Director Wang Xiaoshuai sits in CRI's studio and talks about his films and more. [Photo: CRIENLISH.com]
If you know little about China, you can watch a Chinese film; if you already know a lot about China, you will enjoy Chinese films immensely. In recent years, more Chinese films have been selected to compete in international film festivals, and some of them have even taken the big awards home. Director Wang Xiaoshuai is one such lucky person. His films, including "Beijing Bicycle," "In Love We Trust" and "Shanghai Dreams," have helped him pocket two Silver Bear awards from the Berlin Film Festival and a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
This year, his latest film "Chongqing Blues" was chosen to compete for the Golden Palm Award at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival—the only Chinese film entered in the competition. In CRI's studio, Wang Xiaoshuai talks about where his got his inspiration for the father-son story. 1) What inspired you to make "Chongqing Blues?""I was inspired by a kidnapping case that happened in a Carrefour supermarket years ago. The kidnapper was shot dead. But the sniper later wrote some profound things on his blog. In the end he felt gloomy. This incident made me realize that people could think differently and comprehensively about ordinary crimes, so I decided to make the film. But I wanted to make this story more complete and complicated. Thus, I added the element of a father, who could reflect the other aspects of the victim and also the criminal. I wanted the father to be dismal and depressing just like the weather in Chongqing. But I still wanted to present a hopeful and happy ending.
If you have seen some of Wang Xiaoshuai's films, you'll find that most times he also is the screenwriter. (He received a Silver Bear award for screenwriting for his film "In Love We Trust.") Wang says: "It is very difficult to find a screenwriter and a director with the same ideas. But I'm willing to search for such a screenwriter and to try and find a balance between us according to the different themes."
Wang himself found such a screenwriter for his film "Chongqing Blues," who helped him narrate a good story.
2) What did you want to convey through "Chongqing Blues?"
"The film is a tragedy, actually. I wanted to tell a story about a father who wanted to look into the future, but there is nothing in the future. His son is dead. The process of searching is the course of looking back. We see his story and his guilt through his face without flashbacks. We know that something could never be brought back; for instance, the relationship between father and son. The son was abandoned and grew up in a single-parent family, and he was looking for his parents as well before he passed away.
"In Cannes, some reporters asked me whether I wanted to present my concerns about China's fast development through this movie and present something that can never be brought back.
"I don't like those movies in which people cry crazily when their relatives die. Chinese people suffered too much from difficulties in their history and showed a huge amount of tolerance and tenacity. So I want to present this trait of the Chinese people through my films, such as "In Love We Trust" and "Shanghai Dreams."
3) How well-received was "Chongqing Blues" at the Cannes Film Festival?
"The film attracted immense attention because it was selected for a Golden Palm award. It drew full houses in Cannes just like in Berlin. During May 14th to 16th, we had been interviewed by a number of international media from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each was given 20 minutes. This was the most number of interviews that I had given at a film festival. The media came from all over the place—Poland, Russia, Arab countries."
Without any doubts, after years of hard work in the film industry, Wang's films have helped him win high international acclaim. He says the outside world is now more interested in China, so his films are seen as a good way to learn about Chinese society.
4) What kind of Chinese films do you think can win over international audiences and markets?"I think China has always been mysterious to foreigners. They have always been eager to know how Chinese people think and live. They want to know exactly what their feelings are and how they respond to the culture and human nature around them. I think the best way for filmmakers to communicate with the world is to focus on the script and the language and on the human condition by not merely using commercial and entertaining styles.
5) What advice can you give to Chinese directors who are looking for an international market."Actually, a lot of young film directors have shown a global vision and unique thinking through their films. All of these are excellent. Movies are one of the channels through which China is opening its door to the world. So many people are doing this now. I think only if you have your own thinking, your own way or your own feeling towards filmmaking, can you go out to show your films to the world. There is a sense of 'collective flow' in China's market now. Directors will assume the market likes just one kind of film, and then they copy it and deliver it to audiences. Audiences are unconscious as well and will choose it because these kinds of movies are filling the market now. Actually, it is not like what we see. Filmmakers can create different products and present them to audiences. So the unconsciousness from the two sides—the audience and the filmmaker—follows the trend and has created the current situation. To those directors who want to bring their films to the world, the most important thing is for them to think of the film itself."
Although he has a good reputation as a film director both at home and abroad, Wang says his concerns about how his movies perform at box office have always been a headache for him. But he says filmmakers should not be the only ones blamed if a film does poorly. He says there are lots of related areas that need to be improved such as establishing an environment for the growth of art-house films and cultivating the audience's appreciation of such movies.6) Do you expect to see more art-house cinemas in China?"I think the concept of art-house cinemas is too early for now. It has not been integrated into the rules of the market, so investors will not do it now and will think that directors are naive. China's gross box office earnings will very likely cross the 10-billion-yuan mark this year. Last year they were 6 billion yuan. It might be 15 or 16 billion next year. I'm thinking about whether it is possible in this huge market for cinemas to do other interesting things [about art-house cinema] once they can easily earn enough money.
7) What is the filmmaker's role in cultivating the taste of Chinese audiences?
I think it's important for the filmmakers to have an influence on the audiences' tastes, because Chinese film audiences have a different level of understanding, and there are fewer high quality theaters, including art-house cinemas that play challenging films. Moreover, people nowadays prefer watching films in their own homes rather than going to cinemas. So I think critics and filmmakers should try their best to enhance the film-going experience through quality reviews, scripts and films.
