1990

Wong's Wild Way

Days of Being Wild is one of the year's most eagerly awaited films. AMBROSE AW spoke to the star cast about the challenges of working under director Wong Kar-wai.

THERE could be many reasons that brought together six of Hongkong's hottest young stars for the film Days of Being Wild, but it is, without a doubt, the tal­ent and charisma of director Wong Kar-wai that was the stron­gest pull of all.

Days of Being Wild, now show­ing at local cinemas, is one of the most talked-about and eagerly an­ticipated films of the year, mainly due to its superb casting - Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Andy Lau Tak-wah, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Karina Lau Kar-ling and Maggie Cheung Man-yuk.

Set in the '60s, Days of Being Wild tells the story of a rebellious young man who is adopted and brought up by a prostitute. As he grows up, he knows nothing about his real parents, but eventually learns his real mother is living in the Philippines. Desperate to find her, he forsakes his friends, adopted family and homeland, but it is a search that can end only in tragedy.

The film was conceived as a two-part feature, the first of which would serve to introduce the large cast of characters and set up the relation­ships between them. Part two, presently in production, will develop and expand the storyline.

Veteran singer-actor Leslie Cheung, who plays the lead, said he was deeply impressed by both the script and by Wong's stylish direction. "I think our co-operation is based on a relationship in which we both admire each other," he said. "When I first received the script, I liked it very much - because the story was about six youngsters growing up in the '60s, and I thought it would be a romantic drama - and I was confident Wong could capture the mood and atmos­phere of that era," Cheung said.

Part of the film was shot on location in the Philippines but it was no holiday for either cast or crew. "When we arrived it was already November and there were only a few days for us to shoot because we wanted the film to be released this Christmas. So, in order to finish that part of it, we had to work under a very tight deadline. "There was a scene in which Andy was trapped in a train, which was awful. We spent most of our time in the Philippines on that train but it was horrible because it was shabby and smelled bad. Worse still, there were many cockroaches and I hate cockroaches. I'll never forget that experience," he said.

Co-star Karina Lau had a much easier time on location, saying she had learned a lot from the director. She was also impressed by the group's spirit. "Wong talked to us throughout filming and he knew how to bring out our different characteristics for the roles. At first, I was not familiar with Wong and I had little commu­nication with him mainly because he is quite a shy person. Later I found out that he is such a good story-teller he can teach you how to play a role just through conversation," Lau said.  Despite the self-confidence that came from this rapport with Wong, Lau said she still felt tremendous pressure from her desire not to let down her co-stars. "When you find yourself working with good actors and actresses, you put pressure on yourself because you feel that you are not catching up with them. I think trying your best is the best and only way to tackle this problem."

Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who appeared in only a few shots of this episode of Days of Being Wild, was deeply impressed by Wong's directorial debut in As Tears Go By. However, this was not the only reason he agreed to star in Days of Be­ing Wild. "Before I even worked with Wong, he was always my favourite up-and-coming director. When I was working with Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien on A City of Sadness, he said to me: 'It would be worth working with this young di­rector [Wong], because he has potential'." The first few days on set were troublesome for the young actor, despite his admiration for the director. "During the very first few days, I found it difficult to respond to Wong's requests. I felt bad and was not happy. But, luckily, I got used to Wong's style and the pressure eased off." Leung will play a larger arid pivotal role in the second episode of Days of Being Wild.

For Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, getting used to Wong's manner and style was not a problem, as they starred in As Tears Go By two years ago. Andy Lau added that Wong was a professional film-maker and he believed the audience might need more time to understand. "You can say that Wong is a person who lives and would die for his art, he makes his scripts come alive and is not interested in sell­ing out for commercial reasons," Lau said. Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, fresh from winning the best supporting actress title at the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards last week, said Wong had played an impor­tant part in shaping her career. "It was Wong who gave me the chance to play a more serious and down-to-earth role in As Tears Go By, which helped prove my abil­ity to act," she said. That did not stop the di­rector demanding re-takes throughout filming, setting a local record when 47 takes were shot for a single scene. But as Cheung explained, it was no one's fault. "The problem was that the film was recorded with synchronised sound, so it was affected by external factors. The director wanted everything to be perfect, so we had to be very careful," she said.

Singer-actor Jacky Cheung, who won the best supporting actor statuette at the Golden Horse Awards, said: "I knew Wong from As Tears Go By. Even then he was so serious he would re-shoot scenes until he felt they were good enough but this time, when we worked on Days of Being Wild, I no­ticed that he became still more demanding - both of the actors and himself.

"He wanted everything to be just right, from the lighting to settings, from our actions to our facial expressions," Cheung said.  "But as an actor, I understood that. Everything had to be perfect."

South China Morning Post