Filmmaking? What is that?"
From middle school up to high school, I studied science and my grades were good.
It was only due to the persuasion of a classmate, during the summer holidays after exams,
that I went and performed in a stage play. Our school had a drama club.
I developed a liking towards acting.
At the time, TVB introduced an acting training course.
My classmate and I went to register for the course, the result was that I got accepted into the class.
[I remember, I saw the show you were in.]
At the time, I was an extra; I did small roles that didn't even merit a background actor credit.
But, what I felt was very meaningful was that
during the acting training course, we would have to learn everything such as deportment,
singing, and dancing. We also had to learn theory as well.
Basically, the purpose of TVB's acting training course was to hopefully seek out people
who could become great TV actors.
I remember the year after graduating, I applied for behind the scenes work.
At the end of the 70s, Ann Hui, Yim Ho, Patrick Tam, and Tsui Hark
utilized TVB's film unit to shoot TV dramas on 16mm films.
Whether it was due to the emergence of a new work spirit,or whether it was due
to response of what was being broadcast, we were suddenly dealing with a new film language.
What they were doing was very different compared to Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films of the 70s.
What they were doing was revolutionary in terms of film language and aesthetic,
compared to the films done by the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvests.
Suddenly all eyes were on this group of new directors,
most of whom had studied abroad.
Ann Hui and Yim Ho went to the London Film Schoo; Tsui Hark went to NYU.
Patrick Tam was also in the United States taking a film course that I think wasn't a four year course, but a one year course.
The attention they were getting affected the film industry up until the 80s.
I believe Willie remembers this. Practically a swarm of producers were clamoring to have this group of directors come and make movies.
Within a span of about half a year, Ann Hui followed by Yim Ho were filming movies.
This became Hong Kong's so-called First New Wave.
Going back to myself, basically without much thought, I entered TVB.
I was no longer acting even though I went through a year of their training course.
I was working behind the scenes instead, as a continuity supervisor, and then as an assistant director.
The result was when Ann Hui, Yim Ho, and the others moved over to film
I was an assistant director under them, and that's how I started. But at the time I never thought of becoming a director.
I was a good kid, the kind of kid that would always listen to his parents.
They hoped that after finishing school, I would find a respectable job.
[And support the family.] Yes!
My mother was vehemently against me working in this field,
but I guess after she saw me doing what I loved at TVB, she had a second opinion.
That's why when you ask me if I aspired to become a director...even when I was working with Ann Hui as an assistant director,
I never thought that, one day, I will be a director.
Because when my parents took to me watch these big Hollywood movies,
for instance, The Sound of Music or Ben-Hur.
Seeing those big productions, all you can think about is, "Wow! These directors are like gods!"
The scenes and the story were so amazing, so at the time, how could i imagine that I would be as a great of a director as they were,
even when I was Ann Hui's assistant director. I feel like there are many ways to look at a screenplay.
Especially when you look at Yim Ho, Patrick Tam, and the others who all ahd their own ways and attitudes in dealing with life.
Because I enver actually went to school for this field, I've always thought of myself as someone who learned from the bottom up.
Essentially, I just accompanied the directors ad their assant director and started up that way.
Never did I think of becoming a director.
I think, because of my hard work, I became an outstanding assistant director.
Basically. at that time, directors were competing to have me be their assistant director.
In those years, I truly never thought of being a director.
I was very happy just being able to take part in the film industry,
to be able to help out the directors who I personally admired.
I didn't really make a lot of money from it.
So it was all by chance really. And now, as you were saying, that there are a lot of young people out there today who want to be directors.
I think the best advice I can give is, "put your foot in the door first".
Don't say things like, "Oh, in two years, I'm going to be a director",
or "my achievements needs to drown out this or that particular director". Get involved in the industry first.
When you have the opportunity, when you've finally become involved in the industry, when you're not an outsider
there will be a lot of opportunities for you to see something about films beyond
the books and theories. That's the most important.
On your path to becoming a successful director, what hardships did you encounter?
For this question, we can talk about Rouge.
I remember that originally, I wasn't chosen to direct Rouge.
At the time, I was part of Willie and Jackie's company called Golden Way.
I was under a basic director's contract with them, which meant that I was one of the film directors for the company.
