Hey folks, Harry here with an interview provided to us by the indestructable Ye Meng from an interview done by Hong Kong's very own CITY ENTERTAINMENT magazine! In this remarkable interview Tsui Hark gives the low-down on three unreleased but FINISHED films of his, plus some details on the film he will next make! Hopefully we'll get some of these movies over here in the U.S. As CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON is showing that these Hong Kong and Asian 'kung fu' films have an audience here. Like duh?! Anyway, at the very least we'll score these babies on DVD! Here ya go...
Hi, Harry!
Ye is here!
The recent issue of Hong Kong's City Entertainment magazine (January 31) has done an interview on Tsui Hark (by Ho Ma). Tsui Hark has talked about three of his yet to be released movies - Lou Fu Ji, a film based on the same name comic strip, Zu Warriors II, which is in the can (I think), and Black Mask II, which is in post-production. He also mentioned his next project Iron Man 28 based on the same name Japanese comic book.
According to some other report, Thumb Goddess, with the size of a thumb, played by Lin Si-Lei is the main villain. Purple Sword, played by Cecilia Cheung, and Green Sword, played by Wu Jing, have to work together to eliminate Thumb Goddess. In the movie Louis Koo played a military man who is quiet but deadly; Ekin Cheng played a hero who killed his teacher who has reincarnated and Zhang Ziyi played a very tough woman solider. Not very long time ago, this movie has got very positive reaction in some European and American movie tradeshows.
Recent Photo of Tsui Hark: CLICK HERE (by Anthony Chan)
Go here to see some photos of Rob Van Dam on the set of Black Mask II in Bangkok: BLACK MASK II Pics
Here is the interview:
Lou Fu Ji
Reporter: Let's look about the influence of the comic stripe Lou Fu Ji (The Old Pedant) on you.
Tsui Hark: When reading Lou Fu Ji during my childhood, I got a very strange happy feeling. At that time, Lou Fu Ji has given me a positive attitude toward my life. Lou Fu Ji is about a sense of "good Hongkongese", therefore I had spent a lot of time on it and it's a childhood friend. Today, when I read it again, I still fell it's very funny. In about four or five years ago, I got contact with the artist Wong Jak and told him my plan of bringing Lou Fu Ji back to today's life. Lou Fu Ji is still in circulation, which proves it has something specially and cannot be ignored. Lou Fu Ji is no long a comic stripe and has become part of our culture. I hope to explore the elements of its survival. I was grown up with it, but can I bring it to the audiences and how to do it?
Reporter: some say the majority of today's audiences are young people. Are you worried about the reaction on Lou Fu Ji from these young people?
Tsui Hark: I think such saying is wrong in some way. In the past, we made movies for men, then find out female audiences are also very important, and later realized family audiences are equally important. Actually, to make a movie, one should follow his or her feeling and just do it when feels enjoyable and beautiful. Don't try to target at the young people, the old people or women. Not even I know how to target. Target at Chinese audiences and target at the world market? - I really don't know how to do it. Like Yi Dung-Sing's Porn Couple (translation), which audience group was targeted at? Adult film audiences or Class III (approximately equal to NC-17 in the US) audiences? Class III audiences won't watch it. These are just too complicated. People with the same age like mine are more familiar with Lou Fu Ji, then whom should I target at? I don't want to think about it. Lou Fu Ji gives me a sense of familiarity. Whether such familiarity can be transform into a success will be determined by the quality of movie.
Reporter: Are the characters in Lou Fu Ji 3-D CG figures?
Tsui Hark: Mr. Cheun can be played by a real person, but it is almost impossible to let real persons play Lou Fu Ji and Big Sweet Potato. Gou Lou Chun once played Lou Fu Ji. But I feel to make Lou Fu Ji, we have to use 3-D animation to create a three-dimensional Lou Fu Ji, jumping out to fit into a real environment.
Reporter: Like a 3-D version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Tsui Hark: Exactly. But if comic characters moved too violently and jumped around like the rabbit, the entire movie would be out of control. Therefore, when creating 3D characters, we have made them quieter when they walk and talk, to coordinate with real people. The challenge of making Lou Fu Ji is that we hadn't done thing like this before. How to make 3-D characters coordinate with real actors? How to create those characters' expressions? There were all big problems. During the making, we first asked actors to play the whole scene and 3D characters were played by real people too, then we edited out a real-people-only version. Real persons' movement and expressions were used as a base to create 3D figures. By then we have to determine whether each move of those real persons were same as what we had imaged and whether any improvement should be done. Later, did the scene again without any stand-in actor.
Reporter: How long did it take?
Tsui Hark: Shooting took about two months and was done in mid March last year. In early April, we give the footages to Menfond (http://www.menfond.com.hk) (to do the 3-D part) and it was completed by the end of December.
Reporter: You have mentioned a problem of how to create 3-D characters' expressions. Can you tell me how did you solve it?
Tsui Hark: When reading the a comic stripe of Lou Fu
Ji, you can see that Lou Fu Ji's looking is changing
all the time. Clever, dumb, confusing, brave and scare
Reporter: An opinion is showed in a comic stripe. How
does such opinion be shown in a half-hour movie?
Tsui Hark: Lou Fu Ji has a main plot. As long as Lou
Fu Ji, Big Sweet Potato and Mr. Cheun showed up, the
whole world would become lovelier.
