Mo ngai: To Kei Fung dik din ying sai gaai (2013) - full transcript

Your right side.

Yes, okay.

Three, start rolling.

Cut!

Damn it. I can't go on.
Let's call it a day.

Seriously, think about
what you've been doing!

At first--

No! So was personnel recruiting.
You even messed up just finding people!

And you dare to talk back!

Look out!

You must be bloody blind.



There are people back there!

-Stop the car, Mister.
-Alright.

Is this car going up?
Let Sammi ride with you then, alright?

You should push the dolly
when the actor pushes the door.

This was not recorded. This--

Let me show you.

Where's the final position?

-Start rolling.
-Slate.

What are you two doing?
Didn't you hear me?

-Michael is in Kunming!
-Who is that?

Michael Liu!

-Okay?
-Okay.

Alright.

There are quite a lot of abnormalities
in mainland China.



One film crew can have
hundreds of vehicles.

I have no idea
what's the use of so many vehicles.

In Hong Kong, shooting
is supposed to be simple and clear.

You stay if you have things to do,
or you leave.

You are always fucking chatting.
Chatting with this guy, then with another.

And God knows what that guy is doing.
Get the hell out of here.

You are on the set,
so take care of the things on set.

Everything is fucking wrong.

How come?

Where is the watering pot?

Or just give me some water.

Let me do this. You're wearing gloves.

No, you take this.

I must admit, I do scold.

I won't deny it. What else could it be?
I did scold them.

That's what I do when I'm upset.

As a professional,
everyone should stick to their post.

Everyone should have
a professional attitude.

I believe that people who have worked
with me will understand

why I've scolded you
or why I've lost my temper.

For me to do that,
something must be wrong on the set.

-It's tipping over!
-Come on, one, two, three!

Okay, now it's right.

-One, two, three, push!
-Come on!

-One, two--
-It won't turn!

-Help Lin.
-Stop. Just let one man do the talking.

Come on. One, two, move!

-And the rest of you, just shut up.
-Yes, sir.

He doubted the current situation
of the mainland film industry,

or even particular films.

We would communicate.

Meanwhile, he didn't stand back,

he tried to enter this market.

I think he came here with a doubtful
and critical attitude.

Just push it over there in one go.

Have a rest.

-Ready!
-Let's go!

-Come on, guys!
-One, two, three!

-Come on!
-Use all your strength!

The geographic conditions posed
great difficulties in filming this one.

Not just the intense production schedule.

Also, the weather was challenging
and freezing.

After all, we are southerners.

We are not built
to resist the cold there.

There was also the problem
of altitude illness.

The most severe case

was over two dozen people
getting sick at the same time.

Actually, we had staff sent
to the hospital every day.

-He has altitude sickness.
-Call the doctor.

This won't do.

Cut! Do it again!

The car wasn't satisfying,
and neither were you.

Cough first, then go out, get it?

What does professional really mean?

If I call myself a professional director,
if I dare to make that statement,

it means I will get a movie done
no matter how hard it is.

Whatever happens,
a professional can't leave his post.

Almost all the staff,
including the sick ones,

didn't leave the crew.

We stood until the end together.

This is the spirit I see
in Milkyway Image.

Milkyway Image is not a center
for art films.

Milkyway Image is a tribute to cinema.

Apart from sticking to originality,
we have to survive first.

So we have to balance,

which doesn't mean
we would go against our principles,

or that we haven't tried our best
to create.

We can do any kind of films,
be it commercial or art.

Now I'll make my staff show you.

This flag sign means we need smoke.

Do you see that?

In the last couple of years,

both Ka-fai Wai and I
have done some work in mainland China.

We would discuss the issue
of entering the mainland market.

The conclusion was, why not try it out?

Certainly, co-productions have...

both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that we can have
more subjects to choose from.

And the disadvantage is,
as many have mentioned,

that censorship is different
than in Hong Kong.

Co-productions have to adapt
to the censorship

and filming conditions in mainland China.

I think our films have hardly made
any progress in these years.

If we lose creative freedom

when making films
in a different environment,

we are no more than a tool.

I believe that only when our local culture
regains its strength,

will we have the chance of rebirth.

If all we want to do is make
co-productions with mainland China,

Hong Kong won't enjoy a good chance
to re-develop its culture.

I think a city without its own cinema

is quite pathetic.

Because cinema is part of a city's culture

I think the success of Lifeline
is owed to the Hong Kong film spirit.

It has many big scenes, however the budget
was only about six million HKD,

from which the basic expense
accounted for two or three million.

Taking off the wages for actors,
directors, and writers,

we were left with just over one million.

How can you shoot all these big scenes
with only one million?

I could hardly do that again now,
even just one scene. It's impossible.

At that time,
the whole crew were working very hard.

Everyone was doing extra jobs to help.

Think about it,
how could we use real fire?

Even I was startled at the scale of it.

Just see how I got blown up by that fire.

I'm really touched
after watching it again,

because it was due to the incredible
determination and boldness

of the whole crew.

The most endangered ones
were not the actors,

but the filming crew,
including the cameramen.