Initially, Rouge wasn't assigned to me;
it was assigned to a director called Terry Tong.
The project took a long to get started; the result was that virtually all the actors had already left the production.
Rouge featured an all-star class.
There was Anita Mui who was casted as Fleur,
Adam Cheng as the 12th Young Master, Andy Lau was casted to do Alex Man's role,
Cherie Cheung was casted to play the role of Ah Chor, which in the end was played by Emily Chu.
Unfortunately, since pre-production took so long, many eventually left
due to schedule conflicts or other job offers.
Later, even the director accepted another job and could no longer fulfill his contract.
So then, Willie recommended, "Stanley, why don't you try your hand in directing Rouge.'
I think the process of shooting Rouge went quite smoothly.
[I remember in the initial script, 12th Young Master was not the main character.]
[The main characters were the ones that were living in the present.]
[One day, by coincidence, I ran into Leslie Cheung.]
[You would never think that Leslie Cheung would accept a role that wasn't the main character.]
[And yet, after reading the script, he really liked it. Then I was able to find Anita Mui for the film.]
I think the process of shooting the film went smoothly, even knowing that Leslie normally wouldn't take roles that weren't the main character.
In fact, this was also because he knew Anita's character was the main character and he wanted to help Anita's career.
At the time, each of them had their own domain.
Why do I say each had their own domain?
During those days, there were a lot of mobsters who've infiltrated the film industry.
Actors had their so-called own domain because,for instance, I'm signed on to Golden Harvest,
you're signed on to Cinema City Company Limited, you're signed on to D & B Films Company, etc, etc.
So by doing so, the actors were more at ease in their work becasue the mafia would not interfere with them.
At that time, Leslie was signed on to Cinema City Company Limited, Anit was signed on to Golden Harvest.
But like Willied said, the role of 12th Young Master suited Leslie really well,
Anita liked the casting choice as well and consequently put this suggestion on the table,
in exchange for allowing Leslie to act in Rouge, she would sign one contract with Cinema City Company.
Everyone said that it was a wonderful idea and that's how we wrapped up the whole affair.
Even today, I still say that it was both Leslie and Anita's
incredible acting that made the film so successful.
If we're talking about setbacks, I've definitely come across them.
When people think of Rouge today, they think of it as a very romantic and beautiful film,
which was also backed by an all-star cast that was definitely going to make the film a box office hit.
But after production and the conclusion of post-production, I didn't receive any more news about the film.
I later found out that they were cutting my film in secret. The company was reediting my film.
When i learned about it, I called up Willie and said to him,
"Willie, you're the producer of the film and it was you who recommended me for the project,
now that I know what's going on, can you possibly do me a favor.
If they reshoot or remove from my director's cut
one roll of film, then please talk to the company 136 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,180 and have them remove my director's credit."
I know I had no way to change anything becasue it was the company that invested money into the film.
If they insisted on going through with it, I really don't have a say anyways. However, taking away my director's credit surely was within their power.
I've talked about his matter with Willie and i would like to know how he thought about the matter at the time.
Was it a difficult situation for you? I remember that you didn't refuse my request at the time.
[It was definitely a very tough moment for me.]
[The decision to reedit was due to the fact that they rarely shot dramas]
[so they really wanted to have some sort of action in the film.,]
[After shooting the film and seeing it was a romantic story, they thought that didn't really fit in with what they were used to.]
[They didn't have the ability to appreciate dramas. Therefore, the found somebody to change it.]
[For instance, they said what if we shot Fleur in a way that makes her look like a real ghost.]
[All of a sudden she could fly up in front of the bus, or within seconds, she could suddenly disappear.]
[They wanted to add these kidns of elements and scenes into the movie; add some action.]
[When Stanley asked me that favor, I found it very difficult]
[because when I entered into Golden Harvest with Jackie, I was a manager.]
[But they were afraid that I didn't have enough jobs to do so they set Jackie and me up with a company for me to manage to let us shoot other kinds of films. 152 00:14:47,090 --> 00:14:54,090 [In the beginning, the movies we shot were all action films. I think Rouge was the first drama that we did.]
[At that moment, I was in a conundrum. How do I tell them? How do I argue with my bosses?]
