[2024.11.06] FISH LIEW'S CANTONESE IS TOO HONG KONG FOR HER HOMECOMING PRODUCTION IN MALAYSIA

Starring in a Malaysian film for the first time, Fish Liew returns home like a triumphant hero, which means a great deal. She recently attended the Tokyo Film Festival with director Chong Keat Aun

PAVANE FOR AN INFANT is about a Kuala Lumpur baby hatch that rescues countless infants
courtesy of mingpao.com

From Malaysia, Fish Liew Chi Yu starred in her first Malaysian production PAVANE FOR AN INFANT. It was selected for the "Asian Future" section of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, and is expected to be released next year. PAVANE tells the story of a 24-hour abandoned baby protection hatch in Kuala Lumpur, where female volunteers use their maternal love to become the "hand that rocks the cradle" who save newborn babies, but have been hurt by gender injustice in the past. Liew Chi Yu said that because she has been working in Hong Kong for too long, she has adjusted her Cantonese to no accent. While performing PAVANE she was asked to reshoot because of that.

Liew Chi Yu and PAVANE FOR AN INFANT director Chong Keat Aun were interviewed in Tokyo a few days ago; born and raised in Malaysia, Fish before coming to develop in Hong Kong worked as an extra in Malaysia. It was the first time she returned home for a production, which was of great significance for her. "As a Malaysian, I have been developing in Hong Kong for many years. Now I consider I have achieved a little fame, I feel that I have a responsibility to let Hong Kong audience know more about Malaysian culture, life and social issues."

During the filming of PAVANE in Malaysia, the most memorable for Fish was the very hot weather. One scene took 15 takes to shoot. "That scene I had to complete in one take straight. Holding an umbrella, a mobile phone and carrying a baby, I walk a long road, and then deliver very long dialogue to the taxi driver. With the tight schedule, at the time the sun was about to come up so I was panicking. I had frequent bad takes."

Fish said that before the filming of PAVANE FOR AN INFANT started, he was actually very worried. "I am too used to the language and working mode in Hong Kong, especially Cantonese. Generally when Malaysians speak Cantonese they would have some accents, but after working in the past few years in Hong Kong, I have deliberately adjusted it to no accent." She revealed that she has unconsciously delivered the dialogue too Hong Kong and needed to reshoot.

Winning the Best Supporting Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for ANITA, Fish has been making one movie after another in recent years. How would she play each character well? She said that there was no special method, and she felt very lucky as each work was almost similar to her emotions at the time. "For example this time my physical condition was very poor, my skin had an allergic reaction. My mental state was already very confused, which just matched the inner world of the character."

Fish said that in recent years she has mainly taken on commercial films, and the new film is more artistic, "At first I was distressed, not knowing if I could do it. I was deeply afraid that I would not be able to interpret the confused and suppressed emotions of the role, but after watching the movie, I finally can breathe a sigh of relief as I felt that I didn't act too poorly; I have achieved the feeling I wanted." Fish said that the director Chong Keat Aun did not give her any instructions during the filming, allowing her to perform freely. Looking back now she thought that the director might have done that deliberately.

Nominated for 9 Golden Horse Awards last year for SNOW IN MIDSUMMER, Chong Keat An admitted that he deliberately "tortured" Fish. "It's because I wanted her to feel a little depressed when she didn't speak, so I deliberately didn't give her guidance. I just hoped that she could maintain that sense of confusion." When asked about the subject clash of PAVANA FOR AN INFANT with the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's Korean film BROKER, Chong Keat Aun said that hs had seen BROKER, but he was not afraid of the subject clash. He said that PAVANE has been in preparation for many years, and the content of the two is different. PAVANE focuses on the women's problems caused by the pandemic, and also adds many real stories from Malaysia.