Is super-auteur Chen Kaige a megalomaniac or some sort of mad genius? In revisiting the creative and corporate processes behind his sink-or-swim epic The Promise, APA found that there's no such thing as an easy answer.
By Brian Hu
I was given five minutes, which wasn't much considering that I had a lot to ask director Chen Kaige --and he's known for long-winded answers. Lucky for me, he kept them short; unluckily, he wiggled out of some more nuanced topics.
The setting was the Westin in Century City and the occasion was the publicity tour for the North American release of Chen's latest, the derided but profitable transnational action romance The Promise. Chen was bouncing back from a frenzied game of hot potato where the distribution rights to the film were purchased, then dropped by the Weinstein Company, returned to Moonstone Entertainment, which in turn sold it to Warner Independent, which finally released the film half a year after its premiere in China. In the process, the film was retitled, recut, then retitled again. Meanwhile, an unfulfilled promise for a December Oscar-push (unthinkable now) severed ties between Chen and the Weinstein brothers, whose Miramax had previously handled Chen's Oscar-nominated Farewell My Concubine and Temptress Moon, the latter which the company also cut.
Just prior to APA's interview, Chen was faced with the infamous parody video Yi ge man tou yin fa de xie an (The Bloody Case that Started from a Steamed Bun), an internet sensation in China produced by Hu Ge, an aspiring Shanghai filmmaker. Cutting and redubbing a DVD of Chen's film to create a comedic satire on the Chinese news media, Hu became an underground hero whose 20 minute video was famously deemed better than the U.S. $35 million The Promise itself. Chen blasted the viral video as "immoral" and threatened to sue; Hu got a job at a Chinese production company.
Looking at the totals, The Promise did satisfactory business in North America, although the per-screen average was lackluster at best. Critics' mixed reactions were more indifferent than vehemently divided. But while the film seemed to fade away unceremoniously in the months since, its lavish, even ostentatious visuals seem destined for cult embrace. Just don't count on traditional Chen fans to carry that torch.
Interview with Chen Kaige
April 26, 2006
Interviewed by Brian Hu 4/26/06
Click here to view the interview in Windows Media Player.
APA: I actually spoke with you a few years ago when you were on a press tour for Together, and you said something that really stuck in my head throughout these years. It was that in China there's political censorship, but in the United States there's economic censorship, and you said that in reference to Killing Me Softly. Would you describe similar forces at play in the decision to recut The Promise for an American audience?
Chen Kaige: Well, you know, there were very limited things for me to do when I was told that the film should be simpler for the North American audience. I didn't really know how to respond to that except to do this, except to do my cut. I think that if the cut could benefit the film in this market, then I wouldn't mind doing that. This is what happened. But, of course, personally, I believe that the longer version makes it a better film. But I feel like it's okay. [laughs]
APA: How would you compare this with your re-cutting and re-editing of Emperor and the Assassin?
CKG: Well, that's quite different, because at that time I sort of got lost because people really expected something very different between the Chinese audience and particularly the audience from Japan. So we have a Japanese version and we have a Chinese version of the film. But it's quite a different story.
APA: Different how?
CKG: I recut the Emperor and the Assassin without any pressure. But this time, obviously, people gave me a lot of advice about how I ought to do this. I'm not talking about Warner Independent, you know. [laughs]
APA: The title was changed, and now it's changed back. And also there was an Anthony Minghella intro. That's not in the version that's coming out in theaters, is it?
CKG: Anthony has been very supportive. He gave me some advice regarding what we should put in the very beginning of the film. Also, his wife Carolyn, who was born in Hong Kong, actually helped me do the subtitles. I think she did a beautiful job.
APA: Was that in the final version?
CKG: Yeah.
APA: So you changed the title back to The Promise. Was that your decision?
CKG: Yes, I think that it is a better title for the film. It certainly makes more sense than The Master of the Crimson Armor.
APA: So you didn't decide to use the older, longer cut.
CKG: Well, this is not my decision.
APA: Although it did seem like you had some input in the distribution of the film in America. For example, you said that you were more hands-on with the subtitling process. Could you describe more the hands-on process of American distribution and anything you wish you had more control over?
CKG: No. As I've said so many times, Chinese cinema is still in a vulnerable position that we don't really have the kind of power to change the basic shift of Chinese cinema. We leave everything to the American distributors and let them handle that. But I'm pretty happy that in the first weekend, we were able to open the film in 66 marketplaces and eventually maybe it'll grow a little bigger. So it's not bad.
APA: The Promise has been criticized both in Asia and in the west for being very over-the-top. At the same time, there are people who are starting to champion the film for that very reason. They like that the sets, the costumes, and emotions are over the top. Did you anticipate that kind of reaction?
CKG: Well I think that I respect people and the way they want to express themselves. It's okay with me. And I think it's great to hear very different voices at the same time. I think it's amazing. In China we always say that if everybody likes the film, the film has a problem. If everybody hates the film, you have a problem too. We should allow people to have a free discussion about the film. I think it's great. And I knew that there would be a risk, because I switched directions. I used to do a lot of drama in the past. That's very safe. If I just remained in that very conservative way, there wouldn't be problems like this. But now, you can see I'm trying things in a new style. I must say that it's risky, but worth it.
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APA: One of these risks -- stylistic risks even -- is that this film can be called a pan-Asian film. When I'm watching it, I was surprised that there weren't that many indications of Chineseness. They speak in Mandarin, the costumes and sets are somewhat Chinese, but at the same time, it's very ambiguous. You use stars from Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea. Are you trying to create a pan-Asian aesthetic or culture?
CKG: Because the story is timeless, that's why I've said from the very beginning that this is a story that takes place 3000 years ago in the future. It's not really a part of history at all. This is something that people can relate to on an emotional level. But on the other hand, you can say this is a story strongly reflecting the current situation in China regarding how people change their views of values and culture. So in that way it's fashionable as well.
APA: You're talking about the very Chinese or very universal, but I'm thinking of something very Asian: different Asian cultures coming together and forming their own identity. Is that something that you were thinking about?
CKG: Yes, actually I was determined to do a so-called Asian film, meaning that we can sort of combine several cultural elements together to show to the world what we have in the past and what we have in the future.
APA: One final question. What's the legal situation now of the parody video, Yi ge man tou yin fa de xie an [The Bloody Case that Started from a Steamed Bun]?
CKG: I have no comment on that, I'm sorry.