[2014.08.15] BIG SISTER BIG NOTEBOOK: RINGO LAM IS CRAZY ON THE SET

Louis Koo has more than his share of action scenes in HUSTLE

Shawn Yue loses his voice during a shoot

Ringo Lam is famous for being crazy, making Louis Koo suffer a lot

Philip Ng remembers puking with every take during a running scene at Central.

Tony Leung Ka Fai and Chow Yun Fat suffers eye infections from breathing in biogas in a real sewer
courtesy of mingpao.com

The Hong Kong Film Award winning director Ringo Lam Lan Tung has not made a film in 7 films. Recently he returned to direct the action film HUSTLE (MAI SING), which has its share of car chases and explosions. As its stars Louis Koo Tin Lok, Shawn Yue Man Lok, Joseph Chang Hau Chuen and Philip Ng Won Lung, it has truly been an enormous challenge. Goo Jai early in the production already revealed that he ran into a thrilling speed boat scene, during which even the boat steering wheel came off and had to crash into another boat to stop. He and Yue Man Lok were both injured.

Earlier Yuen Man Lok just finished his over night shoot. He looked tired and his speech had no life. He whined to his assistant for warm water to save his voice. He said that he screamed until he lost his voice for a scene. He joked, "I either lose my life or my voice." The next day, Ng Won Lung said that he just finished his HUSTLE role. His run on the streets of Central was very memorable. He said, "I ran until I threw up, once with each take. I puked several times. Goo Jai joked that even I worked until I puked." Was the production like torture? Ng Won Lung rushed to explain, "Maybe I am not used to Hong Kong's hot and humid climate and I had a heat stroke."

Hearing the actors' experience, you could not help but feel sorry for them. However no one would be surprised, because everyone in the business knew that Lam Lan Tung was known to be crazy and thrifty on the set. This film again proved that his style has not changed, his passion for film was still burning. When Chow Yun Fat made Lam Lan Tung's PRISON ON FIRE (GAM YUK FUNG WON), in the story Fat Gor was in handcuffs as other prisoners beat him. The director asked for realism and put Fat Jai in a pair of real handcuffs. After the scene, his wrists were all bruised. Later, Fat Jai and Tony Leung Ka Fai worked on a prison escape scene in the sewer. The director truly arranged for them to shoot on location in a thousand year old sewer. Fat Jai and Ka Fai breathed in biogas and their eyes became severely infected. They took a long time to recover. Fat Jai were wounded all over during the shoot and Fat Soh could not be more heart broken. Coincidentally, Fat Gor after the PRISON ON FIRE series and FULL CONTACT (HUP DOH GO FEI) rarely worked with Lam Lan Tung again.