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A fortunate meeting.
Karen was at the 4th Pan-Asia Film
Festival of Deauville, France (2002) for various reasons. First she was promoting her
new movie, a road-movie from Mainland China All The Way. She was as well a part of
the Jury. She has even written a theme song for the four-time award-winner Korean feature Failan.
Finally, she took advantage of the fact she was in France to go and shoot a couple of
music videos in Paris.
After a brief chat at the Far East Film Festival of Udine in 2001, we had the chance to
meet Karen once more and to have a long talk despite her hectic schedule… As the
interview is quite long, it's been divided into five main topics:
Meeting
the big cheeses - Chinese movies - Projects
- Movie making in HK - Filmography
PRESENTATION
HKCM: How did you start in
the show business?
Karen Mok: Quite by accident. I was still a student in London and somehow
I started singing some demo tapes for some friends from HK. And the next thing that
happened was I got a record contract from a HK company. So I started singing first and
then one year later I started doing some movies.
How do you manage to do an
actress and a singer career in the same time?
You've to find the time to do as much as possible, and you don't sleep a lot! For me it's
like a good balance [to mix music and movies]. It's nice to do a bit of this and a bit of
that because I can't only stay concentrated for so long on one thing. And if I do the same
thing forever I lose my interest. It's nice to be able to have this sort of change.
Is it because it's the way it
is in HK? Everything is very fast paced and you've got to do a lot of things in the same
time otherwise you could be quickly out…
There is an extent to how much you should do. If you do too much you over exhaust yourself
and then you over expose yourself, which might not be a good thing. I try not to think too
much about these things and I take whatever comes along. The most important thing is to be
able to do jobs that are really interesting.
Have you ever sung in a
movie?
I did theme songs for some of the movie that I made. But I actually never sang in a movie.
I generally sing in Mandarin and sometimes in English and often write the lyrics myself. A
few year ago I did a TV commercial for Shiseido, a famous brand of cosmetics. We had
campaign theme songs for the commercial and I wrote a few songs for it.
How many languages do you
speak?
Fluently Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and French and Italian that I learnt when I was
at school. Now I am waiting for an opportunity to work in a French film. So I get a chance
to practice my languages.
Did you undertake any drama
classes?
I'd love to but I can't find the time to do it. In HK everything is so fast paced and it's
difficult to disappear for two months and let's say to go to New York and take drama
classes. I'd love to do something like that but I will have to wait till I have more time.
I only took drama classes at school. We did a lot of Shakespeare and we had fun ways to do
Shakespeare in theatres…
Are you influenced by
European cinema?
I like watching European movies. In fact one of my favourite French movie is Cyrano De
Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu, and one of my favourite film is an Italian one: Cinema
Paradiso.
Top
MEETING THE BIG CHEESES: Wong
Kar Wai, Sylvia Chang & Steven Chow
WONG KAR WAI
You worked with director Wong Kar Wai for Fallen Angels (1995). How did you meet him?
That was mysterious too! Because I only just
started acting and I wasn't famous or anything at all. And suddenly I got a phone call
from his company asking me to appear in a movie. I couldn't believe I was actually hearing
that. And of course, I said yes. At that time there was a slight problem because my hair
happened to be red, as red as what you can see in the movie. I was like "you know,
I've got funny dyed hair". I didn't know whether it was suitable for the movie. And
they said they'd look at it first. Then they looked at it and loved it! It was perfect for
the character.
Wong Kar Wai is known to
change a lot the scripts whilst shooting…
Perhaps I should say that he doesn't have a story when he starts. You never know what will
happen each time Kar Wai comes in a set. The stories appear while we shoot. I think that'
s one way of conceiving movies too and it works… It's very stimulating. Sometimes I
work with directors who stick completely to the script and you can't even change a word.
As for Wong Kar Wai, he'll do whatever comes into
mind. In a way it's good for actors. The style of Wong Kar Wai is good because sometimes
an actor might do something that comes naturally and if the director sees that it could
work on a screen then he could develop it more.