To produce a burning ceiling
with heavy fire, layer upon layer,

we needed to use a great deal of oil gas.

Once, we set a lot of oil gas,

but waited a long time before the ignition
and we didn't know why.

The oil gas started to spread
to people's feet

and everybody was nervous.

Meanwhile, Mr. To was watching the monitor
from a distance,

with a cigarette between his fingers.

It was really tense.

The cameraman knew
it was going to be a tough one,

because the fire would definitely
come close to him.

And we prepared safety measures for him,

drawing the thick smoke
by a big fan behind him

and reducing the heat with a hose.

He went wherever the fire went.

I was in charge of the explosion.
I wouldn't let others do it.

Sometimes, To would do it on his own
because he knew what he wanted.

I believe nowadays,
we can't find a team like that anymore.

People in the industry know that

I've worked with the same crew
for over ten years.

Their dedication,

passion and devotion

are way better and greater
than the movies themselves.

Thanks to the same experiences,
we don't need too many words

to communicate our approach.

During the past two decades or so,

I wouldn't have been be able to make
these movies without my team.

Here's today's paper.

Will it be a wasted effort again?

Well, if only this were tomorrow's paper,
then we could find out what happens.

Fly calling Centipede.

I think what matters most in filmmaking

is whether we can improve ourselves
each time.

I suggest we try and challenge ourselves.

Me, and the whole team,
because only after prolonged practice

can we truly make progress.

I said, how about a long take?
I had hoped to shoot for 10 minutes or so

but when we got hands on,

the difficulties appeared
bigger and bigger.

I said, he must make it in the first take,
no matter if the equipment works or not.

Because you can't shoot a second take
soon after the vehicles have exploded.

Since over 50 cars were involved,

with all the glass blown out,

rearranging it after the explosion
would take a week.

That's why he only got one single chance.

I remember it took us three days
for rehearsals.

The scene became a huge challenge...

and team work

was a vital element.

The whole scene was tense,
and required perfect cooperation.

Nobody was allowed
to make a single mistake.

Everyone should think clearly about
what to do and when,

and who's in charge of placing the props.

It's like we were all on a big stage.

I remember we did four or five rehearsals
that morning.

Everyone was too nervous to eat.

At mealtime, we were all like "Come on.

Don't stop for a meal.
Shoot first, or we'll lose the momentum."

-Please don't give me a ticket.
-Okay.

-I'll let you off just this once. Go now.
-Thank you, sir.

What's in that bag?

I said, what's in that bag?

Hoi!

-We're in a gunfight. We need backup!
-Cricket, get over here and help us.

When the camera was pulled back,
the crew had to quickly remove the track,

lay mud, and set guideposts and so on.

There was only ten seconds
to let everyone go.

With the camera moving at that pace,

the grips, actors, and assistant directors
got tired of running along as well.

I had to watch the wireless monitor
during the gun fight,

and I had to press the buttons to explode
the vehicles following the camera,

as well as the reaction bombs
on the floor and wall.

This was the most difficult part,

not the camera part or acting,
which just required correct positioning.

Mr. To asked them all not to speak
but to listen to my orders.

Speak as little as possible
because the tension was so high

that talking would cause confusion
about whom to listen to.

And just do as they're told,
even if the guns don't work.

I was just watching the monitor
during the actual shooting,

but both of my hands
were inexplicably swollen after that.

My adrenalin rose due to the strain.

After that long take,

I felt that I should be more accurate
when giving instructions.

What I stick to is so important

that things could've turned out
very different had I made any concessions.

If I was afraid of difficulties,
some scenes would never have been seen.

HONG KONG MILKYWAY IMAGE

At that time, it was so hard
that I couldn't pay my staff.

But they were all waiting patiently.

Even without pay, they still worked for me
when other pictures needed them.

The market was very bad at that time.

We just relied on trust.

Because of the trust,
we would do it even without payment.

He worked with little rest in that period.

He slept in a cot in the company

at the most difficult time.

Sometimes, he couldn't manage
to wake up in the morning.

So I had to wake him up like,
"Director! Time to work."

He might spend the whole night
working on the script.

Those days might be
the hardest days of my life.

I couldn't afford the office rent
when things were at their worst.

To be frank, if I was out of work
for half a year, I could go bankrupt.

I had no idea how long it would be

until I had no movies to make,
or until I'd run out of energy.

I thought I wouldn't leave Hong Kong
no matter how tough it gets,

even though nobody was willing
to invest in movies.

Since the film market
had already collapsed,

and people no longer had confidence
in any film subjects,

why not do something in my flavor?

The Mission was made when
Milkyway Image was at its lowest point.

We were not able to help in films.

The only thing we could offer
was our clothes, and even our cars.

My car was badly damaged

during one shoot.

I remember chatting
with the cinematographer Siu-keung Cheng.

He said, "I'm afraid
there's not enough film for editing. "

And I said, "Really?
How much have we got?"

The film length of The Mission
is about 8500 feet,

while the whole length we'd shot
was less than 40,000 feet.

The ratio is about 1:4, which is very low.

In the following days,
I continued to work at Milkyway Image

I used to watch
how Mr. To did the editing.

