[2025.03.20] NICK CHEUNG CONTINUES HIS DIRECTING DREAM, LOOKS FOR A RETURN TO COMEDY

Terrance Lau praises director and actor Nick Cheung as very attentive, constantly thinking of the actors

Nick Cheung and Fala Chen play a loving couple in the film

Terrance Lau plays a psychiatrist who constantly crosses the line
courtesy of mingpao.com

Best Actor Nick Cheung Ka Fai went from acting to directing. PEG O' MY HEART (SHOOK MUNG), the fourth film that he directed and starred in, recently won the "Best Director Award" at the Grimmfest Film Festival in Manchester, UK. The new film would be released in Hong Kong on March 27th. He admitted that there was no pressure, but he felt that the style of this film was difficult to classify. Although it was popular with foreign audiences, he also looked forward to the support of Hong Kong local audiences. Cheung Ka Fai admitted that his heart was full of rebellion and liked to take the alternative route. His new work was "difficult to classify", and he would continue to have no limit to his dream of directing. He joked "I 'Fa Gwut Lung' didn't get the name in vain, I hope to have the opportunity to make comedy again!"

The past three films Cheung Ka Fai directed had a "dark" style. He admitted that he was full of rebellion at heart and liked to take the alternative route. This time PEG O' THE HEART took "redemption" as the theme, which contained thrilling and criminal elements. It also had a bit of "cult film" flavor. Ka Fai said that two years after the completion of the film, it woul finally be released in Hong Kong. In the long waiting process, he has experienced the overseas promotions, visited major film festivals, understood the audience's reaction, and has even seen it countless times during editing. Thus his feeling was a little numb, not particularly nervous. However he was very happy to get a lot of good actors to perform hard during the filming process, hoping to give the audience a new experience through this theme.

Ka Fai bluntly said that current film productions would not be limited to a single horror film or dramatic film. This time PEG O' MY HEART was a bit strange, some viewers would feel the film would be difficult to classify after watching it. "Actually I have been also looking for answers too, I did not imitate any movies when making this film. I saw on some channels that movies that are difficult to classify as would be classified as 'unclassifiable movies'." He said that PEG O' MY HEART was original and could bring freshness to the audience. "I have the audience's appreciation overseas, but it does not mean that it's all about me; nor does it mean that I am sure to win. Maybe foreigners like it, but I don't know what Hong Kong audiences would think."

Making a non commercial film this time, Ka Fai believed that film was a creative industry. The market must have a variety of films to give the most sincere feedback to the audience. Hence multi-genre films such as "ET the Extra-Terrestrial", kung fu films and comedy films appeared. However, he was more paranoid. Since he has found a group of good actors, he wanted to take the alternative route, special and difficult to classify direction; especially if the audience felt that watching movies was dull now. They might as well come to watch his film. As a director, Ka Fai has always been in a dark style that has also become his trademark. He joked that someone has already evaluated him as such, he considered himself rebellious and deliberately adhered to this style. However his inner world was very unrestrained. PEG O' MY HEART had many thrilling scenes. Ka Fai said that the initial starting point was not to scare people, because the audience's definition of fright may be very low. Some viewers would be afraid when they saw the characters being a little more vicious, so he did not to challenge scaring people to death. The film had two main tragic plots, most of the scare spots were conceived on the spot on the set.

For his first international director award, would this be his most satisfying work? Ka Fai said that he did not dare to assert that. If he had the opportunity to make another film similar to hypnosis or dreams, he believed that he could make an even better film. After all, he still had a lot he wanted to say but not enough space to do it. Directing and starring were not easy, so this time Lau Chun Him was the real lead actor. Ka Fai hoped to concentrate on filming him well.

Regarding the movie release, Lau Chun Him said that he was nervous. The psychiatrist he played in the film was also mentally distressed. Actually in real life, Ah Him often had nightmares when he was a child. He dreamed of people or monsters chasing him. "Maybe when I was little I didn't know how to express yourself, or perhaps I was only like that because I felt lonely." Playing this role, Ah Him said that the most difficult thing was not acting, but restraining the performance. "I couldn't resist acting during filming, I was guided by a story and I communicated closely with the director." He felt that Ka Fai was by no means a villain director. He remembered a scene in the water the most. That night was very cold, the staff took a while to try the position. He proposed to try it himself, but Ka Fai refused his request and protected him. In addition Ah Him had a shower scene, which was a bold performance on screen for him. "That scene was a dream, I dreamed that I was naked after taking a shower at home. I didn't look at it with bias, so I agreed to perform it right away." Actually if the script required it, and he could accept it full rear nudity.

In addition to directing and acting, Ka Fai also sings the theme song of the movie. He joked that finding someone else to sing would cost money. "Earlier a reporter asked me how to withdraw from the role, actually I withdrew as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. I found that a lot of money had to be spent, and the whole person woke up. Do you have any financial company to recommend?" When asked about his expectations for the box office, Ka Fai said that the film has indeed been appreciated overseas; but now for film productions in Hong Kong, nothing seemed right in the eyes of the audience. "However if you do it right, everyone will honestly tell you that you are right; of course you have to work hard on getting it right. It takes the perfect combination of creativity, screenwriting, cinematography and lighting. If you ask me what acting is? I'm not an academic myself, but I personally think it's like a door, being convincing on one hand and exciting on the other. As soon as the door is opened, inside needs a lot of things to help before the performance would be recognize. This requires everyone's cooperation."

Ka Fai will continue his directing dream, but he is not sure whether he will stick to the "dark" style. Because he has never limited what he wants to shoot, he has left everything up to fate and Heaven would make the arrangements. The audience has always been missed him in comedies. Everyone to this day is still talking about the role of "Fa Gwut Lung", Ka Fai joked that sometimes when he saw how much fun Tommy Chu Pak Hong, Louis Cheung Kai Chung and Terrance Lau Chun Him were having, he wanted to join in and go crazy. "I 'Fat Gwut Lung' didn't get the name in vain, I hope to have the opportunity to make comedy again!" As a senior he watched a group of young people's rise. Their path was just like the one he walked when he was younger, full of enthusiasm. So he wanted to work with them to bring a new atmosphere to the film industry. As for Lau Chun Him, he also has been creating stories. Would he want to direct and act himself like Ka Fai? He expressed his interest in becoming a director, but if he would direct he would not participate in the performance; because he has seen how hard it was for Ka Fai to take care of both sides of the cameras.