Did you improvise a lot on
the set of Fallen Angels? Did Wong Kar Wai use a lot of your personality to build
up your character or did he have a precise idea of the character right from the start?
It's difficult to say because he has very specific ideas too. But on the other hand he
gives you a lot of space to do your own things. For me it was like dancing! It involved a
lot of body language. What you actually say doesn't really matter. It's more about the
feel you portrays on the screen. Plus the cinematography of Christopher Doyle makes it
even more like a piece of dance.
And you took part in another
Wong Kar Wai's production: First Love, The Litter On The Breeze by Eric Kot. Was it
as experimental and funny on the set as what you can see on the screen?
Yes,
He's a strange guy! [Eric Kot], but he's really lovely. I think it was a very tough
experience for him because he was a new director and he's got a lot of ideas, but he
didn't have much experience. An on top of that, Wong Kar Wai has his own way of working as
well. So it was quite of an experience for all of us.
It was a lengthy shooting as well…
Yes, it maybe took 9 months when we first started to when we ended.
SYLVIA CHANG
You worked with Sylvia Chang for Tempting Heart (1999). Was it really different to
work with a female director?
In a way, yes. I think that
women are in general more meticulous and sees things with more 'finesse'. She is like a
mother! She takes care of everyone on the set especially the actors. She's a great actress
herself so she completely understands the type of problems actors may have on a set. Tempting
Heat really requires a lot of heart. You cannot just memorise the line and deliver it!
You've got to feel your character.
STEVEN CHOW
You first worked with Steven Chow Sing Chi in A Chinese
Odyssey and then you did several films with him. Is he the guy you get on the most
with in HK and you really enjoy to work with?
He's definitively
somebody in the business that I respect the most. He's very talented on what he does and
does it very well. For a newcomer it was a great chance to start doing movie with someone
like Steven Chow. I learnt a lot on the set. It was definitively a valuable experience for
me. I worked so much with Steven Chow. He's a wonderful actor. He's incredible. I
think it's even more incredible now that he's doing a lot of directing as well. There is
more depth in his movies but apart from that he still keeps his comical elements, which is
wonderful. I'd like very much to work with him again.
My favourite movie with Steven was God Of
Cookery. Because the women I portrayed was ugly and it's quite rare to have a chance
to do that sort of things. It was really amusing and Turkey [Karen in God Of Cookery]
had a certain depth. For Shaolin Soccer
[2001], he was the director as well. I think that now he's moving further on into
directing and he has gained a kind of maturity. He made a good decision because he directs
very well. I made a cameo in Shaolin Soccer [with Cecilia Cheung Pak Ji], I
portrayed famous football player Gullit with dreadlocks and a moustache!
Steven Chow's movies are
really hilarious, but I suppose that on the set he must be very serious, mustn't he?
He could be a nightmare to work with. Possibly because he's very demanding and a true
perfectionist. He demands a lot from the crew as well, they are probably more aware of
everything they do than in maybe other sets. He usually has a script written before
shooting but he sometimes changes things on the set. He can even change all the dialogues
of a sequence.
Top
CHINESE MOVIES
Is there a big difference
between HK movies and Mainland Chinese movie productions?
We are all Chinese, but the way it works is quite different. My experience was with All
The Way [a Mainland production, 2000] where directors and actors were all from
Beijing. Most people have professional training from film academy and their way of work is
really precise and very academic. We had a very thorough script and we kept at it. It was
a real acting experience for me. It was good to have time to get prepared, compared to HK
where it's more 'impromptu'.
