THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

On Valentine’s Day, moviegoing couples have two choices: romantic flicks or scary pics. The first choice is obvious, but the second is more useful primarily for the shudder that melts into a cuddle. Beijing-born filmmaker Teng Huatao (Sky of Love) and his backers, the film company Huayi Brothers, are releasing The Matrimony (Xin Zhong You Gui) around Valentine’s Day because they’re betting that lovestruck moviegoers will take objects of their infatuation to theaters in the hope of experiencing this phenomenon.

Teng says that when he and his producers planned the making of The Matrimony, they realized that China had a lousy track record with ghost stories, and that it fell to them to correct that. “In the past there were never really superior [Chinese] ghost movies, despite their popularity with audiences and critics,” says Teng. “There were only small budget films with simple stories.”

For this reason, he and his crew felt that they had to pack The Matrimony with the best in the business – a great cast, solid story, eerie ambiance and believable effects. The 38-year-old film director harnessed a budget of RMB 30 million (USD 3.83 million) to whip up something to please couples on Valentine’s Day: a piece blending romance with spooky intrigue.

The film’s plot concerns a newlywed couple who become mixed up with the world of ghosts. When the husband (Leon Lai) forbids his wife (Rene Liu) from entering the attic of their new house, the nosy wife inevitably defies his wishes. Inside the attic, she discovers a restless, spectral former girlfriend (Fan Bingbing) who died in a car accident before the two could get married.

The Matrimony is set in 1930s Shanghai, which evokes an era caught between tradition and modernity. Mainly shot on location in Shanghai, the film plays off the clash of ambiance between the thrilling, macabre moments and the romantic scenes.

Teng said that he wanted to avoid clichés from Western horror movies in order to achieve a more “Chinese approach” to ghost tales – that is, a ghost story with sexy specters. Ghost movies in China have often been associated with young beauties that passed away, but got stuck in the world of the living because there was something they couldn’t forget or forgive. A fine case in point was Tsui Hark’s 1980s trilogy A Chinese Ghost Story, which was set in ancient China and wherein a ravishing female ghost seduces a tax collector.

Teng’s choice for the role of the ghost was therefore key. He says that Fan Bingbing, with her full yet slender face, dark brow and huge, round eyes, was the best candidate for the challenging role.

“I’ve always thought she looked like a female ghost,” jokes Teng. “In China we have many famous novels in which ghosts are all stunning beauties, so inevitably people will associate her with ghosts.”

To beef up the movie’s star power, Hong Kong superstar Leon Lai was cast as the husband who cannot get over his late fiancé. Lai’s mellow personality matches his low-spirited character.

Still, Teng says that a good plot, a moody backdrop and big names aren’t enough to draw a crowd; top-notch production values are essential. “For a ghost and horror movie, the soundtrack is essential – if you turn off the sound, scary movies don’t seem horrific at all,” says Teng.

The visual and sound effects were processed by Hong Kong-based Chibi Digital Vision, which was responsible for the audio-visual extravaganza that was 2006’s Dragon Tiger Gate. Besides the soundtrack, the effects are responsible for metamorphosing Fan into a ghastly gui (Chinese ghost) desperately looking for love.

And while love draws Fan’s haunting spirit to the human world, Teng trusts that similar emotions will draw those in the mood into theaters – and into the embraces of their paramour.

(c) that's Beijing Magazine
Chief editor: Gwynn Guilford
February 2007 issue

Horror and romance are generally not compatible, but Beijing-born filmmaker Teng Huatao and China’s Huayi Brothers have created a match made in heaven, or so they say.

Set within the framework of a Chinese ghost film to its credit, The Matrimony boasts stars, story and special effects aplenty. “In the past there were never really any high-end ghost movies, despite their popularity with both audiences and critics,” says Teng. “They were mostly small budget films with simple stories.”

Indeed, the film promises to be a sensory extravaganza, with sound effects and visuals processed in Shanghai by Hong Kong-based Chibi Digital Vision (Dragon Tiger Gate). “For ghost and horror movies,” explains Teng,” the soundtrack is essential – if you turn off the sound you won’t think it’s horrifying at all.”

The emphasis on dazzle may seem a bit of a surprise for audiences familiar with the young director’s best known work, the art-house flick One Hundred (2001). For one thing, this latest work is definitely aimed at the mainstream. Set in the 1930s, a period that Teng says “was a bizarre time that fits the story”, The Matrimony was shot in Shanghai (at the former Dong Feng Hotel, next to Three on the Bund and the Science Hall on Nanchang Road).

