[2025.05.19] JUNO MAK ADMITS THAT IT WOULD BE HARD FOR VIEWERS TO UNDERSTAND NEW FILM AFTER ONE WATCH

Juno Mak has never responded directly to the reviews of the film and said that it would be very difficult for the audience to understand it after just watching it once.
courtesy of singtao.com

Tony Leung Ka Fai, Juno Mak, Gao Yuanyuan and Louis Koo attend the SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT press conference
courtesy of mingpao.com

The Juno Mak Chun Lung directed film SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT (FUNG LUM FOR SI) recently held its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. After the screening the film became a hot topic as its reviews were mixed. Mak Chun Lung attended a press conference with Louis Koo Tin Lok, Gao Yuanyuan and Tony Leung Ka Fai the night before, saying that he had mixed emotions about the Cannes midnight screening selection of SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT. On the one hand he was very happy; and on the other hand, it meant that it was time for him to let go of the work. The premiere and promotional activities in the past few days felt very dreamy. Mak Chun Lung did not respond directly to the average reviews of the film after the premiere, only saying that it would be very difficult for the audience to understand the movie after watching it once. "I think the director needs to have his own opinion on each subject, thank you for giving us the space to explore other subjects. RIGOR MORTIS (GEUNG SI) and SONS differ very much in film style, the director should bring the audience a new experience. I spent 10 years to make this film. If the audience would be able to fully understand it after watching it once, the contrast would be too great. A work of art would experience growth as the audience ages, and would have different feelings at different times."

Speaking of creating a new film, Mak Chun Lung said, "For many movies people would talk about how close the characters are to the audience, but what I wanted this time was a sense of strangeness. As an viewer, when I go to the theater as an adult I pursue a sense of strangeness. When the lights go out, it would bring me another perspective. The most difficult thing this time is to create a world view; SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT has a very large territory, there are cities, there are radiation areas, and the creation of this world has its own weather, climate, and the existence of many characters."

Koo Tin Lok was happy and excited that SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT's Cannes selection, because he could meet everyone at the film festival. He revealed that he would attend the "Hong Kong Night" in the future, hoping to promote the new film to the world. He praised director Mak Chun Lung for being very patient. His character had a cat at home, and Mak Chun Lung asked him to keep the cat. "Why would that cat in the movie be willing to lie down next to me in bed to sleep? Because I kept this cat until I cultivated the feeling". In another scene he was alone at home with the cat, Koo Tin Lok said that it was the same when he was alone at home in reality, and joked that he was actually very cute himself.

Leung Ka Fai talked about the difficulty of the role, saying that playing a role in the past was performance. This time his performance was a part of life, allowing him to better understand himself and everything he had to face. Leung Ka Fai mentioned that after watching the film again at the premiere he had an even deeper feeling. "Last night gave me a deeper feeling of what I did seven years ago. This was the second time I've seen this film, and I had a new perspective on the film and my character." Gao Yuanyuan said that SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT was a very complex role she encountered before 2017, she had a certain distance and a sense of power at the same time. "I feel so strange when I see the movie at the premiere, but this is what I want. I want to see myself with a sense of freshness, and I thank the director for helping me complete this role.