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

While interviewing New York-based theater and opera director Chen Shi-Zheng, the story of the deadliest shooting in US history on the campus of Virginia Tech, was making headlines around the world. Which proves that truth is stranger than fiction. Granted, the US has long been plagued by expressions of violence, in part because of its notoriously liberal gun laws. But news of the latest massacre added a weird element to the discussion with the Changsha-born director. Chen’s US-financed directorial debut Dark Matter (DM) is based on a similar event that occurred 16 years ago in the University of Iowa.

Indeed, it concerns the real life story of Lu Gang, a Chinese physics student enrolled in a PHD program who shot and killed five people and wounded one before turning the gun on himself in 1991. Yet Chen’s film goes far deeper than the newspaper headlines, exploring cultural shock, unscrupulous academic competition, university politics and disenchantment.

Starring Liu Ye (Curse of the Golden Flower), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Aidan Quinn (This Is My Father), DM reflects on how young Chinese immigrants struggle to make their mark in a culture that is at once seductive and impenetrable. And how in the process, they often downscale their American dreams to fit American realities. Lu Gang’s on-screen alter ego Liu Xing, played by Liu Ye, is however an extreme example in that he refuses to compromise. A promising physics student, he devotes himself to research on dark matter, an uncharted area of modern astrophysics. Quickly appreciated as a brilliant scholar by his advisors, he nevertheless struggles to grasp the politics and social dynamics of an American university, with tragic results. When his chance of achieving success is dashed by school politics, he unleashes his rage on his former mentor and colleagues.

DM doesn’t focus on the actual killing spree, nor does it offer pat explanations. What’s important here is that Chen fills the gaps before the final showdown using his own experience. He, too, was an uprooted Chinese living and working in the US. And he, too, was torn between admiration and puzzlement.

Before immigrating to the United States in 1987 and graduating from the New York Tisch School of the Arts in performance studies, the now 44-year-old director made a living singing Elvis Presley songs in Mandarin, as well as traditional Chinese operas. Talented and versatile – much like the King – Chen has worked to create new artistic forms of expression as a director, a choreographer, singer and actor. To do so, he has crossed boundaries between music, opera, theater and dance and produced some intriguing variations of the classics (Peach Blossom Fan, The Peony Pavilion, Orfeo, The Return of Ulysses), works that he has staged around the world (France, Denmark, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore). DM, which won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, is Chen’s opportunity to break out of the theater’s four walls and tell a modern life-and-death story on film.

Below, Chen discusses life in the US, violence, Dark Matter and his latest opera project.

that’s: Many young Chinese dream of studying in the US. Is DM a warning that they should pursue their dreams with caution?
Chen Shi-Zheng (CSZ): I definitely did not make it as a guidebook or warning for Chinese students studying in America, although I hope they will be part of the film’s much wider, global audience. Dark Matter is concerned with disillusionment, power and the urgent importance of really paying attention to each other and trying to understand cultural differences. It’s also about how individuals perceive and react to pressure, and by that I don’t mean just Lu Xing, but also all of the other main characters, and what motivates them to do the things they do.

that’s: The US is seen to embody a culture of violence. Might Lu Gang or the character of Liu Xing have reacted differently in another environment?
CSZ: It is absolutely incorrect to characterize the US as a violent country. Violence happens there, yes, but violence happens everywhere, and there are certainly countries that are far more violent – even in Asia. It’s generally a very peaceful place, which is why the news media focuses so much on violent incidents, giving maybe people outside the US an exaggerated idea about it. I didn’t know Lu Gang, and I doubt that even anyone who did could say how he would or wouldn’t be in different circumstances, or why this happened seemingly so suddenly. In fact, one of the criticisms I’ve gotten about Dark Matter is that there’s no indication before the tragic ending that anything is wrong. From what I have researched about the actual incident, it seems that nobody saw it coming; Lu Gang just suddenly snapped. Even though Liu Xing is a completely fictionalized character, I did try to capture that idea in the film.

that’s: You portray Liu Xing’s attempts to negotiate between his expectations and reality as a failure.
CSZ: Generally speaking, it is very common for anyone who leaves one country for another to have unrealistic expectations. You go because you have extremely high hopes that your life will be better than it was in the country you left. Then it’s a bit shocking to find out that it is not a perfect paradise. How you handle that disillusionment is probably more a matter of personality than anything else. In the case of Liu Xing, he thought he would have complete freedom to make an impact on science and get a lot of support for his work from his idol, his professor, but he ran into a resistance he didn’t expect and the result of course was very tragic.