Apart from the bad takes,
he really made full use of the film.

There was just enough
to make up a complete movie.

Having finished cutting The Mission,
we wanted to shoot for an extra day.

But we had no money.

I could only shoot
after the mall closed at 11:00 p.m.

and we had to leave
before six in the morning.

At that time, the budget wasn't enough.

I went scouting four hours in advance.

In that environment, I quickly
came up with the whole scene.

The inspiration was from a sense
of pressure, which was very important.

I like wide shots
and having many people in it.

There were several roles in that scene.

They enter the scene together.
They were an organic whole in the scene.

I don't want to miss
a single person in the picture,

unless they're standing at a distance
from each other.

I think close shots should be used less
in widescreen movies.

When there are less,

I need to know very clearly
what every shot's language expresses.

For example,
the characters' position in the mall.

What I concentrated on was how to match
the setting with the characters

and what kind of layout it would display.

I believe that, since he
started his career from television

and the space and effect
that a TV can accommodate is limited,

he would inevitably

or unconsciously,

try to rise above the limitations
of television,

one of which is the screen size.

After setting everyone's position
to compose a frame,

the hardest thing
is to figure out what's next.

And then what comes after that.

In my opinion, Hong Kong films
are not suitable for widescreen.

One reason is that our urban landscapes
are not so good. They're fairly narrow.

Another reason is that our actors' figures
are relatively small in Asia.

Johnnie To uses more people

to fill the widescreen,

in order to compensate for this inherent

weak spot of Hong Kong actors.

Sean, stay farther away, and back a bit.
Stay a little bit away from the camera.

No, that's too much.

-Sorry.
-You can always pay back my money.

-Sorry.
-But you can't break the rule.

I'm sorry.

I'm truly sorry.

I'll make an example of you!

No one will break my rule!

I think his primary concern is space,

especially the characters' position
in the space.

Because that indicates
their dramatic relationship.

In order to broaden the view,

his scenes are mostly set in the evening.

Because only in the evening,
will the whole street be vast and empty

and allow him to put a large number
of people in different locations.

When we were shooting The Mission,
I originally wanted to set a lighting

with a strong stage-effect in the mall,

but we failed
because we were short of money.

To achieve such an effect, we would need
a dozen 4k and 12k lights.

When we started to shoot PTU,
Director To wanted the lights

coming from up high
to put all the characters in the focus,

and achieve a sort of stage-like effect.

The biggest problem then was that

all the streetlights in Hong Kong
were a shade of yellow.

We wanted a different tone,

a white light with a hint of blue
by using HMI light.

We tried a lot of methods.

The production team spent
a lot of effort on it, too.

We often needed to borrow roofs,
trying one building after another.

When it failed,
we came up with another idea.

On the first afternoon,

we covered the streetlights
with black cloth

and hung the HMI lights one by one
on the light poles.

I think, in cities,
we can all vaguely see the surroundings,

but how they look
or how real they are isn't important

because I focus on people.

So the surroundings
would seem comparatively vague,

but you still roughly know what they are.

I don't want trivial things
in the background to dominate the frame.

I think the going upstairs scene in PTU

totally tests the imagination
of a director.

The scene was really created
"out of nothing."

There was nothing in there.

No script was needed.

But he created a scene
of strong suspense and intensity.

He made good use
of the heavy atmosphere among the cops.

They suspect the peril upstairs.

Plus, he took advantage
of the narrow space on the stairs.

The cops walk from a spacious street
into the limited space of narrow stairs.

The contrast of space

was also set out to bring the character

closer psychologically.

Because, initially, these characters
are at odds with each other.

In the script,
Simon Yam was supposed to go upstairs.

Originally, it was pretty simple.

Yam just went up
and we saw the torch light.

There were also some conversations.

But Mr. To cut them out,
so there is no talking.

There is no need for talk

because they are all clear
about the situation.

I remember that when we shot that movie,

the schedule was tight
and we were short of money,

so I had no choice but to shoot that scene
with the actors standing between two cars.

I put a lot of thought into that scene

and decided that the camera
would stand still for the whole scene.

I tried to capture
the characters' psychological activities

only by imagination.

I believed that these cops all have
a lot of doubts and questions.

If one emotionally enters
that dramatic world,

naturally, he will wait and see
whether they decide to go up or not.

I created this scene, basically,
from the perspective of script,

and then tried to render it
in film language.

How was this misinterpreted
in the first place?

As Sean said,
Milkyway Image, hard to imagine.

There is no completed script at all,
so how can one conjure any imagination?

You'll only get several pages of script.

This shooting style needs
actors with great energy.

As the title indicates,

Exiled was designed with a wish
to let people exile themselves a bit.

Actors need not care about the script,

and actually nobody needs to.

Just see what I could get in the end.

Though I had no script for The Mission,
I had the whole arrangement in my head.

But Exiled was shot with no fixed plan.

Whenever I'd go somewhere
and find the setting cool,

I'd get on with the production.

After it was done, I would do the next.
I just filmed along the way.

Don't ask me about my plan
because I had no idea either.