When
I did All The Way, it was my first movie when I had to speak in Mandarin. You can
converse in Mandarin but when you act in a language which is not your mother tongue, there
will be some sort of difficulties. Somehow, it really depends on what you want. For me
it's refreshing when I am in an environment when I have to speak a different language
which is not my own. I don't have that many things to worry about. It's the other way
round because you're more like an alien in a new environment. So everything that you do
would probably come really naturally. And you have less things to worry about and to think
about than if you are really familiar with your surroundings. And sometimes it might be
refreshing for the audience and the people you work with as well. It's like a breath of
fresh air.
Top
PROJECTS & PROSPECTS
What are your next projects?
Right now, I am working on my
new album, which should be released in April [2002]. And I've been shooting a couple of
MTVs [music videos] in Paris while I'm here.
Last year, I did a couple of movies, which will be released this year. They are pretty big
productions. One is a Columbia Tri-Star action movie. It's called So Close and it's
something like 'Charlie Angels' [with Vicky Zao Wei and Hsu
Qi, directed by Corey Yuen and produced by Je Li. It's due to release in summer 2002]. It's that type of action movie, but it's different because I am the only one
who plays the cop. The two other girls are professional killers. It's the combination that
is interesting. For the HK audience, it's been quite a while since they've seen heroine in
an action movie. Michelle Yeoh [Crouching Tiger/ Hidden Dragon,
Tomorrow Never Dies, Police Story 3] did that but it's been a
long time since anyone has done it again. It was a very tough experience. I had a lot of
bruises all over my body so I hope this film does well.
And the other movie is another Mainland China production we shot in Tibet. It's the
Hollywood's type movie. It's a Chinese production and they put a lot of money into it
because it's like a disaster adventure movie up in the snow, in the mountains, with
avalanche and people die and people go and save lives… These sorts of things are very
Hollywood, but it's very exciting.
What kind of
character would you like to perform?
Any kind really. I like to portray different type of women, otherwise it could quickly get
annoying. I like new experiences.
Is there a particular genre you'd like to try?
Musical! Something like Moulin Rouge! I'd like to have the opportunity to do a
musical so I could do both singing and acting together.
Top
MOVIE MAKING IN HK
You played in a bold movie Viva
Erotica by Derek Yee. Can you tell us about co-star Leslie Cheung?
He's a great actor and a very great professional.
Because he's been in the business for so long, he's like a big brother and he takes care
of everyone else. I learnt quite a bit from him on the set. Thereafter we kept up a good
relationship together.
The subject of the movie was
really bold: it was about making a low budgeted soft porn in HK. Why did you like to take
part in this type of movie?
Hum… for me it didn't involve any nudity, so it's fine. I drew a line. It was my
first time to work with Leslie Cheung and director Derek Yee who I both admire. It's a
different subject matter as far as the HK movie industry is concerned. So I thought it was
quite interesting.
Do you think that this movie
really showed the difficulty to produce and to make a film within the actual HK movie
industry?
At that time in HK [1996] the industry was going downhill. It wasn't at the bottom yet but
it was coming. So it was true that a lot of movie people were having basically a lot of
problems and some movie makers had to do what they could to survive because there wasn't
enough money made [as depicted in Viva Erotica]. Some of them you know had to
become taxi drivers for instance. So it was quite sad.
In 1996 you made several
Triad movies such as Sexy And Dangerous and Young And Dangerous. Do you
think that such films are seen as purely entertaining by the HK audience or could they
really trivialize the triad world?
I think that the approach
to these movies was to make a real form of entertainment other than talking seriously
about the subject of Triads. HK has always made movies about triads. That something that
has always existed! The reason why these movies did so well in HK is because it was good
entertainment and it was light hearted enough for the general audience to appreciate it.
In fact, they got so popular that some people started worrying: "Oh, is it
glamorizing the triads too much for young people?" And they were worrying that young
people would just go for it and would do something they shouldn't do. My last 'triad'
movie was Goodbye Mister Cool [by Jingle Ma], and it's more like an anti-triad
movie that doesn't idealise the underworld.
What point of view do you
have about the actual HK cinema situation? Do you think that the crisis is over or is it
still very though?