[Fortunately, we had sent the fil to the Golden Horse Awards.] We entered our film in the Golden Horse Film Festival.
The result was that we were nominated. [I think there were fifteen nominations.]
[At the time, there was no China market yet, the market in Taiwan was very important. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong were the big markets.]
[This meant now that they were afraid to make any changes to the film. It was just nominated, what happens if it were chosen? ]
[The film was going to be saved.]
[To be honest, I never actually spoke with my bosses regarding what you said. ]
[It was really just coincidence and good luck.] So going back to the moment the film was nominated.
You know you asked me if I've encountered any ups and downs as a director, does that story count?
At that time, I really thought that I should just forget it. I even thought of saying that
we should no longer cooperate if they insisted on adding some action
or taking away anything that I thought should be in the film.
This moment was when I had just started the first film according to our director's contract.
So I felt it was very fortunate that the fiml was nominted for the Golden Horse Awards.
Therefore, they put their reedit aside. In the end, Anita won an award,
the film won an award for its cinematography, and later the film was put up for public exhibition.
The result was that amongst all the films I've directed, Rouge was the one with the best box office income.
[This was also the only film that our company didn't lose money in. It's the truth.]
That's why; I feel that as a director
you need to have the mental fortitude to deal with different things at any moment.
I think you have to be well prepared. Many times it doesn't work out
even if you are very creative. I recently watched an interview of Ang Lee,
which was about him being a director and his creative process.
To be a director, besides being creative,
you need to have your own talents, to be able to communicate with the actors, and to be able to evalaute the script.
In fact, when filming a movie, directing is a discipline,
you have to actually practice it and have the ability to do so.
I think that my generation is very lucky, in the 80s we can start off as anything
for instance, as an screenwriter like Wong Kar-Wai
or as an assistant director like director Tony Au.
We had to go through a lot while in the film industry. What does it matter if you have the talent?
If your timing wasn't correct, you won't be able to reach your goal. You may need to compromise.
That compromise is exactly the thing you need in order to reach a certain standard. 186 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:14,210 Just like Ang Lee says in his book, there are times where you have to make a decision on the spot
if the decision you make is a bad one, you not only hurt the film that you are shooting,
but you can also harm your own career.
What was your relationship with Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung like after shooting Rouge?
我覺得她有中國人最傳統的美德, 好像今晚很多朋友都講,
她仗義 、她重情 、她愛家庭 、愛朋友 、義無反顧...
她走帶著一份落寞 、落空, 好像《胭脂扣》裏的如花一樣地離開我們。
December 30, 2013 marks the tenth year since Anita Mui's death.
We attended the ten-year anniversary memorial concert in honor of Anita Mui. On the stage I said, which I also mentioned earlier,
It was Anita and Leslie's achievements that made Rouge successful, their acting in the film was simply incredible.
Whether it was her portrayl of the prostitue Fleur, or the infatuated female ghost,
or at the end, when her sorrow led to the very death of her love and she leaves the aged 12th Young Master.
I think we ended up with something great. They performed so well.
I don't think I have the need to belittle myself,
I believe we had very deep connections at the time.
To understand an actor, to be ableto excavate Anita's qualities
,although she had some experience acting in films, to see those qualities of hers 203 00:20:06,180 --> 00:20:13,230 that overlaps with Fleur's character. It's an interaction.
You can't claim that...for instance, your actor is excellent but the director is unable to direct the actor.
If the director can't give clear direction, then no matter how good the actor is, it won't work.
In other words, you asked me if I had a closer relationship
in terms of emotional feelings with them after Rouge. As friends, yes of course.
For instance, in terms of my friendship with Anita Mui,
I knew Leslie Cheung already and the role of 12th Young Master wasn't as heavy as Fleur's.
But it was the first time that I met Anita. The first time we collaborated was on Rouge.
In other words, from our initial relationship as director and actor
and then later after finishing the movie, we became friends who could confide in and trust one another.
We could spend hours talking whether on the phone or when we had meals together.
There were a lot of personal feelings that Anita was willing to share with me.
Many of your films feature touching love stories. How much importance do you place on love?
You go ahead first! I think you are my role model
when it comes to love, such as to a certain extent, you and your son, it's kind of an unconditional...