I just shot wherever I went.

Which way?

Which way?

You decide.

Just pick one!

I would shoot
whenever I'd have an idea.

If I went back home,
I'd just eat and sleep.

I wouldn't think about the movie.

Once I'd wrapped up the day's work,
I wouldn't keep thinking about it.

I'd only think about the production
on the set.

I really enjoyed those days.

-I can't even beat you like this.
-Of course. Damn!

I win.

When I was making Exiled,
I wished to enjoy the filmmaking world.

It's actually a little bit like
a game for fun.

In actuality,
the production atmosphere was pretty bad.

Because many colleagues
in the production crew

were very anxious
to know what the movie looked like,

and wanted to enter
the director's world or the screenplay.

But what we got was always just
the story outline or the scene outline,

which often got changed on site.

I remember when we shot Triangle,

the actors from mainland China
all came to ask me, "Where's the script?"

I said, "The script?
It is still being written."

They said, "No way!
What shall we do then?"

A veteran actor asked me,

"What should we do? What shall we do next?

Still no script? No. What do we do?"

"What do we do? Everything will be okay
when we rehearse it."

I fully believe that,
through this way of filmmaking,

he would discover
what his film is trying to convey.

This is a shooting style
that proceeds along with life itself,

which is actually a very beautiful
experience, even if it entails hardship.

It is absolutely a process
that will bring vitality

and brilliance into a movie.

Mr. Wai said it well,

sometimes, we only have
the beginning part of a movie,

but as we shoot it, it will naturally
lead us to the following development.

You no longer control the movie,

the movie itself will lead a character
or an event to emerge.

Mr. Wai would sometimes say,
"It should play out like this.

But I haven't figured out
the previous transition yet."

We increasingly feel movies have life.

At the beginning,
we only had a very vague concept about it,

but now the feeling is getting stronger.

A movie will tell you that a certain role
should have a certain personality.

And the plot development
should be like this.

Some movies can be finished
in a short time, some take a long time,

and some even go
through many twists and turns.

But it's all right,
because each movie has its own life.

I think, unconsciously, this has become
a well-respected creative principle

for Milkyway Image.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Excuse me. Where's the toilet?

Excuse me. Where's the toilet?

Before Needing You,
we had never worked with Sammi Cheng.

Once we started collaborating,

we found that this actress
has her own rhythm for comedy

and her own interesting traits.

If you ask me how I guided Sammi,
I have never taught her acting at all.

Mr. Wai and I just captured

her... her strong suits,

and revised the screenplay accordingly.

They watched my performance on the set

and changed the screenplay accordingly
by adding or deleting some content

based on my performance
and my characteristics.

It's erased.

Consistent or not? Come on!

All right, the wheels are shaking.

No problem.

The first time I played a role
in Mr. To's movie, which was Needing You,

I felt he trusted in my performance

which really gave me confidence
to carry on acting.

I trust him and I like him.

All along, he has been clear
about what he wants.

He is really talented
in guiding an actor or actress,

whether he or she is good at acting,

to the direction that he needs.

When we were about to shoot the movie,

he would take out the screenplay
and re-digest it.

He's the kind of director
who doesn't make storyboards.

He would immediately draw it out
with the screenplay.

Because the schedule is tight,

very often, he would have made
the shooting script beforehand.

I remember the first time I saw Mr. To
shooting a movie. It was Fat Choi Spirit.

I felt I was watching a performance.

There were two or three cameras
on the set.

His arrangement,
the placement of the cameras,

the setting,
or the movement of the cameras.

It was like he was performing magic.

Mr. To had a scene-by-scene outline

and knew the sequence
and synopsis of each scene,

but wasn't clear about the changes

and details designed by the screenwriters.

I would assist him on the set.
He'd ask me if he had any questions.

After he talked to him--

This part isn't necessary.

Neither is this part.
It's set in Hong Kong.

-Let him talk towards the camera.
-Zero double three.

Draw a mark for Dave Wang
to find the correct position.

Nai-hoi Yau might be the one

who gained the most experience
from me and Mr. Wai.

He has gained

a lot of useful things

from our cooperation.

I also told Mr. Wai that I believe
Yau must be the future leader

of Milkyway Image.

If you can stay with Milkyway Image

and I think you have potential,

I will endeavor to help you improve.

Cut. One more time.

Also, don't throw your gun like that.

You were just tossing it.

With Milkyway Image, I have made...

two movies. One is Motorway,
and the other is Accident.

Both went over budget.

I am grateful to Mr. To. because,

imagine how many producers there are
who will allow you to take

such a long time to produce a movie?

Did the boss never press?
I don't think so.

Was it cheap?

It was at least 10 million dollars.
What about that?

Pressure is inevitable.

I was lucky because the boss
wouldn't directly push me.

Instead, he would ask Johnnie To
how much longer it would take.

Take Punished for example.

It wasn't a co-production and I knew
when I shot it that it would lose money.

Such a low-budget movie has no chance
of being shown in mainland China.

It could only be introduced there

as a foreign film
and the title had to be changed.

Wasn't he under pressure?

His pressure was how to cope
with the boss.