that’s: How autobiographical is DM?
CSZ: It is not autobiographical. As an artist, of course my own experiences are expressed on some level through my work, and yes, I did (and still often do) feel a sense of dislocation in the US. But I also think that artists generally feel like outsiders wherever they are.

that’s: How might outsiders – Chinese immigrants, for example – prepare themselves for life abroad, especially in the USA?
CSZ: I’ve been in the United States for quite a while now, since 1987. Times have changed both in China and the US since then, and I think that my expectations at the time were probably different from the expectations that young Chinese students have now. Also, you can’t really say that New York City is typical of the US. In NY, there are so many people from so many different races, backgrounds, countries and experiences that in a way you can feel very comfortable there, because everyone is different. In other parts of the country I feel more aware of being Chinese and different from the people who grew up in places like the Midwest. It’s very clear to me, though, that it is crucial for all sides to be open-minded and tolerant of each other’s differences and to realize that we’re all part of the same human race.

that’s: Your three leads – Liu Ye, Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn – also come from very different backgrounds. How did you integrate their diverse approaches to the film?
CSZ: They were all amazing, and working with them was a great gift I will always treasure. They are completely professional and communicated on the level of brilliant actors. In the theater and opera world I have been mixing Eastern and Western elements together for a long time and have come to understand how the approach in each tradition is fundamentally different. As a director, I am kind of a bridge between them and I ask each side to experiment with the other’s approach. It’s very exciting, because it always creates something completely new and unique that is beyond East meets West.

that’s: Liu Ye is a very versatile actor who has appeared in Chinese blockbusters (The Promise) and art-house films (Lan Yu). What did he bring to the role of Lu Gang?
CSZ: He’s so brilliant and has such great instincts as an actor that I wanted to give him a lot of space to find the core of the character. I also loved the idea that it was his first time in the US and I wanted to capture his real reactions to it, to get a very genuine feel. I didn’t want him to be too rehearsed or studied. I’m really happy with the results; he’s great and he gave a very honest performance.

that’s: This is your first feature film. What differences did you find between working on film and the stage?
CSZ: On the stage everything happens live, so if there is a mistake there is nothing you can do about it. In film you can have multiple takes. But actually, this film was made with such a limited budget and on such a tight schedule – we shot the whole thing in just 21 days in Utah and three days in China – that in itself it was very challenging. The upside is that a film will potentially be seen by many more people. It also exists as a tangible, material thing, whereas with live theater or opera, when it’s over it’s gone.

that’s: Your current project is altogether different. Monkey: Journey to the West is an opera/circus spectacle involving 45 Chinese circus acrobats, vocalists and martial artists.
CSZ: This is a really exciting project. I am working with Gorillaz [the award-winning virtual Brit-pop band], who are an amazingly talented couple of guys [composer Damon Albarn and animation designer Jamie Hewlett] who also happen to be really “hot”, especially with young adults. I wanted to take a new look at this important Chinese classic that is not only serious but also wildly imaginative and fun. I’ve spent the last two years casting the performers for a huge number of roles from among circus companies and other performance groups. Monkey is a combination of live performance and animation, so it is very complicated, and we worked very hard to get it ready for the premier in Manchester, England last June. It will also go to Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, and then to the State Opera House in Berlin this summer, and I believe also to the Lincoln Center Festival in New York next year.

Special thanks to Kathrin Veser
Photo courtesy of American Sterling Communications LLC

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

Published in a shorter version in that's Beijing
Chief editor: Oliver Robinson
July 2007 issue

China’s unique landscapes have made it an irresistible draw for foreign co-productions such as Jade Warriors, Shanghai Kiss and Painted Veil; yet when it comes to Chinese directors, very few have been brave enough – or perhaps foolish enough – to produce films abroad. True, the cost is prohibitive, but this hasn’t deterred Guangdong-born Taiwan-based director Hou Hsiao-hsien (Flowers of Shanghai).

Hou’s most recent film, Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Vol du Ballon Rouge), shot in French with a French cast, was produced by France-based Margo Films and the Musée D’Orsay. The film celebrates the 20th anniversary of the latter, a temple of impressionist and Art Nouveau. The story explores the life of Suzanne (Juliette Binoche), a self-absorbed single mother overwhelmed by the complications of modern existence, and her seven-year-old son, Simon (Simon Iteanu), who is followed around Paris by a mysterious red balloon.