[Rogue wasn't the only thing that we had cooperated on. From then on we worked together a lot.]
[It's easy for the both of us to converse with one another. To be honest, we're both very sentimental.]
[We are the kind of people that really value emotions, love, and freindship. any kind of passion fits us well.]
[That's why, we cooperated a lot, and every time when we eat together.]
[we would laugh together and drink together, up to a certain extent.]
[Then halfway through, we could start arguing because we both had different opinions. One's a producer, the other is a director.]
[The director's role is to make a good film. The producer's role is to manage the money.]
[If he asks for too much money, and I dont give it; however, I know that giving the money could make the film better.]
[If the film was good, we would be happy at first, then argue, and then cry. We did that many, many times. Not only once.]
[Yet, no matter what, in order to answer your question, we are the kind of people who value love. ]
Up until now, even at the age I am now, I feel that whether I watch a film as a filmgoer
or whether I make my own films, these things are related to one's personality.
In fact, I can tell you that I have never seen a Star Wars films.
I don't really like action movies. Even when I watched Transformers, the first part made me sleep.
That's the reason why I love to watch films made by European director.
It doesn't matter if it's a Godard film, or Bertolucci, or Traffaut, they all talk about human relationship, about humanity.
Actually in all my films, it's a coincidence that Rouge is a love story about the infatuated love of a ghost,
in the end the commitment she possessed was not realized. The result was the greatest sorrow, the death of love.
Lan Yu to me is also a love story;
I see the story in a pansexual perspective. We are watching the love story of two individuals, a story about affection.
Do you think that there was no love story in the film Love Unto Waste? There is.
But the proportion of love in terms of storytelling when you compare it to Rouge is different. Tt was about the love between Fleur and 12th Young Master
as well as the relationship between several people that was affected because of one event,
the relationship between these people, the freidnship they had, changes.
So if you wanted the answer of whether or not I think love is the only thing I consider important? I would say, "I don't think so".
I think love between people can be characterized as friendship, just like what Willie said earlier. It can also be the relationship between relatives.
What i like most is the Japanese director, Yasujiro Ozu. When I studied at the Hong Kong Baptist Unniversity for Communication Studies.
I had the chance to watch Ozu's Tokyo Monogatari.
The parents in the film were not visited often by their children.
As a result, the scene where the parents were sitting on the embankment with their backs facing towards us was a sad moment.
It reminded me of the old Chinese saying, "The tree would like to be quiet but the wind keeps blowing, the children who would like to be filial to their deceased parents but couldn't."
So as you can see, the film didn't just talk about love affairs.
We can apply passion into many different stories,
as long as you have a sense of emotions that are from your heart. Then you can tell many poignant stories,
not just stories about love. There are many more things in this world besides love.
[Recently, I heard somebody say that, as lnog as you know]
[that he treats you better than he treats himself, then it's true love. Like our father-son relationship.]
When you encounter someone whom you love, do you think that this love should be demonstrated as a sacrifice or a mutual offering?
I'll use an experience as an example. My relationship with my friend has been going on for 25 years now. We are still together.
I remember when I was shooting Center Stage, my friend came to Shanghai to visit me.
We had the chance to eat with Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Ka-fai. I was 34 years old at the time.
While we were eating, Maggie suddenly asked me a question, she asked,
"So Stanley, do you think love is important to you or your films? If you had to rank them."
At the time, I was secretly proud because my friend and I had just started seeing each other and we've been together for two years.
So I was a bit arrogant in front of Maggie and Tony when I answered them,
I said that my films were my priority. I mean, I already had love, right?
My friend heard what I said and took it to heart.
As a result, after finishing Center stage, our relationship started running into problems.
Yet, in the end, we worked it out. It was quite a personal issue so there's no need to mention it any further.
However, I think what I said was not dishonest. Although I did say it a bit too arrogantly.
Film to me is truly something that I love.
It's the same as what Anita said. When the love she was searching for was not realized, the love that remained was her love for the stage.
I think that when we see good films,
we can understand the director's good and bad qualities. 272 00:28:06,090 --> 00:28:12,100 And then from what we learn about the director's personality, we can see how much he loves or doesn't love film.
Therefore, if you really love something, you can love it all the way through.