Even if there are directors like me,

it is him alone who holds up
the whole Milkyway Image,

rather than us.

We should let the younger generations
seek the future.

We should support them
to create their own film styles.

HONG KONG ARTS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
FIRST MEETING, 27 JAN 2011

Mr. Johnnie To.

There is no need to introduce him, right?

I am a director.

I have taken the office for two terms,
and this year will be the third term.

I hope I can go through this term
happily and peacefully.

There are three
government representatives.

I proposed the "Fresh Wave" program
on the first day I entered ADC.

Because when I went to schools
to attend some events,

there were always students

asking me how to enter
the film industry after graduation.

After several years,
I still got the same questions.

So I think that's a problem.

So I hope that colleagues
in the film industry

can give young people more opportunities.

In the next five to ten years,

we need to establish
a local Hong Kong culture

and a local Hong Kong film industry.

I would encourage people

not to think about co-production
with mainland China first,

but to do real Hong Kong movies.

But development of the film industry
needs support from the whole society.

Hong Kong cinema is not only an industry,

but also Hong Kong's postcard
and trademark.

I was talking with him yesterday
about how we can continue doing this work.

We never think it can be done
in one or two years.

We think it requires a long-term effort.

Because we are learning
about the changes in the world

and how to communicate with young people.

What I want to do
is unlikely to be accomplished

in just a few years.

We need at least a decade
to produce the initial results.

So I have made a significant promise.

If I can't really do it well,
I'd better not waste time.

This year is my last term
and I should have worked

on the program for nine years
when this term ends.

We are going to discuss detailed issues
in later sessions.

We will elect the committee members

and decide the personnel
in charge of certain fields.

If you are absent, it will be hard
for you to reverse the decisions made.

So you need to weigh them yourself.

Actually, there is no need for you
to attend the meeting today.

Yes.

But out of politeness,
I needed to introduce myself to everybody.

Often, nothing important can be achieved
in the first meeting.

But you have to be courteous,
so the head of ADC is here too.

It isn't difficult to have that idea,

what's difficult
is to really carry it out.

That's the hardest thing.

He is working on the program
of Fresh Wave, and other things.

He is willing to shoulder
this responsibility

to cultivate the younger generation
and also to pillar the company.

To be honest, I've heard people say

had he not taken on
so much responsibility,

his life would be much easier
and unfettered.

Why does he have to look after us?

Without us, he could focus on filmmaking
out there with much less burden.

I remember I went to Hong Kong once

right at the time of the award ceremony
of the "Fresh Wave" program.

He said, "Come, Jia, do us a favor
and attend the ceremony."

Not long ago, I met him and he gladly said

that he was going to take some works
of young directors to Udine FEFF.

I think he is very happy
when he works with young people

or helps them.

I really admire him for that.

He isn't doing all this
for his public image, really.

As a director
who loves cinema and talent,

he enjoys helping these young people.

Please welcome Ms. Hau-yee Yan,
vice-chairman of ADC.

I will try my best to do the things
that I can do, such as Fresh Wave.

I'll keep working on it
for the rest of my life.

Thank you. Mr. To, please wait a minute.

Nick Cheung, you haven't said anything.

If you want me to say something, I will.
I don't know if it's okay to say that.

Come on!

I just said to him on the stage that,
Mr. To, other than making movies,

I haven't seen you care
about anything else so much.

I saw he was busy arranging things
everywhere today.

He is not young anymore
and it's really not easy.

So we really should thank him a lot!

When we first started
the Fresh Wave program,

people all thought poorly
of the younger generations in Hong Kong.

I, myself, also had doubts.

I was also discouraged,

until colleagues in ADC worked together

to promote the program.

And after two or three years,
there were indeed some achievements.

I might tell you,

even if ADC says
there are no funds for Fresh Wave,

I will try my best to raise money for it.

So please don't give up.

Just as Ms. Sylvia Chang said,
inevitably, there will be sacrifice.

But we will see
whether there is hope afterwards.

Although many have said that
Hong Kong movies are done for,

that Hong Kong movies
have lost their glory,

and some even say
Hong Kong movies are dead,

I still don't think so.

My opinion is, how can they possibly die?

Even if there's only one movie left,
Hong Kong movies still exist.

Besides, people in different times
have different experiences.

Although we lost the Great China market,

we still have the Hong Kong market
of seven million people.

It doesn't mean we can't make films,

or our younger generations
have lost the film industry.

It's not lost.
Hong Kong movies are still there.

But the problem is in what ways
the younger generations will make movies,

and how they can create
their own movie world.

I am against opportunistic filmmaking,

to be specific, movies like
Sex and Zen in 3D,

or some movies full of foul words.

I'm absolutely averse to it.
Movie shouldn't be used that way.

The movie culture and industry
shouldn't take this direction.

Hong Kong movies, even at their worst,
should not choose this road.

I respect people
who give really honest creations.

He's the one who comes from
a production background

and respects creation the most.

To be honest,

I have always told people
I am still learning how to make movies

because I still have a lot to work out.

Talking further about the artistic level
is really beyond my knowledge.

