Fearless – That was how a Wayne Wang enthusiast described the 59-year-old during a recent public lecture presented on Oct 11.

Certainly, there seems to be no mistake about that, given this man’s seemingly reckless but equally admirable spirit to go guns blazing into the big and small of the movie world, as he huffs and puffs his way through a colourful portfolio of low-budget independent films and Hollywood studio hits.

Tough Beginnings

In town for the Wayne Wang Retrospective event organised by Golden Village at VivoCity, Wayne admits that it was no walk in the park for the initial bits. Born in Hong Kong into a family armed with the traditional Asian mindset, his father, a garment manufacturer, was not at all pleased with his decision to jump ship from medical to film school whilst studying abroad in America.

The road remained bumpy well beyond graduation. Wayne was fired six months into his stint with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) for being too “radical” with his ideas. Five years later, his first film as sole director, Chan Is Missing, was rejected outright as a feature candidate in the San Francisco Film Festival.

“I took a look at the case, and they hadn’t even opened it. I was heartbroken, ” he recalls. “But you should still live through these periods and focus. Don’t sit down there, mope and get depressed.”

Wayne persevered, and finally got his big break at the New Directors, New Films festival in New York. An added stroke of luck came in the form of a review carried in the New York Times that landed the film in a “nice, uptown theatre”, with “a line around the block trying to get in” on its debut night.

Emboldened by the film’s resounding success, he went on to produce a series of Asia-themed movies, melting the hearts of audiences with movies like Dim Sum: A Little Bit Of Heart and Joy Luck Club, films that throw light on the untold tales of Chinese immigrants in the States.

No, I’m Not Your Sob Story-Teller

But he wasn’t receptive to the idea of being recognised as “a women’s director, or a Chinese-American film director”, which conscientiously led him to embark on both Smoke and Blue In The Face. Hollywood glam subsequently came into sight with a fast signing-on to the romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan – courtesy of the charm factor of the starring lead, Jennifer Lopez– and later Last Holiday with Queen Latifah.

A brief hiatus followed, where Wayne recuperated from the “exam-like” stress of producing four to five films consecutively, taking time off the “treadmill” to catch on up reading. The short stories of writer Li Yiyu eventually served as the inspirations to his two latest works, The Princess of Nebraska, and A Thousand Years Of Good Prayers, of which adeptly brings him back to his Asia-themed roots.

“These two (films) paint very unique pictures of two generations of women from China. In my mind, they’re almost like give and take.”

Interestingly, during the production of The Princess of Nebraska, shot entirely with consumer-based cameras, Wayne and his crew had awkward encounters with undercover policemen, where “they had to stop for a bit before they went away”. Little wonder, for they were filming the movie at a shopping mall without any licenses and without any easily distinguishable equipment!

“I really enjoy the no control (unpredictability of the situation). I work on adrenaline. But, what’s really beautiful is that the set is real. The rhythm (of people moving about naturally) is wonderful,” he muses.


Creatives As The Key Ingredient

A person who consistently thinks out of the box for fresh ideas, the veteran filmmaker stresses the importance of avoiding the pitfalls in using predictable scenes for a storyline.

“The audience is actually pretty smart. They figure out how the movie is going and they get bored. I try to flip things around to see what happens instead.”

And novelty it shall be in the works, if he is ever given the opportunity – Wayne wants to do a gangster film musical for his next upcoming production.

“Maybe I should convince Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Rain, to begin with (as part of the cast) – and use all of their songs,” he said, ending off in one of his signature chuckles.

You forgot Leon Lai, Wayne.

 

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Princess of Nebraska will open in local theatres on Oct 16.