Loving a person is the same. Loving something do is the same
especially if you have to calculate how much you give and how much you get.
Alot of the times it's not an equal exchange, yet if you're really a movie person, when you make something truly good,
that happiness you get from it is something money can't buy.
What went through your mind when you decided to come out in your documentary Yang +/- Yin?
I never announced it, (laughs).
I had never said that I was this or that.
In 1996, the British Film Institute was holding the 100 Year World Film Anniversary.
They found directors in more than 10 different territories
and had them do a film about an issue in their respective country.
It was emphasized that you had to intertwine a personal perspective into the documentary about our own country.
So, I've been around for some time.
I mentioned earlier that the 80s was when the Hong Kong New Wave movement was booming. This also influenced the New Wave Cinema movement in Taiwan.
It also influenced the fifth generation of Chinese film direectors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhaung, and others.
So with this in mind, I started shooting but after two weeks
I thought to myself, "Stanley, what are you doing? You have to think clearly.
The things you're doing now is something someone has already done or will do again in the future."
To be honest, if you look at the 70s through the 90s,
you can't run away from the film waves of Hong Kong, or the new Taiwan cinema,
or the fifth generation of directors from China. I thought to myself why do something that everyone else was doing?
As I said earlier, the British Film Institute had mentioned that you had to input a personal perspective into the films.
My father passed away very early in my life, he passed away when I was thirteen.
Plus, as I said earlier, when I first saw Yasujiro Ozu's film, my father had already passed away.
I missed my father a lot,
so in the first chapter of my documentary, I talked about the absentee father.
As you in Chinese movies, in the 50s and 60s,
Cantonese operas had male actors performing female roles or female actresses performing male roles.
For instance, the one we are all familiar with is The Butterfly Lovers.
Two female actresses, one portraying the male Ling Shanbo,
the other actress portraying Zhu Yingtai.
In the old days, girls were not allowed to go to school. However, Zhu Yingtai really wanted to do so.
Therefore, she dressed up as a boy in order to go to school and eventually became good friends with Liang Shanbo.
She later on falls in love with Liang Shanbo.
When she walked alongside him during his trip back home, she gave him lots of hints to her ture gender
such as pointing out a pair of mandrain ducks and geese as well as butterflies flying in pairs. However, no matter how many hints she gave, Liang Shanbo still couldn't figure it out.
But as you can se, both are dressed in male outfits, so to a certain extent, this is gay love;
this is the representation of the common gay person and the collective memory of gays.
The content of the story, at times, will make you feel happiness
and other times, will fill you with emotion.
Yet, when Tsui Hark made the film with Nicky Wu and Charlie Yeung, the two characters didn't even go a far distance
until Liang Shanbo realizes that Zhu Yingtai was actually a woman. They then made love in a cave.
I couldn't help but challenge Tsui, I asked,
"Why did you delete the element of gay love from the story?"
Basically, he wasn't doing justice to the story. 318 00:32:40,150 --> 00:32:44,160 So anyways, in the film Yang ± Yin, the first part was the absent father and from there I began to look into Chinese movies.
I used my personal perspective to look into male bonding, sexuality,
and the questions of gender in Chinese movies.
So at the end of it, people might ask why the director chose this issue as the topic for his film?
To answer that, I simply interviewed my mother and said, "I have a friend now, his name is William."
My mother said, "That's great! That's no problem; you now have a younger brother."
I think as a director, you have to be honest to your product.
You can't avoid it. If people knew that the reason I chose this topic
was because I was a gay man, then people would understand the angle in which you were looking at the issue.
What were some challenges linked with your coming out, were there people who supported you in your process?
I feel that between China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Hong Kong seems to be the most civilized place.
However, in reality, it is the most conservative. 330 00:34:05,160 --> 0034:08,160 Of course, there were many friend that said I was courageous,
that I ought to be encouraged. Even after Yang ± Yin, there were many questions from magazine interviews on
whether or not I would encourage young people
to be more honest in facing their own choices.
I said that I wouldn't do so. I'm not the kind of person who would make a fuss.
I believe that the only person I have to face is myself.
I don't need to influence others. I don't think that I would turn into
the kind of person who would stir things up.
Everyone has his or her's own situation when facing family or a loved one.
