Cinespot : An Exclusive Interview with Hong Kong Director Choi Kai-kwong

An Exclusive Interview
with Director Choi Kai-kwong
(Part II)

Your Works

Cinespot: How did you become a movie director?

Choi: After I returned to Hong Kong from US, I joined TVB (The primary TV studio in Hong Kong). I worked as a producer there and produced a documentary called Wonderfun and two TV serials Wong Fei-hung (starring Kwan Tak-hing) and Water Margin. Later I stepped into the movie business and wrote a script for Ng Sze-yuen, and it was Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, the first blockbuster of Jackie Chan. After that I became a director and directed movies like Encore, Teenage Dreamers, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Grow up in Danger, etc... In fact many directors of the New Wave cinema at that time followed similar steps, that is, they spent some time at the TV studio to learn and practise first before they started to make movies.

Cinespot: Among all your works, which one do you like most?

Choi: About this question, I think it depends on whether you can express your thoughts in the film. Some of them that are quite successful would be Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Encore. Talking about Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, it was getting hard to conceive new ideas since there were too many kung fu movies made at that time. The audiences were no longer interested in movies that have a very exaggerated plot. Therefore, when we were writing the script, we needed new elements to bring the audience back to the cinema. First, we decided not to create a super hero like Bruce Lee anymore. We would rather want to start off the story with the character of an underdog; Second, due to the success of the Cantonese movie The House of 72 Tenants, we decided to write the dialogues in Cantonese (Most of the movies in the early 1970s were made in Mandarin). The movie became a kung fu comedy eventually. Not only does it contain new ideas and characters, the plot also consists of sarcastic elements. For instance, there are two martial art schools in the movie. The students are easily swayed, they will constantly switch and follow the masters of the schools who have gained honors. In some senses, this mockery of the schools and the students reflects the social consciousness and humanities.
As for Encore, there were almost no movies about teenagers at that time. I felt that the kids of the middle class were growing up, they didn't live in poverty like those appeared in Cantonese drama in the 1950s~60s anymore. That's why we decided to make a movie about the youth of the middle class families in Hong Kong. This was a totally new genre in the early 1980s and the movie was well received by the audience.
Another one that is worth to mention is Hong Kong, Hong Kong. I like this one too because I was able to express my ideas willingly in the movie, and it was also a hit when it was released. There were many movies about refugees from mainland at that time, a lot of people wondered why I still decided to make this movie. To me, subject is a neutral element, whether a movie is good or not depends on how you execute the subject. Innovative ideas or new perspectives are very important. Perhaps it was related to my personal experience. I was interested to see how the mainland people would be influenced and assimilated when they move from China, a developing country, to the capitalistic society in Hong Kong. After I graduated from secondary school in Hong Kong, I moved to Taiwan to study. Three years later, I moved to the US to further my college education there. Therefore I have some experience in adapting to foreign cultures and new environment, this kind of experience affected me a lot and propelled me to work on this movie.
I also like Grow up in Anger. In this film, we employed a cast of non professional actors. Unfortunately, the box office result was not very good. The distribution was not handled very efficiently, it was probably because of the lack of stars as well as Golden Harvest's inexperience in distributing low budget movies. As you may know, they usually distribute mega-budget productions (for instnace, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung's films). Finally, Father of Hong Kong Cinema is certainly my favorite too.

Cinespot: What are you working on recently?

Choi: Right now I am writing a script, in which I am trying to turn the documentary Father of Hong Kong Cinema into a feature length narrative film, I hope I can make this movie soon. As I have said above, documentary is not valued by Chinese audience, therefore I hope this feature film can attract more audience to learn about the achievement of Lai Man-wai. Apart from writing the script, I am also searching for new funds to develop digital cinema.

Cinespot: What will be the focus of this feature film?

Choi: I have been considering this issue for a while. The movie should be based on the charming and charismatic personality of Lai Man-wai. We all know that his life was closely related to the contemporary history, but the movie will be unbalanced if we spend too much time on the depiction of the turbulence of wars or the chaotic society, and that's what I don't want to see. It should rather be able to manifest the spirit of Lai Man-wai.

The Future of Chinese Cinema

Cinespot: With the emergence of a growing number of pop idols, there are more and more films about teenagers and youngsters, for instance, films like Summer Breeze of Love, Just One Look and Nine Girls and A Ghost all belong to this category. As the pioneer of this genre in the 1980s who has made films like Encore and Teenage Dreamers, what do you think is the difference between the films today and those in the past? Judging from the declining film market, do you think the qualities of the movies are getting lower and lower?