The plot concerns a secret Shen Junchu (Leon Lai Ming) keeps from his wife Sansan (Rene Liu): in the attic of their home is a locked room which she is forbidden to enter. Unable to restrain her curiosity, she opens the door and finds a restless ghost, her husband’s former girlfriend Xu Manli (Fan Bingbing), who’s still desperately looking for love.

Implausible? Yes, but not within the context of the Chinese ghost genre. Compared to Western horror conventions, this is a whole different world – one where ghosts are not necessarily evil and scary, but coexist on the same plane as the living.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2007 issue

When Sun Yat-sen proposed in 1919 to build a dam on the Yangtze River, he probably didn’t appreciate just to what extent such a Herculean project and the colossal impact it would have on the local population. Seventy four years later and the Three Gorges Dam (in Yichang, Hubei Province) eventually started and was completed in May last year, becoming the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and involving the relocation of more than 1.3 million people.

Despite being such a huge project, director Jia Zhangke takes his usual insightful look into human struggle that has seen him hailed overseas for his depiction of contemporary China in Still Life (Good People of the Three Gorges), his fifth film to date and his second movie to be released in China nationwide after The World.

Shot on HD, and using a documentary-style approach, the 36-year-old filmmaker offers a contemplative look at the emotional malaise within the rubble of Fengjie, a city at the foot of the dam. Two unconnected individuals from Shanxi, a coalminer (Han Sanming) and a nurse (Zhao Tao), search for their loved ones while wandering in an odd Imagelandscape of ruins, mountains and flooded lands. Eventually, they found something they didn’t expect they would.

Just as unexpected, was Still Life’s last-minute entry in competition at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in September where Jia pocketed the Golden Lion award, the Western world’s ultimate sign of acknowledgement of Jia’s cinematic significance.

Jia talks with that’s about Still Life’s balancing act of realism and surrealism.

that’s: What is Still Life about?
Jia Zhangke: The focus of this movie is the impact of the Three Gorges Dam construction project on the lives of common people. I didn’t want to elevate the film to a sociological piece; it isn’t a movie to address societal problems actually. What I wanted to do was to look at the dam project from the angle of the locals. Of course they’re always affected by the society, but I didn’t want to just stop there. I wanted to show the strong will of the residents to confront the difficulties and how they survive.

that’s: The number of displaced locals exceeds the State of Idaho population. Did you witness any of it?
JZK: I didn’t witness the departure of people. Everything was just gone forever. It is very surrealistic; 1.3 million people left their land instantly. When I arrived there, there was even no trace left [of their lives] on this land. The saddest thing is that such an old city just disappeared under waters. The city has more than 2000 years of history and is attached to some wonderful cultural heritage such as the poems of Li Bai and the story of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

that’s: Why was Still Life presented at the last minute at the Venice Film Festival?
JZK: After I completed the rough cut, the Venice selection committee watched it and loved it. Unfortunately my father passed away during this period and I suspended all my work. Even so, they were still very persistent and wanted me to go back to work in July 2006 [to complete post production]. We all were afraid that I wouldn’t be able to finish it on time for the festival. Therefore we reached the agreement to present it as a surprise film; if I couldn’t finish it on time they would have found another movie.

that’s: Some scenes are bizarre, surreal even; there UFO flying around, a tight-rope walker and a building launched like a space shuttle. Explain.
JZK: The movie blends the reality with the two lead-character difficulties, their memories and their hope and imagination for the future. At the end of this movie, there are acrobatics to show this surrealism. It’s true that it’s kind of magical. Actually surrealism might just be the reality of modern China. China develops at an amazingly fast pace and there’s strong surrealistic side effects resulting from this development. Here, a city with a 2,400-year history got demolished in two years and more than one million people vanished instantly. From a certain viewpoint it shows the situation in China.

that’s: The movie’s a slow pace, with sometimes comedic moments. Why?
JZK: It’s the real pace of this city. From this languidity, you can understand the quickness of the [city] demolition and the departure of people. [So] this reality is sad and heavy. The contrast between the sad parts and the humor serves to emphasize the vitality and optimism of these people.

that’s: The humor works very well; your next film might as well be a comedy.
JZK: I haven’t thought about that yet, but I do like humor. I think Chinese people don’t lead a daily life with a long face and a sad mind. People should live with a smile.

c) that's PRD Magazine
Chief editor: Phil Boyle
December 2006 issue

Published in a slighlty different form in that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2007 issue

and in that's Beijing Magazine
Deputy chief editor: Gwynn Guilford
January 2007 issue