When you have to make a choice, you shouldn't be to selfish, that's why I think that,
first of all, I don't care how people look at me, and secondly, I don't think I did such an earth-shattering deed.
In Lan Yu, you touch on some delicate subjects such as “Tiananmen Square protests.” Were you worried about any consequences that may result from shooting such subjects?
I remember when I shot Lan Yu in 2000,
Leslie Cheung was still alive; he asked me,
"Stanley, why are you donig such a film?
The topic you're dealing with might turn the film into an underground film. Why do you have to do it?"
Actually I didin't think much of it at the time. As I've said earlier,
I look at things impartially. I saw the relationship between Handong and Lan Yu
as two individuals, a story of two individuals developing a love relationship.
Because it dealt with a long span of time, I obscurely used
the Tiananmen Square incident as a background. But I didn't give any comments about it.
If you've read Eileen Chang's novel Love in a Fallen City,
it's the 1989 version of Lan Yu.
The two individuals' relationship was kidn of like what Eileen Chan says in her book,
The collapse of the city is what completes the love story between Bai Liusu and Fan Liuyuan.
If you remember, during that night in '89, Handong and Lan Yu committed themselves to each other.
He was willing to take care of Lan Yu. It was there that they really admitted to their love for each other.
I think, a lot of the time, it is not a dramatization.
Often there are many unforgettable and deep love stories that have their own backgrounds.
They relate to some affectionate relationship, which is worth experiencing,
and worthy of being memorialized for years to come. So the collapse of Hong Kong in World War II
in Love in a Fallen City worked in Fan Liuyuan's favor as well as mine in drawing a parallel to Lan Yu's story.
What are the political and cultural viewpoints of Hong Kong/China on homosexualism? Do you think a film like Lan Yu can be made today?
I don't think Lan Yu can be accepted in China at the moment.
Of course, the restriction on what can be talked about in films in China nowadays has loosened more.
However, I think that talking about homosexuality is still a taboo in China.
The is why the only thing you can do is obscurely transform the subject of homosexaulity into one of male bonding
and brotherhood. You can't do it frankly like in Lan Yu, which had some lovemaking scenes.
What are your feelings on the current state of Hong Kong cinema?
I think the whole film industry is different now.
I feel that I was very lucky, if you really have to delve into it. Willie understands it very well.
In the 60s and 70s, all of the films by the Shaw Brothers were made in studio.
It didn't matter if it was a modern drama, a period film, or a martial arts film.
Director Chor Yuen's martial arts films were all made in studio.
Musical films were also made in studio.
In other words, if you look at the requirement of a film in terms of texture and quality,
if you're trying to show realism in film,
there are probably a lot of details, 377 00:39:10,110 --> 00:39:16,050 visual details, that can't be done inside a studio.
Of course, if you're talking about special effects then that's another story.
I feel that in the 80s, there were many interesting things that helped that helped make the golden age of Hong Kong film what it is.
The films had entirely different aesthetics compared to films in the past.
They were big changes, especially when comparing the films in the 80s to that of 1960-70.
One could say that in the 60s and 70s, that the different films made by the Shaw Brothers
and Golden Harvest served the function of providing a sense of fantasy for the audiences,
But you have to remember that during the 70s, Hong Kong's economy was booming.
The structure of the community as well as people's values on life had already change
compared to people living in the 60s who were generally poor. People then could spend a little money to buy movie tickets
and experience a fantasy in theaters. However, in the 1980s, people began watching films for a whole different reason.
In 1984, Britain's Margaret Thatcher and China's Deng Xiaoping signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
This created a change in subject matter in terms of literature and ideology.
People started watching a lot of movies that were grounded in current political events such as Ann Hui's The Secret and Boat People.
In turn, many directors followed suit with Ann. People were beginning to think about Hong Kong's relationship with China
now that Mainland China was going to be the motherland. Were you going to throw your lot in with it or move out?
It's a very complicated conundrum.
1984's Sino-British Joint Declaration and 1989's democracy movement led to an immigration wave.
The social events of the time created a change in ideology and social structure.
It was very different compared to the 60s and 70s, which had a much simpler social atmosphere.
Today popular opinion of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative is very low, there are recurrent protests.
