Wednesday October 5, 2005
Tsai’s stand
By ALLAN KOAY
Being a Malaysian filmmaker working in Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang would naturally have a unique perspective on the filmmaking scene here in Malaysia. Having been based in Taipei for more than 20 years, Tsai has been through everything from the end of martial law to the democratisation of Taiwan that led to a flood of new opportunities for filmmakers there.
In the initial stages of what is now known as the Taiwanese New Cinema movement, the filmmakers were constantly searching for an identity. Renowned auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien, through his films such as The Puppetmaster, questions what it really means to be Taiwanese. Tsai’s own films explore the cold, alienating nature of modern life in Taipei. But above all, it is the universal themes surrounding humanity that are really the more essential elements of their films.
So, when asked about the Malaysian obsession with creating a national identity for our films or promoting our culture, Tsai, who was in town last week for the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, replied: “The worst thing one can do (in filmmaking) is to promote an image before everything else. It is not very smart to do so. There are no such things as exotic elements that you can sell in this modern world. The world is so global and well-informed, so exoticism doesn’t exist anymore.”
He stressed that it is important for filmmakers to make the films that they want to make, no matter how personal the films may be. And if they are successful, then it would be reflective of their countries and cultures. This is exemplified by the countries that have very successful film industries.
“So the filmmakers should just make the films they want, not make a film about the country or its culture,” said Tsai. “For example, in the Taiwanese New Cinema movement, everyone is doing their own thing. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang and I, we all make our own kind of films and we stay true and honest to ourselves. Nowadays, audiences are getting smart. They know if you’re not honest with your film.”
Tsai believes that it is because he stayed true to himself that he has gotten this far. Apart from his ever-increasing collection of awards from film festivals around the world (the latest being a Silver Bear at Berlin for The Wayward Cloud), he has also been invited, along with five other auteurs, to make a film to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. France has also invited him to make a film about the Louvre.
For the Mozart anniversary, Tsai will be shooting a film, next year, about immigrant workers in Kuala Lumpur. It will be his first film to be set in Malaysia.
When told of new Finas chairman Datuk Jins Shamsuddin’s statement in a Malay daily that films in languages other than Bahasa Malaysia will not be considered as “national cinema”, Tsai responded that communication is important among all parties in the film industry.
“We have to try to communicate with bodies such as Finas,” he explained. “For example, this morning I gave a talk at a symposium about international joint ventures and funding. I told them that although I have not made any contributions to the local industry, I have much experience abroad. I would love to share my experiences with them which can be useful to them.
“In Malaysia, the film culture has remained rather conservative for some time now, not only in terms of the filmmakers but also the government. I think nowadays, in this new era, the most effective way of opening up is to have cultural exchange as a way of understanding each other’s cultures. And its effects can be long-term.”
Having been in Taiwan when the country was in a state of flux, Tsai had witnessed the resurgence of independent filmmaking there. Now, he is seeing the same thing here and is positive about the future of our independent filmmakers.
To him, Malaysia has attracted a lot of attention from the rest of the filmmaking world and could become the new focus in the near future. But he feels we still need to improve on the technical side of things and continue to learn more.
“I hope that our government will give the independent filmmakers more support,” he said. “I understand that our government may be concerned that the independent films are very personal or very artistic in nature, but it does not need to give the filmmakers large sums of money. It could just give a small sum for them to start things off and see what they can come up with.
Does Tsai see the irony of him being a Malaysian filmmaker attending a festival in Malaysia but representing Taiwan?
“I’m fine with that,” he said, his reply echoing the nature of such nomadic filmmakers as German director Wim Wenders. “There are, in fact, a lot of filmmakers who don’t make films in their own countries but the people of their countries are still proud of them. My father who came from China inspired me to believe that it doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you do good things.”
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