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

Hong Kong-based director Stanley Kwan has seen the relationship between the Shanghai and Hong Kong film communities pass through three distinct phases: from indifferent to competitive and, of late, collaborative. "Throughout the last fifteen years, I experienced firsthand how Shanghai has changed," he says, adding that his interest in Shanghai, whatever the state of affairs, has never waned.

In one sense, Kwan's movies trace the industry's history and its relations. He was one of the first directors to shoot in the Chinese mainland with Center Stage (1991), a biopic of Shanghainese screen legend Ruan Lingyu. Says Kwan: "It was a real Hong-Kong movie shot in the Chinese mainland... though all the money came from Hong Kong." Nonetheless, the experience broke the ice, so to speak, and was a starting point for future cooperation.
After the 1997 handover, the Hong Kong film industry began to integrate itself into the Chinese mainland film industry, though the process was not always smooth. "Each side brings something," says Kwan. "The Chinese mainland provides the studios and beautiful locations; Hong-Kong supplies pop stars and money."
That said, Kwan has no problem holding up his end of the bargain. In his latest film, Everlasting Regret, based on a novel by Shanghainese author Wang Anyi, he cast two of Hong Kong's most bankable stars, Tony Leung Kar-fai and Sammi Cheng; Jackie Chan took the role of producer. Indeed, Kwan says that Shanghai Film Studios counted on him to attract big stars from Hong Kong and get some financial partners.

But the business continues to change and partners increasingly share in the investment and the risks. For Kwan's next project, a biographical film on the life of opera legend Mei Langfang, Chinese mainland investors, together with their counterparts from Hong Kong and the US, will contribute to the estimated RMB 80 million budget. This time Kwan will cast an even more bankable Tony: Leung Chiu-wai the star of In the Mood for Love.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
January 2006 issue

Meet The Lanterns, the new kids on the block in Shanghai. Given the difficulty of making a break-through in the local alternative music scene – read rock scene – it's just as well that the members of the band aren't driven by the twin illusions of fame and fortune. "We don't think of the money," explains lead singer Martin Wong. "We didn't sign with a label because no one wants us – Chinese people want Dao Lang!" True, rock acts don't make a buck in China, let alone in Shanghai. Rampant piracy and free music downloads have crippled the local industry and made producers lose confidence in taking a punt on unknowns. "The whole industry is bulls__t," protests Wong. "There are no managers because they know it's not going to make money."
Wong has a point. The band was able to release only 500 copies of their debut album To the Light House in the alternative market. Their follow-up Turning All the Clouds due out this year, is a remix of the first album and includes a new single. Only 5,000 to 10,000 official copies will be distributed in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. All this despite the fact that The Lantern's music has a highly engaging, commercial sound. Influenced by British bands like The Verve, they deliver a kind of Chinese Brit Pop with melodies they use to great effect to convey a conservative message. "We write Chinese lyrics to bring traditional literature and Chinese feelings to the fore," says Wong. "We try to give confidence to young people in Chinese traditions." The band's Chinese name sounds like "Lan Ting" (Orchid Pavilion), a masterpiece poem anthology with calligraphy by Wang Xizhi from the Dong Jin Dynasty. "Sometimes you can read music from calligraphy; actually you can find rhythm in a lot of things," says Wong. When not performing, the members of the band eke out a living through an assortment of odd jobs and music tuition. With any luck they'll release their sophomore album next summer with an entirely new repertoire of original material.
According to Wong, their lyrics have to deal with love and have an easy-to-remember chorus which everyone can sing along to. The 'drama inside' comes from the band member's life experiences, which in some cases play out like distorted guitar riffs. Take bass player Jack Dye for instance. Dye came to Shanghai to escape the memory of seeing one of his best friends crushed beneath an airplane. Wong says he got his vocal skills from his mother who used to argue vociferously with his father. "As a young kid I was a real dreamer, and I thought I could do the same as the bands on the tapes I used to listen to," says Wong. Their collective past might explain why the band's music is full of soul. The five members of the band – all of them in their mid-twenties – say that it's music alone which brings them faith in everyday life. They don't seem at all perturbed by the fact that making any headway in the local music scene is an uphill battle. For them it's all for the music. But producing good music is no magician's trick and you have to find a good melody. And that's what The Lanterns is all about.
Catch one of The Lanterns' gigs in Harleyís bar in Xujiahui or The Ark in Xintiandi

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
January 2006 issue
Photo courtesy Hugo Hu www.huphoto.cdd.cn