Anyone who is a fan of Hong Kong cinema and martial arts films will immediately recognise the name Tsui Hark.
He is one of the key figures in Hong Kong’s New Wave, responsible for reinventing the martial arts genre. As a writer, producer and director, he boosted the careers of many like Chow Yun-fat, Jet Lee and even John Woo. And until last year with the box office success of Ne Zha 2, the 75-year-old director’s film The Battle at Lake Changjin was the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.
Four of his films - the period romantic comedy Shanghai Blues (1984), the groundbreaking action-comedy Peking Opera Blues (1986), the martial arts epic Once Upon a Time in China (1991) and the action thriller Time And Tide (2000) - are being honoured and screened at this year’s Lumière Film Festival.
Euronews Culture sat down with the legendary filmmaker after the Lumière ceremony during which directors are celebrated with a golden plaque on Rue du Premier Film, beside the Institut Lumière, to talk about the festival, his work, and the challenges we face.
Euronews Culture: How does it feel having your plaque on the Lumière wall now?
Tsui Hark: I feel very dreamy, as a matter of fact! (Laughs) You know, I suddenly realized that I’ve come to the place where motion pictures started, at their beginning. I never thought that I would come to a place like this, where you suddenly go back to the original motion picture. It becomes a very surreal thing. You come to a place where your career was started by someone that you don't know, but they [the Lumière brothers] are the source of your creativity and everything. I feel very blessed, being given the task of making movies.
During your stay at the festival, several of your films are being screened, including restored versions of Shanghai Blues and Peking Opera Blues. How does it feel seeing these films on a big screen once more?
It’s strange with the films I've made 40 years ago! (Laughs) For me, it's like it's very far, far away, and suddenly they come back again. It makes you feel like the time never passed. You go to a theater showing your film that you made 40 years ago, and people still like it. It's a wonderful feeling.
You are known for your work in action films and martial arts, but there’s a focus in the selection of films screened at the festival on comedy and romance. In your opinion and experience, where does the cinematic language of action and comedy intersect?
I actually think of myself as a comedy person than an action director, but everything happened in 1979. I worked in a television, and I was given a job to make a costume action drama [The Butterfly Murders]. I was given an assignment to do an action film, and since then, I have been associated with action genre for so many years. But for me, it’s a bit weird!
Throughout your films, you’ve always managed to balance action and the epic scale and scope of your stories with very emotional and personal considerations. It’s not an easy balance to get right when it comes to big productions... I suppose my question is: What's your secret?
There's no secret at all! It all depends on my take on something I really like. When I was a kid, when I watched this kind of genre, I felt very exhilarated when looking at life. When I have a chance to make a movie, I go in that direction - a direction based on how I identify with the people inside the world, especially in epic or costume dramas.
I’m very serious when it comes to making people identify and associate themselves with the story I’m telling. The quality of humanity in the characters and the story is a major concern of the material. I always try to make the story understandable and relatable for everyone. You see, many think about movies as being for a certain age or people. I feel like movies should be for audiences of all ages and hopefully for people of all cultures - not just our culture that we're so familiar with. I hope that movies, culture, and art can be shared by everyone.
Have you noticed a certain sensitivity that European audiences have towards your films?
Actually, I have no idea what's going on! (Laughs) Sometimes I go to a place and they will say “I've seen your movie” and I'm quite surprised. The first time I was in Cannes, and they said, “Oh, I've seen your movie”, I was very shocked. I made the movie elsewhere and it was shown to a different kind of audience, but still, they understood and accepted the film. For me, it’s a form of encouragement and it gives me energy to make movies that can be shared by all people and bring cultures together.
Considering the breadth of your career and your filmography, are there any genres that you would like to explore that you haven’t had the chance to? I ask, because you made a horror-comedy in 1980, We’re Going To Eat You, and I can’t deny I’d love to see another horror film from you...
Oh, yes! Exactly! Horror is a genre I always want to explore, because I feel horror is not just about making people scared but about making people feel a different kind of energy. I've seen a lot of horror films, and I feel like they are often very negative about human beings and humanity. That’s why I feel like I’d like to try something different in this genre.
Speaking of negativity, many are expressing fears nowadays about the future of cinema and the arts in general, especially with the push towards artificial intelligence. Is that something that worries you?
It’s a very up-to-date question you’ve asked. We all know that the thing about humanity is that we always fear being replaced by something. The fear that we are being replaced comes from everywhere. In relationships, career, economy... Or even our own idea of freedom. This is always a threat, and we don't know where the future will bring us.
The fear and the danger of losing everything is everywhere, and human beings tend to be neglectful of the weakness of our nature. We neglect the power of destruction created by us and at the same time, the power of destruction created by nature. In our era, we have faced a lot of crises – from virus, science, technology, and war. We have no solution for it so far. Humans are a weak species when it comes to solving problems like that.
The more we go through every test we encounter on the path of our survival, we realise that we actually have no solutions. Simply because we are the destructive element in nature. I hope that it's not true. Hopefully I'm mistaken in that respect, and that we bring some good things in life.
You know, at my age, I always feel like there’s not a long time to worry about the future... But I hope that things will not get worse. I want to be optimistic, but there is strong evidence of negative things happening. Since World War II, everybody tried to avoid that happening again, but it's happening. Non-stop happening. I don't know what is the best solution for all these problems...
I certainly don't.
No one has. I know we’re getting deep and we can’t get too philosophical about what we’re going to do. The world is very chaotic, but I do think that at least something we can do is to make everybody look at a good aspect of humanity and remind ourselves to enjoy life and human creativity. And cinema is a good place to start.
Peking Opera Blues makes its French cinema debut on 21 October in a restored 4K version.
The Lumière Film Festival runs in Lyon through 18 October.