from the straits times
interactive
Dec 21, 2004
Hey, what's so
funny?
Hong Kong's King of Comedy prefers martial arts to making people
laugh... serious
By Hong Xinyi
Media Reporter
HE HAS been tickling your funnybone as Hong Kong's comedian
extraordinaire for the past 15 years.
But if you ask him, what Stephen Chow really wants to do is flaunt
his prowess as a martial arts expert.
In town yesterday with some of his co-stars to promote his latest
film Kung Fu Hustle, Chow, 42, displayed little of his screen
persona's mischievous irreverence.
The cheekiness evident from his first starring role in 1990's All
For The Winner to the 2001 blockbuster hit Shaolin Soccer was
noticeably absent.
In person, the Shanghai-born comedian exudes an almost intimidating
aura of stern solemnity, volunteering nary a joke to break the
ice.
Dressed casually in jeans, a white T-shirt, sneakers and huge
1970s-style sunglasses, he would look remarkably youthful if not
for the brittle white hair sprinkled in his longish haircut.
It is only when Life! asks him about his life-long passion for
martial arts that some enthusiasm seeps into his unfailingly polite
replies.
'Kung Fu Hustle fulfilled my dream of making a martial arts movie.
Shaolin Soccer was still more of a sports movie,' says Chow, who
has been practising martial arts as an amateur since he was a
boy.
Growing up in a poor family in Hong Kong, he was first inspired to
do so when he became enraptured by Bruce Lee's movies.
'But I had to think about how to make a breakthrough. After all,
people have seen so many gongfu movies. It's a lot of pressure, but
it was also a challenge.'
The result is Kungfu Hustle, a martial arts comedy extravaganza
that has been three years in the making.
'I combine traditional martial arts with modern special effects in
a way that's never been done before,' he says with a hint of
pride.
'To me, special effects are a tool I can use to realise my
imagination. The story and the characters are still the most
important elements.'
The various gongfu experts in the cast also show a reverence for
authentic martial arts, despite the many whizz-bang-pop special
effects that populate the movie.
'To me, the spirit of gongfu represents everything that is positive
about being human,' he pronounces thoughtfully in somewhat halting
Mandarin.
Chow, who is single but was once said to be dating Hong Kong singer
Karen Mok, jokingly says his hair turned white because of the
stress of making this movie.
As much as that sounds like something out of one of his favourite
fantasy swordplay novels, the project has been a tumultuous
one.
For one thing, rumours of various rifts have plagued the
production.
Ng Man Tat, Chow's longtime screen sidekick, was reportedly unhappy
when he did not get a part in the film.
Sammo Hung left the project after choreographing one action
sequence, reportedly due to creative differences. He is credited as
one of movie's action choreographers although Yuen Wo Ping gets the
main credit.
Chow brushes off these tabloid speculations placidly as mountains
made out of molehills.
As for speculation that Singapore's Stefanie Sun was to have been
the film's leading lady, he gives this gracious response: 'I've
always wanted to meet Stefanie because I like her songs and we
could discuss working together. There has been no opportunity so
far, but I still welcome a meeting.'
To raise the stakes even higher, the film marks the first time
Chow's own production company, The Star Overseas, is collaborating
with Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, the Asian film
production unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The movie is slated for limited release in the United States in
March next year.
Although Shaolin Soccer scored a distribution deal with Miramax,
that movie was heavily edited and eventually opened to a lukewarm
limited release in the US in April this year.
It grossed US$488,872 (S$804,752) in the US over a four-month
period.
'The outcome was very different from what I expected,' admits
Chow.
'But I treat it as a valuable experience. Everything has to be done
step by step. Shaolin Soccer did not get very spectacular results
in America, so in that way there is less pressure. Of course, I
hope this movie does better.'
Indeed, from being disparaged for his so-called mo lei tau
(Cantonese for 'nonsense') humour in the 1990s to being revered as
a cultural icon today, you might say Chow could do without
Hollywood's blessings.
Academics from prestigious Chinese universities have even written
books about his movie's postmodern sensibilities.
But ask him whether he feels he has progressed at all as a
film-maker and comedian, and he is nonchalant.
'I'm the sort of person who likes to look forward. I very rarely
look back at my old movies, so I can't really say how I've
changed,' he says.
'I'm very grateful and happy that different kinds of people,
including academics, enjoy my work.
'But frankly, I think they are giving me too much credit. Actually
my aim is very simple: I just want to entertain.'
So while some call Kung Fu Hustle, Wong Kar Wai's 2046 and Zhang
Yimou's House Of Flying Daggers the three blockbusters to watch in
Chinese cinema this year, he declines to predict if his film will
capture the hearts and minds of a larger audience.
'I don't categorise movies as arthouse and commercial. There are
only good and bad movies. Film-making is a difficult business, and
the only way to do it is to do the best job you possibly can.'