Tsui Hark: After finishing Lou Fu Ji, I got an idea:
it has been 19 years since Zu: Warriors of the Magic
Mountain and what do I feel about this subject? I am
very curious about what I have changed since then,
what do I my feel and think. Zu Warriors: II is just
like a mirror and I can use it to satisfy my
curiosity. When making the original, the Hong Kong's
movie special effect was only in its infant period. At
that time I had to research on things like blue screen
or green screen while making it. I had a very funny
thought - when I can travel back in time, I just go
seen those characters who had vanished, fly into their
world, and bring them back and put them into another
world which belongs to myself. Making Zu 2 is just
like traveling back to the world 19 years ago and is a
very exiting journey.
Reporter: Does the story of Zu 2 have a big difference
from the original?
Tsui Hark: Very big difference. Zu 2 is about
immortal. When you achieve immortal and can live
forever, but your enemies will die, you friends will
die and your love will die, what will your view about
the world? Happy or unhappy? Story of Zu 2 was created
and the material from the original novel cannot be
used. The original ended when Cheung Mei (Long Brows)
fled to the heaven, and Zu 2 will mention it in the
beginning. Therefore, Zu 2 can be seen as telling a
completely independent story.
Reporter: According to some earlier report, this is a
prequel.
Tsui Hark: I don't want to make a prequel. Prequel
will be very boring and everybody knows what will
happen (in a sequel).
Reporter: After more than ten years, the technology
has changed a lot. What about the special effect of Zu
2? Will we be able to see flying people again?
Tsui Hark: We must have flying people. People flying
is the biggest characteristic of the original and Zu
2. People can fly any time and the characters'
abilities and weapons have surpassed what people can
image. They can fly to another dimension, can become
bigger, can change form and change color, can absorb
power from another place About Zu 2's special effect, there are about 1,600
shots containing computer effect, which were done in
Hong Kong the US. Communication is a big problem,
because there are too many out-imaginable specially
effects. Like Louis Koo's wings, which are made of 72
flying blades. Looking of the wings can be painted but
speed, weight and shape have to be estimated without
any real life reference.
During the shooting, Louis Koo had to pretend he
really had wings on his back. There is one scene, in
which two of his wings are fighting each other. The
only thing he can do is just shaking his body and we
have to image he has two wings.
There is a Purple Sword, which grow in length during a
fight, first into fifty feet and later a hundred feet;
and there is a sword with a form of flame Reporter: How did you communicate with the actors?
Just used language to bring them into your imaged
world?
Tsui Hark: I think sometimes they felt they were
ridiculous and naive. Sometimes I draw pictures for
them or showing videotapes to them.
Reporter: Do you think historical martial art film
will make a comeback?
Tsui Hark: (Laugh) (The success of) Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon is a revelation: as long as you make a
good one, it doesn't matter the characters speaking
English or not.
Reporter: Why do you want to make Black Mask II?
Tsui Hark: Something has vanished in our modern
society. Black Mask is a kind of "modern heroes". But
there is a problem: will other people accept it? Does
it really exist? When I was designing the character,
many people had asked me whether it had any connection
with our society. I feel the charm of the character
must be generated during the creating process. Inside
everyone's body, there are a sense of mystery and a
personality of escaping and intoxication. This is the
reflection of a man: everyone wants to breakthrough
the limit of the reality. Black Mask is just one of
those characters defined by me and I have several more
in my mind already. After finishing the original, I
found out that I could make a sequel. Because Jet Li
has gone to the Hollywood, we could no longer afford
him for the sequel, (Laugh) therefore I used a new
comer for BM2. I got many actors from the US and
Europe and hoped the world we create will not be Hong
Kong, but a city includes Asian, the White and the
Black, which will be a miniature of the whole world.
The world in BM2 will be very unreal. People can be
brought back from death, can change their spices and
can be regenerated. The movie will touch the issue of
cloning human but the main theme will be a love story.
I want to say that people's view on love is too
conservative. They often demand a lot from their
lovers, blindly, and often lack communication with
them and don't know who their lovers really are.
Reporter: How about the cast?
Tsui Hark: All newcomers! So new that even I don't
know them! (Laugh) Andy On, who played the Black Mask,
has French and Asian blood and has been in some
American TV series. Others include Tobin Bell, Jon
Polito, Traci Lords, professional wrestler Rob Van
Dam, and Tyler Mane (as Sabretooth in X-Men).
Reporter: Will the miniature of the whole world be
shoot inside a sound stage?
Tsui Hark: I learned a lesson from making of ZU2 - it
is to exhausting to make a full sound stage movie. So
BM2 was shot in Bangkok without sound stage. The
principal shooting has been done and we are working on
the post-production right now.
Reporter: Will it be in English?
Tsui Hark: Not one actor understands Chinese and they
all speak English. I have to decide in which language
to release it in Hong Kong - big headache!
Reporter: Are Time and Tide, Lou Fu Ji, Zu Warriors:
II and Black Mask II the products from the summary of
your Hollywood journey? What have you discovered
during this journey?
Tsui Hark: Hollywood's moviemaking process is very
simple: receiving a script, shooting it and finishing
post-production. The structure is so perfect that a
director can only experience part of a movie's birth.
After I came back to Hong Kong, I found out that I was
in "battle" again. These movies were done by using a
different method after I entered in a different
period. Movie is a medium with time limit and would
change when a person's made of thinking and age
changed. I hope my movies can reflect two things: the
first one is the environment and the second one is
myself. This can't be considered as some mighty
thought.
Reporter: Which project are your planning right now?
Tsui Hark: A lot. But my next one should be Iron Man
28 (just a translation), based on the same name comic
book by Kosan Koki. It will be a (most likely)
Hollywood production with Japanese and American
funding. The Iron Man will be fully 3-D CG and the
movie will probably be shot in Europe. Currently we
are working on casting and the script. Shooting will
start this summer and it will be released during the
Christmas season of 2002.
Ye Meng
Zu Warriors: II
Black Mask II
Iron Man 28
