[2025.03.13] PRODUCER FRUIT CHAN THINKS THE TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE MAY BE TOO BLAND

Cecilia Yip supports TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE as not ordinary at all. It tells what is in the hearts of women and definitely has a market

Producer Fruit Chan struggles for months in preparation for TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE and even considers quitting, leaving lead actress Cecilia Yip to think that the project was stillborn

Fruit Chan tries shooting with a mobile phone for the first time. He thinks it is very fast but its techniques are no match for the camera yet
courtesy of mingpao.com

The new director Siu Koon Ho directed, Fruit Chan Gor produced, Cecilia Yip Tung, Gardner Tse Kwan Ho, Varona Hui Yuet Sheung and Himmy Wong Ting Him starred movie TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE (CHIN CHIN SHUI YUET, adapted from the autobiographical novel "It's Over, It's Fate" by producer and screenwriter Tse Suk Fun. Chan Gor said that the original work was too bland, and he has been entangled in the script for many months. He thought about giving up, which made the lead actress Yip Tung think that the movie was stillborn. Yip Tung supported TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE as a portrait of marriage in Hong Kong, which was by no means ordinary. It expressed the voices of many women, because marriage is very important to women. She has been married to her husband Chan Kwok Hei for 37 years, and said that the way to maintain it was to give each other space. When it came to the Hong Kong film market entering the cold winter period, Chan Gor felt that the market lacked "financier" investment. Coupled with the developed Internet and excessive entertainment, the audience's living habits was difficult to change. Colleagues would only seek life after death

TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE took Hong Kong marriage as the subject, telling the story of Jing Fun (played by Yip Tung) who firmly believes that "you only love once in your life". In the face of her husband Kei Chun (played by Gardner Tse Kwan Ho) cheating and the lack of understanding from her family, she still accompanies her ex- husband through the last part of his life with love. The new film was completely different from Chan Gor's previous films, and he agreed to be the producer all because Tse Suk Fun's enthusiasm moved him. "In order to make her real story into a movie, she went to learn screenwriting and then wrote the novel "It's Over, It's Fate" and released it. Then she found screenwriter Lou Siu Wah to co-write the script of TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE and even sold the house for HK$ 5 million to start the production. I admire her very much."

Although the film decided to start production, during the preparation period Chan Gor struggled with whether he should continue; because he usually wrote and directed himself in one go, he knew what he wanted. Lou Shiu Wa and Tse Suk Fun wrote the script as the screenwriter and with her own experience respectively, not from the perspective of the director. They did not consider whether the text could be turned into images and other issues, everyone discussed for many months. He laughed and said, "Yip Tung thought that the movie was stillborn!" He admitted that modern women might not like the female lead Jing Fun's decision not to leave her cheating ex-husband, but if it really happened to them they might make the same choice. "Although I am not married, I am not young either. I have seen countless such things happen. Women would be ruthless when they are upset. After calming down they would be as tolerant as the female lead of this film and be willing to take care of their ex-husband. When I first finished reading the script I thought, 'Wow, how would you shoot that, it's so commonplace'. I can only achieve the extraordinary structurally."

Yip Tung liked that TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE for being pure enough, as it only talked about the mental journey and experience of "Jing Fun". "Marriage is very important to women. When a third party appears, how do everyone face and deal with that? Many people think it's a very ordinary thing and doesn't need to be made into a movie, but the story speaks up for a lot of women's hearts." This year is the 37th anniversary of the marriage of Yip Tung and her husband Chan Kwok Hei. Speaking of the way husband and wife get along, she said, "I don't deliberately remember how many years of marriage it has been, the most important thing is to give each other more space. Of course you recognize him as a partner, but he isn't your asset. I want to do more things I like, to grow, then our relationship will be more consolidated."

For the whole film to be shot with a mobile phone, Yip Tung admitted that she was not used to it at the beginning and he had to take time to adapt. "Like homework, the mode should be adjusted a little. Don't be obsessed with where the lens and light source are, the most important thing is to do a good job of myself and the family. Leave the rest for the director to capture." Chan Gor said that he was not used to it despite all his experience. "I have always wanted to try to film with mobile phones, because some foreign directors have used mobile phones to shoot movies. After the production wrapped, I feel that the advantage of using a mobile phone to shoot is that it is convenient and fast, but it does not have much benefit in technique. The film industry won't change because of mobile phones because it is already so solid, but it can encourage some young people who are interested in making movies. Under the lack of a budget, they can use this method to shoot."

Chan Gor revealed that the shooting technique of TRUE LOVE, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE was divided into 3 stages. At the beginning with a wide shot, then in the mid range shot, and finally in a big close-up, "Life is like this, at the beginning you feel that the world was so wide that you can't see yourself. By the middle, someone leaves and you slowly take a look at yourself. Then there would be a big close-up of yourself. Jing Fun's emotions are expressed with this structure." The subject of the new film was alternative, Was Chan Gor worried about the box office? He said, "I don't get to worry about that."

Louis Koo Tin Lok said earlier that Hong Kong films have entered a cold winter period this year, expected that film productions will be scaled back to a horrifying point, and hoped that the government will help the Hong Kong film industry more. Chan Gor admitted that starting a production was indeed very difficult now, due to the lack of investment from "funders". Coupled with the fact that the novel coronavirus pandemic has caused the public to change their living habits as they fell in love with watch TV and mobile phones at home, it would be difficult to change their desire to go to the theater. He chuckled, "Now we are on our own. This world naturally has people who would be able survive or eliminated, it's the natural order. All we can do is work as much as we can, if no one watches then comes life after death. Actually the government has already helped a lot, some people say that the biggest boss is the government now because the First Feature Film was government funded. If it helps even more I don't know what it can help with?" Yip Tung admitted that the audience has become more and more demanding, and the production must be kept improving.