Q: And now I know why churches play such a prominent role in your films.
A:oh yes. I'm a Christian, and I have a very strong relationship with the church. I don't know what would have happened to me and my parents without the church. In the '505, when I was growing up, ninety percent of the people were poor. We all came from China with nothing, and had to struggle very hard. My parents were very strict and very tough on me to keep me a decent person. They taught me a lot about Chinese culture. We were so poor, homeless for a couple of years, living on the street. And just before I almost joined a street gang, the church helped me and my family. An American family sent money, through a church, to support my school fees. That's how I got educated. My family couldn't afford for me to go to school until I was nine years old, but the American family sent us money every month. They supported me for six years, and also helped my younger sister and brother.
When I was in high school, my first dream wasn't to be a filmmaker I wanted to be a minister to pay back society and help others. I wanted to share the great message with other young people, and I also respected all of the other religions. That's why there's so much religious imagery in my movies.

Q:When did you switch ambitions from the ministry to the movies?
A:Well, when I was young, I also discovered that I had a gift for art. I was good at drawing, painting, music, dancing and writing. I used art to express myself. My parents were a little disappointed in me, because they were afraid that I wouldn't get a good job. But for me, it was a struggIe to discover myself. In the '505 and early '605 we started seeing a lot of movies from Europe and Japan. I discovered the French new wave, So original, so intelligent, like Hitchcock, who was always experimenting and making something new. I discovered that the movies were a perfect tool for me to express my feelings. A movie can be a painting. A movie can tell a story. A movie can be very spiritual, or very intellectual. So I made the deci-sion. Of course, I had already been rejected for missionary school, because they said I was too artistic and wouldn't be able to concentrate on a mission.


Q: They knew you could help people in a different way.
A:[laughs] Yeah, maybe. But my father passed away when I was 16 years old, and my mother pounded rock on a construction site to take care of her family, so she really couldn't afford to send me to the film school. There was no film school in Hong Kong, so if you really wanted to study, you had to go to the United States or Europe. But it was like a dream, you know? But I didn't live up. I learned by watching every classic in the art movie theatre. I studied film books, arts books, philosophy books. That's how I finished my college education [laughs]. I had no choice. I had no money. I had to steal film books, to learn. I'm not encouraging others to do this, it's not a good thing. But in the old days, most of the people did the same thing. Then I got together with other young people who were also crazy about movies, and we made an experimental film together Then, I was 26 years old, I got lucky with the support of a friend of a friend who all of a sudden made a lot of money from the stock market. So he gave us a little bit of money to form an independent company to make my first film. The next year, in 1973, I directed YOUNG DRAGON.


Next Page
Home