In actuality, you can talk about anything in films that you make
if you don't consider China as a market for your film.
Actually you should be able to make whatever kind of movie you want, but the problem is
those days in which you could make a film in Hong Kong reflecting on today's environment
or a film that reflects upon a message that relates to us today, 403 00:42:00,080 --> 0042:03,000 are long gone.
Because when investors invest in new directors today,
they will ask if the film could be played in China or not.
As a result, the amounts of topics you could discuss in your films is restricted. So you can see now in Hong Kong,
there are films like Lan Kwai Fong and Vul...Vulgaria?
[Yes, that's right.] Films like those that don't require a lot of investment and gives a chance for moviegoers to laugh,
to ridicule, and satirize themselves. Of course you can say there is some kind of ideology in those films.
Nowadays, Hong Kong people are perhaps even Hong Kong itself
are both marginalized, whether in movies or in real life.
Do you think the Hong Kong cinema scene will improve?
I've talked to some investors and directors,
Hong Kong directors, about this. In the past couple of years, many Chinese investors
and filmmakers think that hong Kong directors don't fit in China. They think Hong Kong directors are incompetent, 416 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43;21,160 whethers its in coming up with ideas in production or in a choice of topic.
This is becasue they think that those kinds of directors belong in the 80s and 90s.
In fact, directors who make films in China now
are the ones who had set up their fame in the 80s and 90s so that there would be
investors who are willing to invite them to make films. It's very difficult for yound directors to break through.
It dones't mean that there is no chance at all for them. But, during the past few years,
people have been talking negatively about Hong Kong directors, how they don't fit in.
Now, there is one producer,
he's a Hong Kong producer, and several Hong directors, whom,
while being criticized by others, have done many things.
That producer is Bill Kong, of Edko Films Limited.
When you first look at the films he was investing in at the start, his mentality was that
he had to invest in the films of Chinese directors, like that of Tian Zhuangzhuang. None of the movies Bill invested in made money.
Therefore, he made gradual changes for instance, he found new directors. He invested in director Xiaolu, who made Ocean Heaven.
For the first movie, Bill didn't make money.
But for the second one, he understood that the diversification of films was approaching. He had this sensitivity.
He then produced Finding Mr. Right, followed by Firestorm and Cold War.
Finding Mr. Right was done by a Chinese woman director
while Firestorm and Cold War were done by Hong Kong directors.
Next, Bill produced The Young Wong Fei Hung, which was also done by a Hong Kong director. 436 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:09,220 He then began to move into the China market but in a way where
he would not be influenced by the mainstream trend in China. He didn't want the mainstream trend to monopolize the market.
The trend of investing in different variety of films is picking up. In terms of that, Hong Kong directors hold an advantage
because they were trained in making a vast variety of films.
Therefore, going back to what we were discussing,
if Hong Kong directors or producers have a strong vision,
then they can become their own masters and wouldn't need to follow along the Chinese trend!
As long as you have a good script, you can go anywhere and shoot a good movie.
You don't need to do it in China
under China's current environment. Back then for co-production films, the Chinese government
required that a certain pecentage of films needed to be shot in China.
However, that policy of mandatory co-productions has been relaxed a lot now.
Therefore, i think there are opportunities in Hong Kong, where you can bring some
investment from China and place in Hong Kong and the films being made here.
And then even if you talk about political or ideological topics, as long as it doesn't challenge the Chinese government,
you'll ahve a chance to play your film in China. Yet, I still think that the diversity that films had in the 80s and 90s,
where films had lots of different messages and ideology,
is no longer present today.
[In those days, if you had an idea, you could do whatever you wanted]
[because you didn't need to consider the Chinese market.]
[That market is very big.]
According to one statistic, in 2013, there were 61 films that had a box office income exceeding $100 million.
There are currently many students in college pursuing their master’s degree in filmmaking. I’m sure many of them would like to be like Zhao Wei and receive a score of 85/100 points from you. Any words of encouragement for them?
There is only one Zhao Wei. And even Zhao Wei had her lows, but she got through it.
During her low momeents, she went back to college
as a graduate student in film production at the Beijing Film Academy.
The reason Zhao Wei was able to make So Young is because she is Zhao Wei. It's due to her achievements up until today,
and to a certain extent, it's because people watned to see how she would do in her first film.