Because when I entered the industry,
I just wanted to find a job.

I'm not well-cultured in history
and literature.

I'm not one of those type of directors.

I am a director that's
good at handling situations.

It might have something to do
with the environment I grew up in.

So I was able to make PTU.

Just a uniform.
No need to buy other costumes.

No continuity problems for the actors.

I would think about
these practical issues first.

Besides, the worlds that I've created
in movies are not real.

For example, The Mission,

how can bodyguards carry guns
in the real Hong Kong?

I just imagine it
like a world of adventure.

I think it works too. I'm not saying
that I won't make such movies anymore,

but if I keep doing so, my movie world
will be really limited and narrow.

When I ask you questions,
answer, "I understand completely."

I understand completely.

Thank you, Kun,
for choosing our bank's product.

She has chosen Wealth Co. Unit Trust.

Risk evaluation is high.

Your subscription
is one million Hong Kong dollars.

The bank will charge a two percent fee,
which is 20,000.

Why a fee?

I should think about
what a realistic world would be,

from the aspects of our real life
and literature.

I haven't engaged myself in that.

I started out making TV series for TVB,
most of which fall in the adventure genre,

or at least the action genre.

It's time for me to change,

say, to read more,

before I look back to the real world.

I should think about whether
I can find a different path here.

He is still pursuing and keeps learning.

I can tell his improvement

throughout these years. I mean it.

Go down.

I'm screwed.

I think one thing I didn't do well
in Life Without Principle

is I wasn't bold enough

to tell the story
without being too dramatic.

Though I kept trying to make
the whole story not that dramatic,

it didn't really work out in the end.

Faster!

Faster! Even a blind man
can be faster than you.

Alright. Okay.

Though I keep saying
I am learning filmmaking,

I still haven't figured it out completely.

Having been a filmmaker for many years,

I still haven't mastered the art.

Since I am still learning, why not pursue
a different route of filmmaking,

one which I really have
a clear understanding about?

When I first entered TVB,

I told myself I could forget
about pursuing a film career

if I couldn't make it
to assistant TV director in four years.

Surprisingly, I was promoted
to assistant director within two years.

So I aimed to be a TV director
in four years. I did it again.

The next dream was to make films,

and I set the same timeframe,
and surprisingly,

I did that two years later
with The Enigmatic Case.

It seems everything went smoothly.

However, it wasn't until my first film

that I realized that being a director
isn't the same as I imagined.

It's not simply working your way up
to that position as I did.

A director
must have a clear notion of film.

Don't set the other camera too far away.

That's why I always say these films,

from The Mission, PTU, Breaking News,

Exiled, to Sparrow,
they were all practice.

I try new ideas with each movie.

And discovered a whole new territory.

The 1997 Johnnie To was different
to what I later became,

because I hadn't really blazed
my own trail, creation-wise.

It seems everything is destiny.

I have to stay in Hong Kong
since I hadn't explored other areas.

Stay in a place like Hong Kong,
under this system,

and breed my own film career.

I remember something interesting.

During the screening of PTU in 2003,
we met the chairman of a film festival.

He really loved Hong Kong movies

and he had a profound
understanding of Hong Kong movies.

He said that the element
he was most delighted to see

wasn't the action,
but those scenes Director To shot,

such as the site of the gun fight scene,
and the China cafe.

He said, though To shoots action films,
these films can always present

an authentic Hong Kong,
and capture the essence of Hong Kong,

which he had never seen
from other filmmakers' movies.

Actually, China Cafe is the kind of tea
restaurant peculiar to Hong Kong.

It represents a certain
aspect of life in Hong Kong.

I feel that China Cafe is really
where we belong when we go there.

A place where we can talk comfortably.

Mr. To likes to show
the whole environment within one shot.

That environment alone
could tell the daily lives

of the cops in that film.

I remember watching one of To's films,

Election I or II, I'm not sure,

with my assistant cameraman
who grew up in Beijing.

I remember one scene
where they fought in a coffin store.

My assistant cameraman

grew up in Beijing
and had never been to Hong Kong.

He had never seen a coffin store
as only cremation is allowed in Beijing.

There are no coffin stores.

I believe by choosing such a unique space,

Mr. To totally caught the soul
of Hong Kong.

LOK HAU FOOK RESTAURANT

WELCOME

In these old areas, you live a close life
with passengers around.

You feel close with other people
even if you look down from upper stairs.

Even when all the shops are closed,

you can still tell their unique character.

What impressed me most
when I went to Hong Kong is its antiquity.

I had seen Hong Kong's pictures before,

when you arrive at Yau Ma Tei,

with shop signs in traditional Chinese
over your head.

Newspapers
are in traditional Chinese, too.

Especially with that picture of life,

it reminds me of how the late
Tsing Dynasty citizens looked.

When I talked about that
with Acheng later,

he said, "Exactly!
The feeling of the late Tsing Dynasty!"

Because it hasn't been influenced
by the Republic of China.

Because it was ceded to Britain
in late Tsing

and became a colony,

without going through
the Republic of China,

or People's Republic of China phase.

To some extent,
I like the old architecture.

