The Chinese mainland audience got to know Ho Cheung Ping through his award-winning film "Isabella." Since then, his style of directing has attracted lots of funs in the mainland.
He is a regular at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Through the participation of this festival, he has improved his command of mandarin. The versatile director also writes columns for Chinese magazines.
He has signed a contract with a mainland film company for 3 years. In our interview, he said he would start to make his first movie in China’s mainland in Shanghai at the end of this year.
Daily News: "Love in a puff" has been shown in the Shanghai International Film Festival and you were there in the first show. What was the reaction then?
Ping: Great! I was there with the audience. At first I was afraid that Cantonese and Hong Kong culture couldn’t be understood here. However, the reaction was good and the Cantonese jokes made good effects. Maybe mainland audiences grew up with Hong Kong movies and Canton pop songs, so they learned more Cantonese that what I thought.
Daily News: The main story of this movie is innocent, but laced with some Cantonese filthy language, it is a X-rated film in Hong Kong. Will you produce another version for the mainland market?
Ping: The pictures will be the same, but there\'ll be two versions in mainland. One is dubbed in mandarin. Some dialogues in the version will be taken out because we can\'t find equivalent expressions in mandarin. Another Cantonese version will be shown in Beijing\'s film center and Guangdong province. I promise most of the humor part will still be there.
Daily News: Your latest two works "Love in a puff" and "Dream Home" are strikingly different. In recent years, you chose different types, but they had your characteristics, so what do you think is your most notable feature?
Ping: It\'s hard for me to tell. You think they\'re different, but I don\'t think so, because one is comedy and another is horror film. You say that they have my features, maybe that\'s my style. Quentin Tarantino made movies of different types, it\'s also hard to tell the style.
Daily News: How do you choose these themes?
Ping: I choose my favorite themes and some are from the real world. Maybe I have many ideas, but only the commercially-viable ideas can catch the investors\' interests. Frankly speaking, I can\'t decide alone and the investors’ ideas are important. If there\'re successful movies of the same type, it’ll be easy; if not, it’s hard to persuade the investors.
Daily News: Do you still need to persuade the investors?
Ping: I believe I need this step in making movies. Each movie needs communication with investors. Even they trust you, they still need to decide which movie to invest.
Daily News: Are you the producer of Derek and Yin Zhiwen\'s "Lover\'s Discourse" ?
Ping: Yes, as a matchmaker, the producer is under great pressure because I take the responsibilities. Zeng Guoxiang is the screenwriter of my Isabella, and we are very familiar through cooperation in many films, so I think their movie must be good.
Daily News: You\'re often the producer, screenwriter and director in your own movie. Do you have three kinds of thoughts?
Ping: Yes. But I\'m a screenwriter in the early time of creation. After that I cancel the parts which are not good in view of the director and the producer. They’re different. Maybe the screenwriter thinks a scene is essential, but the producer and the director think it\'s not necessary to make it if the effect is not good or there’s not enough money. So why do you make it if it\'s not good?
Daily News: Which is the dominant force in the three roles?
Ping: It is the director. I have to cut all the unnecessary parts when acting as the Executive Producer. Then I have to deal with the remaining stuff in the role of a Director.
Daily News: What\'s the role of writing in your life?
Ping: As a writer, I really enjoyed writing, because when write, you don\'t need to worry about cost and cast. Although writing is usually awarded less income than directing films, I still enjoy it. I enjoy writing for Han Han\'s "The Chorus" and the column "Underground Education of Love." I always wanted to write something about black humor. Writing for "The Chorus" makes this wish comes true. The column on the other hand taught me a lot about love nowadays with all those letters from the readers.
Daily News: Does your increasing presence in mandarin means your will march into the mainland film industry?
Ping: I am good at mandarin now (laugh), because I got more and more chances to meet mainland people and speak mandarin in all kinds of meetings. I had signed a contract with Jiangsu Broadcasting and TV from this year, and I am going to direct three films for them in three years. I like direct domestic films instead of co-production, and I will direct the Good Fortune for a Coquetry Woman in Shanghai at the end of year.
Daily News: What do you think the argument that "the Hong Kong film is dead"?
Ping: Metaphorically, the death of a language does not mean there is none to speak but no new one to speak. The state of Hong Kong with none of newcomers and less professional opportunities does not mean it is dead. Hong Kong films are circled out because of its remarkableness, but as one part of China\'s film industry, it can\'t exist independently.
Daily News: Many people got to know "Love in a puff" through micro-blog, is it a new way of film marketing?
Ping: Micro-blogs can spread the information instantly, which is certainly very helpful in market promotion. This age of micro-blog helps this kind of movies, and I think it\'s a new trend.
Daily News: Do you have some special feelings in this year\'s film festival?
Ping: I found Shanghai International Film Festival is more and more professional. It\'s an international film festival and a leading one of its kind in China. Here come many figures in international film circle, not only from Hollywood but also from Europe. All of them think Chinese market is very important.