She was very lucky to have Li Qiang's script
and the whole production team. She made the film in a refined way
and the audiences were not disappointed. But, as I've said, there is only one Zhao Wei.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are a film major
and want to be a director one day,
I suggest that you step into the film industry first. Start out as a helper, or an assistant director.
If you like to write, you can try your hand at writing scripts.
Don't think about Zhao Wei and her 85 points or her $700 million box office income.
In my opinion, that's now how you consider whether you want to be a filmmaker in teh future.
If you see Zhao Wei as your goal, you won't be able to make another So Young even after 3 or 5 years.
Of course, you shouldn't make another So Young, you should find something that is unique,
that you're passionate about, that you're eager to do.
But you have to join the industry first.
You may gain a lot more as an assistant director in 3 or 5 films
than you would at school for 3 or 5 years.
Why only 85 points out of 100?
Her teachers at the Beijing Film Academy gave her a score of 99. That score has already been given, why should I repeat it?
I don't think that the movie is worty 99 points, shy of one hundred.
I'd like to ask her teachers why they didn't give her that last point. What's the reason?
When I was there with Zhao Wei as her producer,
I felt that she was wise and talented.
In addition, she had a very good script.
From the time she acted as Xiaoyanzi in Princess Pearl, where she was just a wide-eyed actress,
to her years developing her craft, and then getting married and giving birth to a child.
All these experiences led to her maturing as an actress.
And then at that same time, she found that she was interested in directing.
In other words, I believe that if she didn't undergo the process of maturing,
didn't experience what she had to go through, I don't think she could've handled the task of being a director.
In China, there's a saying that goes, "Graduation is separation". Couples in college separate once they graduate
becasue they had continue in their studies. Especially children born in the 80s,
their families had high expectations for them due to the one-child policy.
Each child is looked upon by six pairs of eyes
the father, the mother, the two grandfathers and the two grandmothers. They really had a lot of pressure on them.
Zhao Wei did something right at the right time.
She herself had experienced the same pressure and, with her passion in film, she did a great job on So Young.
When you start on another film, how does the success of your first film affect your next film?
I have had that experience. As you know Rouge was regarded as a success.
So at that moment, I felt that I could handle Full Moon in New York.
Yet , I've never lived in New York even though the film
was about three chinese women in New York.
I think if you were to let me reconsider it now and make a choice,
I would not direct it because, I don't think I'm able to handle that topic.
It was the success of Rouge at the time
that made me think that I could direct anything. 508 00;51:59,140 --> 00:52;02,000 I have to admit to that.
That experience always reminds me that even if you make money, it really doesn't mean a thing.
Whenever you shoot something, good or bad, you need to remember to let it go afterwards.
To relive that moment over and over again is meaningless.
The idea of always looking back at Rouge's success,
and replaying the movie again and again is
something I can't stand. Really.
Again, I think that no matter what you do, whether it's a success or a failure, you have to let it go.
You have to think about what you reall y want to do in the next film.
When you choose a topic for your film, do you have a personal criteria that you follow?
Of course, I won't do anything with Jackie chan
because I don't understand action movies. I think as a director of an action movie, you sit there all day long 520 00:53:00,060 --> 00:53:03,220 while your action choreographer controls everything. It's basically, go and fight, and then done.
That's not what I want to do.
First, I feel that, you have to know what you want to do or what you can do.
That's very important.
And then think about it again. For example, all of my films except a few, were based off of novels,
I would first start off with the character,
after I've thought about the character,
I then think whether or not this character has a story to tell.
I won't think whether or not the film will be a comedy or a tragedy.
I would start off with what makes this character interesting.
If you start from there, you'll at least ahve something that you can work with.
If you were to make a film that would be your “last hurrah”, what kind of topic would you like to pursue?
I think Yasujiro's Tokyo Monogatari is my example.
Of course, the first time I encountered one of Ozu's work was watching this film.
As I mentioned earlier, the reason I did Yang ± Yin was due to my father passing away early in my life.
The first chapter was about the absent father. But, I've never done anything specific regarding my father in my films.
I think the possibility, if you really want me to give you an answer,
would be to do a film about a father-son relationship.