I think modern architecture
is kind of cold and distant.

It doesn't have any sense of humanity.

I always have my eyes on things
from the 1950s and 1960s.

At first, Sparrow was only about thieves.

But the demolishing of the Star Ferry Pier
really made me very sad.

Star Ferry, the pier with a history

of almost half a century,
will be relocated after

the last ferry leaves on Saturday.

The pier that has served Hong Kong
for almost half a century

will be shut down.

Star Ferry was put into use in 1958.

Protestors broke into the pier that was
to be demolished in the late afternoon.

They destroyed the lock
and broke into the pier.

Why push Hong Kong people like this?

Why does the government never take
ordinary people's lives into account?

Why don't they give us something
we really want in our daily lives?

It's fine to improve
the public transport in Hong Kong,

but was demolishing Star Ferry
the only solution?

I felt upset and sad at that time.

Filmmakers like us, are often attacked
when we stand out for our opinions.

Most people in the film industry today,

for the sake of survival,
or protecting ourselves from persecution,

choose to swallow our grudges.

This is totally different
from what we were like

before the return of Hong Kong.

I cannot condemn them,
as I am one of them.

To some extent,
we are not politicians at all,

just ordinary citizens.

However, I do think
we can express ourselves,

and one of the ways is through filmmaking.

We, filmmakers,

can use films as weapons

because films offer us
such kind of freedom and rights.

I often emphasize
that filmmakers are responsible,

for both the society
and the age we are living in.

I'm voting for Lok.

The background of Election,

is that elections were introduced
into Hong Kong,

or Hong Kong was at the critical point
of facing fake elections.

The society he depicted in Election

was also a political mode
with fake elections.

He used this to reflect reality.

From our perspective,

the most important things
we wanted to depict in Election

is that Hong Kong went through that era
and then entered 1997,

and settled in the era with
or actually without direct elections.

The most ironic thing is that...

even the triad societies
have a long history of elections,

why doesn't Hong Kong have that?

Election was made about ten years
after the return of Hong Kong,

I feel lots of things have changed.

Those changes are something
we never expected.

For example, I wouldn't have known
that Chun-ying Leung

would be the Chief Executive
in five years,

or Chee-hwa Tung would resign.

Lots of things in your daily life

have become uncertain,

which brings people to feel unsettled.
We have never felt settled.

CHUN-YING LEUNG
SHOULD STEP DOWN

That's bound to happen.
You totally go against the people.

The government never realized
it's only a service entity for the people.

The only value we should preserve is law.

The law should never be changed randomly,
or modified to meet

some individuals' interests.

This is the universal value.

Respecting democracy and law

are the foundations of a city.

These are the things, I believe,
that should never be challenged.

Otherwise people will lose their values,
which is most damaging of all.

So if there is only a bleak future
for Hong Kong ahead,

and people are deprived

of their basic rights of living

a peaceful life,
we will face some serious issues.

I want a mansion here.

A three-story one.
Second floor will have three rooms.

One room is for us.

One for a lawyer, and one for a doctor.

Our children will become
doctors or lawyers someday.

What do you say?

These two scenes send
the same message. His family.

Everything of his, including his career,

or even the whole era wasn't there then.

Everything starts from zero.

You can only see a vast field,

which could change drastically
once some movement or call arises.

These two fellas, Yong You and Louis Koo,

decided to set the whole rule,
starting from zero.

I do not intend to judge
the fair or foul of this government,

or that of this transition.

All I want to say is that human beings

could be crushed by the environment
in one second,

or to be more precise,

the environment we are in
decides our destiny more than ourselves.

We have another request.

From this day on,
the Baton will stay in your family.

What do you mean?

We respect the election system.

But when your term is up,
we don't want any little punks

like your Godfather
upsetting the social order.

You want to turn WoSing
into a family enterprise?

-Will my son inherit the Baton?
-We can trust you.

Your family will own WoSing.

You and I will work hand in hand.

No! My term expires in two years!

I'm just a businessman!
I don't want to be a gangster!

I don't want to be a gangster!

Forget about the logistic center!
Forget about my business in China!

It has been five or six years since
we finished Election II.

You can see that all the rich

are more or less similar
to the main character Jimmy.

They never dare to say no
to the central government.

He has some really poignant

and critical observations
that in the history of China,

or at least in its modern history,

the politics in China
is like a triad society.

This includes the mainland,
Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Definitely, China. Definitely, Taiwan.

Unfortunately, Hong Kong
has also entered the Triad politics era.

I am not sure
whether Hong Kong will develop into

what we talked about in Election II.

Thank you.

Thanks for your cooperation.

The return of Hong Kong in 1997
is a major historical event.

It was really a watershed for both
Hong Kong and mainland China.

How much did the seven million HK people
understand at that time?

I think, nothing.

But we do realize something
after all these years.

Probably, we could understand better
in ten more years.

You will never understand the process
until you really go through it.

This is era. What I'm saying is that,

we can never find the solution
for something

until we really experience it.

I do not dare to criticize too much

on current policies implemented
in Hong Kong by the Chinese government.