We are getting there I think. There are still some difficulties but it's a lot better than
a few years ago. HK people have a really great fighting spirit, they don't accept defeat.
Creativity is very strong in HK. They always find a way of doing things with very little
money. It's quite incredible. There are more foreign finances to support us. It's
important because HK has always been a movie place. It's an important thing to us all.
More and more Americans
invest into the HK movie industry. Are you afraid that in a way HK movies may turn into
American productions and may lose their wild spirit?
I don't think so. For example, Columbia Tristar people are investing in a lot of Asian
movies now but I don't think they are making American movies in Asia. They are putting
money there. There is a growing awareness all over the world on Asia because there is a
much bigger focus than before not only on the Asian entertainment industry but also on its
economy and trade. It's a very good thing for us. We get more opportunities to do things
we are good at doing.
Do you think that a handful
of gifted directors such as Tsui Hark, Steven Chow or Johnnie To could make the situation
better by attracting more and more investments into the industry?
Of course, I mean when more people do well abroad it is a good thing, and it will be able
to help the whole industry back home as well.
Have you seen Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Is it a movie the HK style or something else?
Of course, I saw it. I can't say that I
haven't seen these things before because in a way it is a very traditional epic Chinese
costume action movie, the Kung Fu style that is. I think people from HK and China have
seen that sort of things since they were kids. But it's just amazing how [director] Ang
Lee has been able to retain the spirit and the traditional flavour and to wrap it up in a
modern way of packaging. It was very difficult to find this balance because you want the
western audience to be able to appreciate something that is totally alien to them. It's a
wonderful movie, I love it.
Presentation - Meeting the big cheeses
- Chinese movies - Projects - Movie making in HK - Filmography - Homepage - Top
Special
Thanks to Karen Mok for her patience and kindness.
We'd like to extend our thanks to the Deauville Film Festival press crew, and especially
Nicolas, who did a wonderful job and allowed us to meet Karen.
Many thanks to the Far East Film Festival,
Udine, Italy.
The interview was conducted by the HK Cinemagic team in March 2002.
Original pictures taken by the HK Cinemagic team are © HK Cinemagic.
KAREN MOK MAN WAI
JOY MORRIS FILMOGRAPHY
1993
Tiger The Legend Of Canton, Lee Lik Chi
1994
Family Affair, Cheung Chi Kok
1995
Fallen Angels, Wong Kar Wai
Heaven Can't Wait, Chi Lee
Out Of The Dark, Jeff Lau
Chinese Odyssey, Pandera Box, Jeff Lau
Chinese Odyssey, Cinderella, Jeff Lau
1996
The God Of Cookery, Stephen Chow/ Lee Lik Chi
Viva Erotica, Derek Yee, Law Chi Leung
Black Mask, Daniel Lee
4 Faces Of Eve, Sam Lam/ Eric Kot/ Kam Kwok Leung
Young & Dangerous 3, Andrew Lau
Those Were The Days, Eric Tsang
Sexy & Dangerous, Billy Tang
1997
First Love: The Litter On The Breeze, Eric Kot
Task Force, Patrick Leung
Lawyer, Lawyer, Joe Ma
Kitchen, Yim Ho
Young & Dangerous 4, Andrew Lau
First Love: The Litter On The Breeze, Eric Kot
1999
King Of Comedy, Stephen Chow/ Lee Lik Chi
Tempting Heart, Sylvia Chang
2000
Dragon Fire (aka Dragon Heat), Eric Kot
The Teacher Without A Chalk, Albert Mak
Roaring Wheels, Aman Chang
All The Way, Shi Runjiu
2001
Shaolin Soccer, Stephen Chow
Goodbye Mrs Cool, Jingle Ma
La Brassiere, Patrick Leung
So Close, Corey Yuen
Presentation
- Meeting the big cheeses - Chinese
movies - Projects - Movie making in HK
- Filmography - Homepage - Top
Written by Thomas, March 2002.