Choi: There are many reasons that lead to the decline of the market. Moreover, the qualities of the movies you mentioned are not that low. I actually think many filmmakers in Hong Kong forget why they would want to make movies. They stress too hard on commercial calculations. A good movie should be made with "heart" (charisma) and sincerity. In fact, this is the most important asset of Chinese cinema. For instance, when some mainland directors or Lai Man-wai are making a movie, they really make every effort to perfect their work. Certainly, they also want the movie to be well received at the box office. But now there are not too many people who think this way. If a movie is not made with "heart", it might not be able to touch the audience. Relatively speaking, if the viewers are not moved, they would not remain as devoted as before.
If you determine the quality of a movie based on the value of the ticket, we would simply never be able to surpass Hollywood movies. They can invest more than US$10,000,000 on a movie, while we can only invest HK$1,000,000, the ratio is approximately 100:1, so it is meaningless to make such a comparison. But if you try to make a movie with heart and ambition, and not just for money, then it is very likely that the movie can move the audience. Based on this theory, I think most films today lack this "heart" and ambition. Certainly I am not telling you to ignore any possible profit, but if you can balance commercial calculation and ambition evenly, I think it won't be too hard to grab the heart of the audiences and lure them back to the theater again.

Cinespot: What do you think about the future of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema? Do you have any idea to rejuvenate Hong Kong cinema, or any advice for young people who want to step into the film business?

Choi: I'll talk about the situation in Hong Kong first. Compared to the New Wave in the 1980s when most filmmakers were trained in television studio before they actually made movies, nowadays, the case is very different. At that time, the development of the television business was very prosperous, TVB was trying to recruit as many talented people as possible. When young and ambitious filmmakers who have studied filmmaking abroad and had some practical experience like me, Ann Hui or Tsui Hark were hired, we didn't have to start out from the bottom. We were in fact told to produce new programs on our own without any harsh restriction. What we designed and produced were not only what we would love to do, but also commercial enough to attract the audience. When our programs were aired, there were even fewer pedestrians walking on the street. The share of audience was more than 90%! These programs nourished both us and the viewers. As we moved from TV to films, they followed us and became the primary source of our audience.
Right now the situation is very different. Most people have to start out from the bottom and need at least five to six years to work their ways up. Creativity is strictly restricted as well. Promising new filmmakers are not allowed to fully exhibit their talents, that's why we wouldn't recommend young people to work in the television studio, and it also explains why New Wave cinema will not revive anymore.
The development in mainland is totally opposite. In October 2002, I went to Beijing and talked to the people in the film industry there, and then in January 2003, I participated in the "Symposium of Film Directors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan" in Macau. The message I got from these events is that, the film business in mainland China is full of great opportunities in the future. Right now, their situation is similar to our New Wave era in the 1980s, there are many talented and young filmmakers emerging rapidly. Last year, they had more than twenty new directors making their debut (including digital movies). CCTV (the official television network owned by the Chinese government) offers a movie channel to screen these movies that are known as High Definition Single Camera Production. Moreover, they will open 80 digital movie theaters this year in 2003. You can see that they have a huge appetite for these movies. The movies will be screened in the digital movie theaters and then CCTV movie channel orderly. Through this practice, charismatic and creative scriptwriters/directors are nurtured. The quality and the quantity are both improving. For instance, more than fifty new directors are expected to come out this year. If you want to make movies, going back to mainland China is a good avenue.
Another avenue is to start your career abroad, since they usually have a larger market and huge needs for new talents. You know why there are more and more companies in HK trying to make films in English language with a local crew? It's because the market abroad is big.
Back to Hong Kong, we also have some avenues to nurture new filmmakers, for instance, we can apply funds from Hong Kong Art Development Council to make movies, or work in RTHK. However, the quality, quantity or the resources don't seem to be adequate. Nevertheless, if Hong Kong is able to develop digital cinema more actively, just like our counterparts in mainland China, there will be a new hope. Compared to 35mm films, the production cost of digital production is relatively low. In addition, we should not ignore the commercial and artistic value of the development of digital movies theater and the distribution of these films or DVD. If young filmmakers are given the opportunities to practise and learn, or are provided the environment to inherit the fine tradition of our cinema, they will be able to develop their own style. It is really very beneficial for the future of Hong Kong cinema.

Cinespot: Thank you very much.

Choi: Thank you.

In conclusion, the interview was a huge success. Director Choi was very generous and answered all of our questions in details. Again, we would like to appreciate director Choi Kai-kwong for taking his valuable time and sharing his insight with us. Please give a round applause to director Choi!

Thank you!

Host: Kelvin Chan
Assistant: C.K. Chan
written and translated by K. Lui

Click here to go back to Part I.