Because it absolutely has the right

to do anything it believes is right
as a sovereign and central government.

The problem here is, can't it govern
in a better, more balanced manner?

On the other hand, HK people
are partly responsible for this outcome.

We didn't seize the opportunities.

From my own perspective,
I do think that in the past years,

we HK people were not always
doing the right things.

Certainly, calling for democracy
and freedom is always the right thing.

I believe that as long as we are doing
our jobs at our best,

the future will come naturally.

For example, professionals like doctors,
nurses, and engineers,

they all have their own
professional capabilities.

Our capability is filmmaking,
so let's facilitate the development

of the society through filmmaking.

We should go.

We should go.

-You have over 400,000.
-The pool is 500,000.

One more game. Bet it all!

This is the decisive round!

Let's see your hand!

Stop! Thief!

Go after them!

The main character has lost everything.

He was gambling for the sake of gambling,
and he wanted to bankrupt himself.

He was so desperate.

But when he saw the woman
steal the money and run away,

that silly mettle made him feel
somehow his life was different.

So as I gave Louis Koo direction
for his running scene,

he might not have really understood.

Of course, plenty of people still don't.

I told him to laugh while running.

He didn't really understand
how he should laugh or why,

as a result, his acting didn't
clearly reflect that kind of feeling.

When we met after the film was finished,

we used to talk about this scene.

Mr. To wanted to show
a sense of liberation in this scene.

This character was under great pressure.

He had a potential problem,

but he wasn't willing to liberate himself.

He had no choice but to paralyze himself
by gambling and drinking.

When he saw Mona,
played by Cherrie Ying, running,

it was like the sun shining on him,

making him feel there was hope in life.

He laughed, not only because
of her running postures,

but because it reflected
a release of soul.

His life was enlightened with hope again.

Actually, there is another scene
with the same theme.

That is when Cherrie Ying, Aaron Kwok
and I ride on each other's shoulders

to chase after the red balloon.

Because that's the thing with eras.

I believe you've got to change yourself
with the times,

no matter what, but the world
and theory of film has never changed.

No.

You have to give him some more light.
If you block it out,

the reflection won't look good.

-Ready.
-Ready. Play the film clip.

SEVEN YEARS LATER

I think Romancing in Thin Air
is really a personalized work.

I even believe
this is his most romantic film.

He announces to the world unashamedly

that he loves movies.

He is so determined in his announcement.

Just like

how people propose to their girlfriends
in a plaza, making a grand gesture.

Just like that.

I have never found this feeling

in any other Hong Kong film before.

There's even one line in this film,

said by Louis Koo, which is...

I really love films.

Indeed you can see most of his life
is about film,

even when he is not producing films.

Like how he promoted the Fresh Wave,
giving some young people a lift,

or the fact that he doesn't like to keep
his awards in his house.

Because he believes that these awards

belong to all the people who worked
with him, and to the cinema.

He often thinks
that what we've gained from the cinema

should be given back to it.

Now you can see his passion for cinema.

He is still pursuing it,

and to him, cinema is the most
important thing in his life.

I am lucky, I am grateful to God
for giving me this job.

Filmmaking not only improves
my livelihood,

but also provides me with more
opportunities to understand humanity.

Hence, this career is not only something
that feeds me,

but it's more a way of
better understanding humanity and life.

Thanks.

Really.

I am so lucky.

As long as I'm still capable
of making films,

I will continue to do so
until my body can't afford to.

That would be the best ending for me.

Three million Hong Kong dollars.

If we didn't buy it--

-It is more convenient to--
-Let's discuss this.

When I did editing myself before,
there was film hanging everywhere,

which I really enjoyed.

Some may think that was really messy.
When you look for a certain take,

it's really hard to find one roll of film
from more than ten boxes.

Or if you are trying to find
one particular scene

not marked clearly in your notebook,
you must look through all the boxes,

and you may still fail even after
a thorough search.

By then, half an hour
would have been wasted.

Now you just press a button,
and you can see all the frames,

which makes things more convenient.

However, I lost the passion for editing
when digital editing started to prevail.

And I don't know why.

I started to ask my staff
to do the editing.

For me, digital stuff seems soulless.

If you ask me whether I like
this kind of change or not,

I would definitely say no.

But that's impractical.

So how to cope with it?

One should again start from zero,

as if I am back to square one
in the TV world, like deja vu.

We should really look
into the infinity of film,

and that's why I painfully decided

to quit using film recently.

I'm using both!

The director's going to cut the cake!

One! Two! Three! Happy birthday!

Every time Mr. To goes to karaoke,
he likes to sing a particular song.

You really like Beyond's songs!

I can sing with you!

But how are we going to sing
without lyrics?

I don't have the lyrics with me now.

We'll sing with you.

-We'll guide you.
-Okay, but--

Tonight I saw snow falling from the sky

With a deadened heart

I set off on a long journey

Hustling in the rain

I barely make out my way in the mist

Will we ever change under a vast sky

Forgive me for being wild

And yearning for freedom

Yet fearing someday I might fall down

To give up one's dream

It isn't hard to anyone

Never mind if someday

There's only you and me