Red Balloon isn’t the first project where Hou has employed the concept of ‘delocalized’ Chinese productions. Indeed, after filming Café Lumière (2003) in Tokyo, he realized he could export his filmmaking style to pretty much anywhere. “During the Café Lumière shoot,” explains Hou, “I gave the [Japanese] actors certain freedoms to do things their own way, and the results were quite pleasing. And so I approached [Red Balloon] the same way.”

Hou usually starts a project by scouting locations to discover characters and eventually writes a script which typically mixes reality with fiction. In Red Balloon, the 60-year-old director blends elements from Albert Lamorisse’s short film Le Ballon Rouge (1956), which offers a French vision of 1950s Paris, and Adam Gopnik’s book Paris to the Moon (2001), a contemporary American take on the French way of life.

Somewhat surprisingly, the result is fresh and free of nostalgia. Hou offers an international eye on Paris; the film is shot in colorful and authentic locations, including the producer’s apartment. “The first day of principal photography,” says producer François Margolin, “Hou came and started to do the washing up in my kitchen. It was his way of getting into the mood and the locale.”

And it worked. Even French critics showered the film with praise when it premiered in the Cannes sideline competition, Un Certain Regard.

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

This month, Chinese filmmakers and moviegoers celebrated the tenth anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to the motherland. Arguably, very few works on the big screen have come to represent this decade as aptly as Andrew Lau’s and Alan Mak’s trilogy Infernal Affairs (IA), starring Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Kelly Chen. Immensely successful and influential, the film relates the uncertainties of the Hong Kong people (citizens and filmmakers alike) prior to and after the 1997 handover.

“The IA trilogy speaks of the times,” writes Gina Marchetti in her insightful and accessible book, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs – The Trilogy. An Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong, Marchetti has written several volumes on Chinese cinema. In her new book, published this year and edited by the Hong Kong University Press, she explores, among other things, the significance of IA in the last decade. It’s hard to compare the history of the new Special Administrative Region and its cinema with anything that came before. In the period following the handover, the people of Hong Kong have endured much hardship (the SARS outbreak; the Asian financial crisis, the death of superstar Leslie Cheung; rising unemployment and the collapse of the local film industry). Hence, this decade might be termed the era of existential doubts.

“Not all films or film series lend themselves to book-length study,” says Marchetti, who has peeled away IA’s multiple layers to reveal its underlying themes. The deceptively simple plot is much more than a cat and mouse tale about two moles, one a triad member working in the Hong Kong police department and the other a cop passing as a mobster. The film also concerns Hong Kong history, Chinese religion and moral philosophy, global capitalism, the dynamics of the Hong Kong film industry and much more besides.

If the trilogy speaks of the times, its depth also speaks to the audience. After years of avoiding the cinema – in part because of rampant piracy, but also due to the rise of home video and cable TV – the release of IA saw locals once again queuing for tickets. Indeed, box office receipts broke new records (HKD 54 million, HKD 25 million and HKD 30 million, respectively for each of the three films).

In short, IA was soon regarded as a significant cinematic achievement, one that few industry observers had predicted. And that success came at time (2002) when confidence in the industry was very low indeed. Explains Marchetti: “[Infernal Affairs] helped to show that Hong Kong could still produce a film that could make a profit.” Even Hollywood took notice. Last year, the first entry in the series was re-made (and re-set in south Boston) by Martin Scorsese; the resulting film, The Departed, featured a US superstar-studded cast and won multiple Academy Awards. Scorsese’s version grasped the film's universal appeal: the struggle with identity in a complex urban environment. “The experience of Hong Kong as a place [as portrayed in IA] – constantly changing, global, at the cutting edge of economic and social trends – speaks to viewers who live in similarly cosmopolitan, highly competitive, consumer-saturated environments,” says Marchetti.

But many critics of the American version argue that Scorsese failed to capture IA’s depth. Comments Charles Leary, a professor of Hong Kong film history at New York University, “The Departed does not have the epic scope of the IA trilogy and the sense of history in the making.”

That said, Marchetti insists that though many viewers prefer the original, “both films need to be taken seriously.” While IA depicted Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland in the decade following the handover, The Departed has a lot to say about the state of America today and its institutions, especially post-9/11. “If Hong Kong suffered a crisis in its identity and the legitimacy of its key institutions after 1997,” says Marchetti, “then the US suffered a similar crisis after Bush’s response to 9-11 with [for instance] the bankruptcy of its political institutions after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Info on Marchetti's book is available at: http://www.hkupress.org

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

Published in a different version in that's Beijing
Chief editor: Oliver Robinson
July 2007 issue