Earlier this year, Wong Kar-Wai became the first Chinese filmmaker to open the Cannes Film Festival, with the premiere of My Blueberry Nights. As his first English-language film hits the Chinese mainland, the director sat down with that's Beijing to talk road trips, music, Zhang Yimou and, of course, Beijing's ever-changing landscape ...
by Alice Xin Liu and Alex Pasternack; photos by Simon Lim and courtesy of Jet Tone Films
that’s Beijing: Some people have described My Blueberry Nights as a new beginning. Is it?
Wong Kar-Wai: Did I say that this was a new beginning? [Laughs] Yes, you can say that it is a kind of new beginning. A new attempt. I have made films in the West, but they were from the perspective of a Chinese person. This time we are telling the story of an American, not a Chinese. I am trying something new with a different language and culture.
that’s: Can you describe some of the difficulties of making your first English-language film?
WKW: I have written all my other films, but the scriptwriter for this movie [crime novelist Lawrence Block] is American, as I needed someone to help with expressions in English. In many cases, I also ask my actors to participate in the process of filmmaking. The actors this time helped me with the language in the film. Because you know that every language has its own culture, so I asked the actors how something would be expressed in their culture. I needed them all to get involved.
that’s: What was your experience of working with actors you haven’t worked with before, like Jude Law, Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and David Strathairn?
WKW: At the beginning I thought there would be some difference. To put it simply, actors are … instruments. Perhaps the process of making the film is different in America compared to China, but the content of the film always stays the same. How the actors act, and how they participate in the making of the film, stays the same.
that’s: You’ve dubbed the film for the Chinese mainland. Tell us more about this decision.
WKW: Norah Jones is dubbed by Dong Jie, Jude Law by Cheng Chen, and David Strathairn is done by Jiang Wen. I thought at first that this could be a bit strange, but after making this version I don’t think so anymore. I think this version helps the Chinese viewer get into the film. Now I feel it can be shared. The dubbing methods here still belong to the ’60s, like when they dubbed Russian or Yugoslavian films. There isn’t a creative process – it’s a strict translation. But I believe dubbing should be a creative process. It should be like this the world over. This isn’t just a traditional dubbed version; it’s more.
that’s: If you could describe My Blueberry Nights in one word or sentence ...
WKW: I haven’t thought about one word [or sentence], but if I could use music I think it’s like Norah Jones’ song, The Story, which she wrote after the whole process of filming. Her voice is why I asked her to act in the movie, because I think it has a kind of … straightforwardness and cixing [magnetic] feel to it. Some films are high-pitched, but this one is low-pitched.
that’s: Sure, but compared to In the Mood for Love and 2046, My Blueberry Nights ends on a pretty upbeat note.
WKW: The film is about the beginning of love – what happens afterwards is left up to the viewer. 2046 is about the houyi zheng [after-effects] of love. The love has finished and the film is about how Chow recovers from it.
that’s: Do you think these sorts of stories really happen to people?
WKW: Aiya! Lots of men have said that it’s their story, that they are the man in the film! And I say to them: Aren’t you lucky! [Chuckles]
that’s: Music plays an important role in My Blueberry Nights, as with your other films. How did you choose it?
WKW: For My Blueberry Nights we drove from New York to the West Coast. We drove for five hours a day and didn’t do much apart from listen to the radio, which played songs particular to the region we were driving through. So we followed that pattern. This film describes the journey of one girl during one year, going to different regions in the US. And in each region the feeling is different based on the records of that region. So in the South, whose music do you look for? Someone gave us Otis Redding’s music – it plays as you walk into the bar in Memphis. In New York it was Cat Power.
that’s: In your other films, such as Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love, there is usually one song that plays a vital role in the whole film. Did you ever choose the music first and then fit the story to it?
WKW: It’s different every time. Sometimes you make a film for the music, and other times it’s the opposite. For example, this bar [that we are sitting in]: If we came back tomorrow they would still be playing the same music, and if we came back the next day, they would still be playing the same thing. It would basically be playing this, which represents this same situation. A very big regret I have is that I never learned to play an instrument. But I would like to be a DJ.
that’s: I read that your father was a nightclub owner, and that as a child you followed him around and encountered the lowlifes that became subjects for your films.
WKW: Meiyou a! My father owned the best club in Shanghai at the time, and I was never allowed to go! In nightclubs like that in the past, they always had a photographer, and my father used to bring home the pictures they took – all of mei nü, many beautiful ladies.
that’s: How did you develop your artistic style, together with cinematographer Christopher Doyle and art director William Chang?
WKW: It’s a very organic process – we have collaborated for so many years. We have areas on which we agree, and areas in which we supplement each other. Of course the process didn’t come easily. Many tears were shed and there were fights, especially when we first started. But then we [Doyle and I] became an old married couple.
that’s: Your working relationship with Tony Leung has been compared to Martin Scorsese’s with Robert de Niro. What’s your take on this?
WKW: Didn’t you just answer your own question? [Laughs] We experience something intense together – like with Chris Doyle – and you also witness the changes during different stages of their career. So it is very hudong [interactive].
that’s: We know that you emigrated from Shanghai to Hong Kong at the age of 5. Do you feel nostalgic about Shanghai?
WKW: Of course I do – I was born there. I have my impressions, but the Shanghai I remember is different from Shanghai as it is now. But I still have relatives there, so I still feel close to the city.
that’s: Will your next project be The Lady in Shanghai [a tale of love and espionage rumored to star Nicole Kidman]?
WKW: [Smiling] This is one possible film, yes.
that’s: Some scenes of In the Mood for Love were originally meant to be set in Beijing. Have you any other plans to make a film in the capital?
WKW: I have. But chaiqian [demolition] is happening at such a fast pace. There is so much being demolished. For My Blueberry Nights, we wanted to take the longest journey – but the furthest Norah’s character went was the west coast [of the US]. But from the point of view of the earth, she should go to the other side, which is China. At the time we decided that it should be Beijing, and we wanted to film around Qianmen, but by that time they demolished the place that we had chosen. It was actually quite a commercial street. But Tian’anmen Square was in the background. It had a traditional ... structure, but it had many contemporary details as well – you could see that it was a changing city.
that’s: Do you think you will return to the United States in the future?
WKW: I’m a tourist – I’m not returning! [Laughs] I just visited the country to make a film. If there is the right project and there are other stories I want to shoot, of course I’ll return there. But it’s not my base.
that’s: How do you see your work in comparison to that of other popular Chinese directors?
WKW: Every director’s vision is different. I think a film culture is interesting if it has different things.
that’s: But Zhang Yimou’s, Chen Kaige’s and Feng Xiaogang’s blockbusters all tend to look and feel the same ...
WKW: But this is a question of their motives and goals. I don’t think you can judge a director solely on one film. Judge them on their careers. There is a phrase that Beijingers use, right? Zhanzhe shuohua bu yao tong [literally, talk standing up and your waist won’t hurt; in other words: everyone’s a critic]. As a critic or a member of the audience, it’s very easy to say “I liked that film!” or “I didn’t like that film!” So simple, right? Zhang is still in a process … he has traveled from Red Sorghum to where he is now. He is still traveling.
that’s: Do you know where you are traveling to?
WKW: Who knows, right? Bian zou bian chang ba – I’ll sing as I walk! It wouldn’t be so good to know.
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