CINEVUE: Last summer we interviewed Rox Chao-jen Hsu, director of TOGETHER (AAIFF’13 Nominee for the Emerging Director Award for Feature Narrative Film) and talked about his creative process and working with an ensemble cast from different generations of Taiwanese actors. Here is the translation for the interview video.
ROX CHAO-JEN HSU:
Hello, audience of AAIFF. I am Chao-Jen Hsu, director of the movie TOGETHER.
The first question I have been asked is what is the inspiration of the movie and whether can I briefly describe the movie in one sentence. The movie for me is set to represent contemporaries’ expressions of relationships. The movie reflects my understanding of such expressions. The story I came out with stemmed from my observations on streets. I’ve seen a lot of couples, among some are cradle snatchers and among some are gay couples. They not only need to defy others’ strange glances but also devote a lot of commitment to such relationships. I think each relationship has been through a lot. So I made the movie in a family form to show that each relationship has been through a lot. Why did I want to make the movie in a family form, especially with the performance of Lieh Lee and Kenny Bee? If we review the movie from its ending, actually I want to present a feeling of first love. I want to convey the feeling of first love, or the sweetness of love at its beginning to tell a burgeoning love story. I also want to show that even if a couple eventually separate, they will still have the sweet memories when their relation just started, and they will not insult each other but remember each other’s virtues.
The cast of this movie includes different generations. How did I find all these actors and actresses? In fact, I did not intentionally reach out to all of them and some even initiatively reached me. Because we are close friends and they knew I was going to make a movie, so they volunteered to act to help me with the movie. Like Jain-Ho Wu, Shao-Huai Chang and some other young actors, we are all friends and have close touch with each other. I first discussed the screenplay with them and then began to actually work on the screenplay. As the screenplay progressed, I felt I need some older actors. I first thought about the character of mother in the movie. I have collaborated with Lieh Lee before so I thought she would be a suitable actress for the character of mother. Because she looks like she is always concerned, just as a mother. But she also has a girly part inside her heart. When I thought about the counterpart of Lieh Lee, I thought of Kenny Bee. After both of them confirmed me to participate in the movie, I was surprised to learn that they had collaborated with each other long time ago in the movie THE STORY OF A SMALL TOWN (1979). This in turn made me feel that making this movie would be an interesting experience.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgKZnsbYszU[/youtube] Trailer of TOGETHER (2013)When I worked on the daily details in the movie, I thought of various works of many film predecessors and grand masters. I have worked for some of them, as an executive. Mostly I was not in the directing group and was far from them except once I worked for director Tso-chi Chang as his assistant director. However, it was because of being far away from them that I saw inclusively. I was heavily influenced by their attitudes towards life. They would care for others, notice corners and have empathy. Their attitudes towards work were also very meticulous. Making movies in Taiwan has always been hard. So my experience of working with them also built up my meticulous attitude towards work. If I decide to do something, I will do it to the best. It is a precious lesson I learnt from the predecessors.
That’s my brief response to questions about the movie, too brief to be good I am afraid. It is such a pity that I could not meet you in New York because of some personal affairs. In fact, I pretty like New York. Hopefully, I will make better movies and bring them to meet you in New York in the future. If that happened, I would like to ask to rescreen TOGETHER and have a face-to-face interaction with audience. I will be very happy to do that. Thanks to all.
TOGETHER
Dir. Rox Chao-jen Hsu | 114 min. | 2012 |
With Lieh Lee, Shao-Yang Huang, Sonia Sui, Kenny Bee and Umin Boya.
AAIFF’13 Program Note:
Xiao Yang patiently observes and quietly serves as a messenger for the love affairs in her neighborhood (the title references a play on words: to-get-her). Reminiscent of the urban tale with an ensemble cast like A ONE AND A TWO, this film patiently unfolds romantic stories on a street in contemporary Taipei, with a refreshingly original voice. TOGETHER presents brilliant performances from the great actors of different generations, such as LEE Lieh, Kenny Bee, Sonia SUI, HUANG Shao-yang, and MA Chih-hsiang, to weave together this romantic film.
Interview questions by Lesley Yiping Qin.
Translation by Mi Lin.
Mi Lin is from China and currently a junior student majoring in sociology/Global Public Health and minoring in cinema studies at NYU. Mi loves watching movies and reading in her spare time. She comes to New York as it is one of world-class stage for all kinds of arts, especially in forms of movies. In addition, Mi loves outdoor sports like hiking and outdoor running, to keep herself active both mentally and physically.