[2024.05.10] DIRECTOR SOI CHEANG IS AFRAID THAT HE WOULD NOT HAVE MOVIES TO MAKE IN THE FUTURE

Soi Cheang says that only by helping the boss break even would film professionals have a way out, and urges viewers to strongly support the film

Soi Cheang won the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director for MAD FATE

The director says that the 72 year old Sammo Hung is braver than most

Soi Cheang is drawn to Raymond Lam's chok look

Philip Ng receives the director's compliment for his unrestrained and crazy performance 

Soi Cheang personally shaves Richie Jen's head
courtesy of mingpao.com

Director Soi Cheang Pou Soi won the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Director for MAD FATE (MING ONG). His new film TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI WAI SING) followed the momentum with a recent release and has won a lot of praise. It has exceeded HK$ 30 million in 9 days of release and has been selected for the 77th Cannes Film Festival "Midnight Screening Section". Cheang Pou Soi gave credit to the fighting spirit of both the cast and the crew. He even revealed that he was frightened by "Big Brother Big" Sammo Hung Kam Bo's dangerous stunt design of wrapping a metal wire around his own neck. He also mentioned that he used Raymond Lam Fung heavily this time because of his Chok presence on stage. However, behind the glory Chenag Pou Soi did ont dare to say the word "success", saying that he has encountered many setbacks due to the epidemic. In addition, the world had many unknown. Full of worries about the development prospects, "I am very afraid that there would be no more movies to make in the future! "

TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI WAI SING) is adapted from Yu Yi's novel CITY OF DARKNESS and Szeto Kin Kiu's comic book of the same name, a story of the Kowloon Walled City in the past that was packed with action. Because the film contained foul language and bloody scenes, it was rated IIB for release. Cheang Pou Soi joked, "It's the clean version, trying to keep the original flavor and personal style as much as possible. It's a little bit bloody, just like when Chu Pak Hong threw a female drug addict off a building. It has been edited out." He said that the entire production from creation to filming and release took eight years of hard work and a cost of HK$ 300 million. The Kowloon Walled City alone took three months to build. "After the filming was completed, the crew said that they would use a plow truck to knock down the set. I am known as the king of additional shoots, but I didn't have any chance to make up the scenes. However I immediately took my camera to shoot what I thought might be valuable, as I planned to edit a director's version and put it online to share with the fans. I have to find a way to drum up business at the box office." He appealed to the audience to show up and support the film, in hopes of maintaining the ecology of the film and entertainment industry. "Only by helping the boss break even would film professional find a way out. I too am very afraid that there would be no more movies to film in the future!"

Cheang Pou Soi said that the epidemic has been very damaging to film work. When he made MAD FATE (MING ONG) in 2020 he felt the most helpless. The next year when TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN started production there are still many things up in the air, which added to his worries. Even now after the release when the film has won word of mouth and he got some comfort, he still did not dare to say that becoming a Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director meant that he would be a box office guarantee. He said, "How would I dare to think about success, not failing is already great. Box office results depend on luck. LIMBO (JI CHI) had good word of mouth too, but its box office was only HK$ 2.2 million. I didn’t expect it to be as low as this! At the time due to the epidemic, the film participated in foreign film festivals online but was pirated and spread online like mad. We found the person who stole the film, but he refused to take it down. We had no idea which country the server was located in. When it was released in theaters, many people have already watched it online. "

Cheang Pou Soi revealed that when he was originally invited by producer Chan Law Chiu to make TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN, he worried that he would not be able to and once he turned down the film contract. Then Chan Law Chiu dragged the film producer John Chong Ching to lobby him. Cheang Pou Soi said, "Building the Walled City would be quite a big project, quite difficult to deal with; it would require a lot of power, and it would have to face a lot of comic book and novels readers. How many changes could be made while adapting it into a movie? I went back to have a meeting with the other producer, (Wilson) Yip Wai Shun and them team to look into it. I wanted to give special thanks to (Gordon) Lam Ka Tung, who grew up in the Walled City, for introducing me to many of his Walled City old neighbors. As a result, I was drawn to the Walled City, and found that this place that was once listed as lawless was not as chaotic as the historical films mde it out to be. It even had a lot of humanity, which made me very motivated to do this, to bring out the message through the movie."

TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN was an action film, Cheang Pou Soi had certain difficulty in balancing the martial arts and comic book elements. He said, "The finale is the most difficult to make. To achieve a continuous transition, it is the culmination of hundreds of schools of thought; I tried to come up with ideas with screenwriters and the stunt team, to the point that I almost wanted to die. Fortunately, (Wilson) Yip Wai Shun helped out. I also didn't expect that the 'Four Little Dragons' to be hiding in the dressing room for a meeting. They suggested the throat slash move with a knife to shake loose my brain. I gave Lam Fung a pair of chocolate glasses for an eye shield, which he really liked. He kept studying someone would fight with a mask on, which made the filming fun amid all the hardship."

Choosing Lam Fung, Terrance Lau Chun Him, Tony Wu Tsz Tung and German Cheung Man Kit, who is good at martial arts, to play the Four Little Dragons, Cheang said that no one forced him to; it was purely his own wish. He saw that they have the potential to take over the film industry and he was very satisfied with their performance in this collaboration. "After watching Raymond Lam's concert and his CHOK music video, I was deeply impressed by his ability to perform Chok on stage. I felt that he has many possibilities, and he has certain acting skills coming from television. He is so smart. I showed him the UNDER THE LION ROCK refugee story and he figures out how to play the role." He also revealed that Lam Fung brought whiskey to work, to establish brotherhood with his three co-stars. "After putting on makeup, Lam Fung Raymond would have a few drinks with them to relax. The atmosphere was very harmonious. I thought it was OK. They gave everything they could give, and never missed a scene due to drinking. Ultimately filming fight scenes everyday would make them very tense. Lam Fung fought so much that the muscles in his back cramped up and he couldn't stand up straight. Even when he had to limp his way back he did. Wu Tsz Tung after getting 15 stitches on his chin still returned to work."

The 72-year-old "Big Brother Big" Hung Kam bo also starred. Even though he had an old knee problem, he still worked hard to fight with Koo Tin Lok and Ng Won Lung. Cheang Pou Soi said that years ago when he directed THE MONKEY KING 2 (SAI YAU GEI ji SUEN NG HUNG SAM DA BAK GWUT JING), Big Brother Big was an action director. He never thought that Hung would be more courageous when performing in front of the camera. "In one scene he was fighting Ng Won Lung, he proposed to use a metal wire to strangle his neck and then spin it twice for effect. Wow, I was terrified; I was afraid that if I wouldn't cut it off then I was in trouble. I just asked someone to pretend to hold on to the metal wire and leave some space, as long as it looked OK on the screen it was fine." He also praised Goo Jai and Yam Yin Chai for playing old roles without any idol baggage. Goo Jai even provided a lot of ideas for the characters. The only thing he was worried about was that he would fight with Big Brother Big, and did not want to see anyone get hurt. He said, "Goo Jai is very careful; even Big Brother Big couldn't help but teach him how to hit him. We would always paid full attention to the elder, rush over to see if anything was alright as soon as we yelled cut."

Siu Chai shaved his head for the performance and had a fight scene with Lam Fung. Cheang Pou Soi said, "Siu Chai is a great person. He wanted to help the crew and save time on makeup. I personally shaved his hair and saw him very relaxed. Later when he heard that he was going to film a fight scene and take a beating from Lam Fung, he was instantly stunned."

In addition to Aaron Kwok's special performance, Ng Won Lung and Kenny Wong Tak Bun also created unique villain image and left an impression. Cheang Pou Soi was rather pleased with this, "This film has many characters, but none of them are extra. Since I invited them to perform, I too wanted them to make a breakthrough. Ng Won Lung's performance was so unrestrained and crazy. Tak Bun was stunned when he heard that he was going to do a fighting scene. Because he was not good at fighting, I asked him to learn crane fist on the spot."