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Alex Law: Making Craps for 10 Years, Then Became a "Director"Daily News: This time you came to Shanghai as a jury member of the Asian New Talent Awards. What\'s your deepest impression? Are there any new talents\' films that attracted you?
Alex Law: They\'re all bold and aggressive. Some have great ideas, and some show their market potential from the very beginning. But it\'s hard to find new talents that can balance both sides, and that\'s the biggest problem of them. Some can\'t draw large audience though the idea is great, and some are just so-so even if they have market potential.
Daily News: In the 1980s, you were a new talent in the film industry. What do you think is the biggest difference between you at that time and the new talents now?
Alex Law: I was much poorer than they\'re now (laughing). When I was shooting, we had to use photographic films. Films were very expensive. And it cost much to rent projection booth and editing facilities, so the budget at that time was much higher than now. We didn\'t have tapes and HD, and every second was expensive.
Finally I found a way out. I went to the 42nd Street in Chinatown to find if there were any second-hand photographic films, and they went to different film production teams to ask for left-over films and sold to me at very low price.
I still remember we got photographic films from Francis Ford Coppola\'s Cotton Club, and when we were shooting, we shouted in great excitement "The films now are for Cotton Club." But a big problem was that the films made in different days were in different colors, and the Americans were able to tone the colors, but we couldn\'t. So our films were of even stronger colors than Pedro Almodovar\'s films.
Daily News: In your opinion, is there any spot in this year\'s competition films? And what improvements do you think new talents need to have?
Alex Law: I think Hong Kong lacks new faces in its films, and doesn\'t give enough opportunities to new directors, because the film market in Hong Kong is not good, new directors have to face the market directly when they come in, and they have their difficulties. But the situation is better in the mainland, and you have many new directors. The films I watched these days were very different. Young directors from Taiwan are good at making youth films, but not good at dealing with heavy topics. They are good at presenting everyday life stories.
Daily News: Everyone has a dream, and directors are put their dreams into films. Some talents are too eager for success, what should they learn first?
Alex Law: I am hoping that young directors don\'t just focus on award-winning or money-making. If we want to impress the audience within two hours, we have to hold basic skills. When I was studying, I was the first to make films in our class. Some said Alex Law would become a director after 10 years, as he would be making craps for 10 years. That\'s true. I became a director 10 years after graduation.
Daily News: Wang Xiaoshuai said that the Chinese film industry needs elite directors. What\'s your take on that?
Alex Law:I agree with that. Every country, every society, every class, and every field needs elites and leaders. If some industry has average players, but no leader, it won\'t be a good thing. It\'s the best that some top directors are competing with each other.
Daily News: Between you and Mabel Cheung, some say you are the one that pay more attention to details. Do you agree with that?
Alex Law:She likes story-teller. But if she wants to play, she will just neglect everything, and leave the story to me. And I will take care of everything.
Daily News:Whether in An Autumn\'s Tale or Echoes of The Rainbow, I think you tend to present a heavy topic in a heart-warming or humorous way. What\'s your viewpoint of that?
Alex Law:Yes, I\'ve always been like that since I was young. That\'s probably because I had bad experiences then. In Echoes of The Rainbow, there were many unhappy things, but you have to think more to make yourself happy. When I was in Hong Kong, some of my friends, including my doctor, told me something when I was quite upset about my whole life. The doctor said, "The best thing about you is that you have some black humor. Everything becomes something happy when it comes to you. Just keep it on."
Daily News: From Painted Faces to Echoes of The Rainbow, is there any change in your films?
Alex Law: I\'m still doing what I like best, and making what I\'ve been making. I suffer a lot from that. I haven\'t money, many companies refuse me, I\'m lonely, and I\'ve been shamed by film critics.
Daily News: What do you think of the current Hong Kong film industry? Some think that the Hong Kong film industry is dead. Do you agree with it?
Alex Law:It is not dead, just sick, like we left home for our disease when we were young. Hong Kong is looking for a way out in the mainland . That\'s something good. I\'m very grateful that even when the Hong Kong film industry has grown into such a stage, the mainland opens the market to it, that means new opportunities. Before, we could never shoot films with investments as much as 50 or 80 million RMB. We should be grateful. When one door closes, another door will be open. And the new door is probably where you should go.
Daily News: What about mainland\'s film industry? Many focus on what the films look, but neglect the nature of story-telling. What\'s your viewpoint on that as a renowned screenwriter?
Alex Law:I\'ve watched many films that have box offices of hundreds of millions of RMB, and I\'ve also seen many films with good stories. It\'s lucky that China is so big that we can have a lot of stories to base our films on, and that\'s why I think mainland\'s film industry has a bright future. Even when I\'m just standing by the street, I can have many inspirations. In Japan, there is a film named Railroad Man, and nothing actually happened in the film. A railway worker I met here has a much more dramatic life. His son ran away from home by jumping off his train, and then the guy drove his train every day to look for his son.
Daily News: After Echoes of The Rainbow, what stories have you got for your further productions?
Alex Law:I\'m planning to tell the story of the first generation Chinese immigrants to the United States, as early as the 1860s. The story is like a biography, and based on real people. When I was studying in the United States, I liked to go to Chinatown library, and I found there were newspapers there 100 years ago. I wrote the story based on the archives. The story has just been finished, and now I\'m looking for investments. There are a couple of companies interested in my stories, but I\'m looking for more. With bigger investments, we can have a bigger market.
Daily News: You mean, it will be more of a commercial film?
Alex Law:It\'s strange. The story is legendary, and I don\'t deny commercial elements. Once I thought, is there really such a story? I went to check many archives, and asked many people about such a possibility. And they told me "yes". After checking out the shooting locations, I will start the shooting, and see how to reflect that time faithfully, because there will be snow scenes in the film. So I will probably start shooting maybe next spring or next winner. I will start from the U.S., and then come back to China, because it\'s a story from China.