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HK master Tsui returns home with new movie
2001-04-27
NEW YORK - One of Hong Kong's movie masters has returned to his native stomping ground after a stint in Hollywood with a film that gives a new look to the action genre. Tsui Hark has taken the guns out of the holsters for his first movie in five years filmed in Hong Kong. "Time and Tide" feature shootouts in hospital delivery rooms, South American streets and Hong Kong hotels. "I never felt like I left Hong Kong," Tsui told Reuters in a telephone interview. Tsui was among the leading Hong Kong directors who set up shop in Hollywood in the mid 1990s, along with the likes of John Woo and Ringo Lam. Tsui made over fifty movies in Hong Kong, including landmark films like "A Chinese Ghost Story," "A Better Tomorrow" and "Peking Opera Blues." Tsui said he is glad to be back in Hong Kong after battling Hollywood brass making movies including "Double Team" and "Knock Off," starring Belgian muscleman Jean-Claude Van Damme. "I feel more free-handed to be in Hong Kong," Tsui said about his return. "I did not have to ask permission to change the script or get OKs for various things." Tsui said it takes more energy to make movies in Hong Kong because of the hectic pace of filming but he did not have to battle the whims of Hollywood suits if he wanted to make a quick change on the set or alter a line of dialogue. Tsui's new movie is about a streetwise bodyguard, played by Hong Kong heartthrob and pop star Nicholas Tse, who befriends a mercenary played by Taiwanese rock star Wu Bai. The two find themselves on opposing sides of a gangland battle as South American drug runners, Hong Kong thugs and a few health workers at an obstetrics ward make their way into the mayhem. The movie has the fast-paced chases, gravity-defying fights and mounting body counts that harken back to Tsui's days in shaping the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema. But Tsui has forged a new set of rules in "Time and Tide." The narrative at times involves stream of consciousness story telling. There is a chilling silence before the audience knows a character has fallen victim to an assassin's bullet, and the punches that miss provide more impact than a blow to the face. Tsui said he was "looking for a new language of filmmaking" with the film. "One thing that is quite intentional with 'Time and Tide' is that we have to find a way that is different than the past. It was kind of risky, but you see something like that and you feel that it is quite encouraging to find that fresh angle of doing something that is different from other people," he said. Tsui said it may take audiences time to adjust to his new action movie, which played to moderate success in Hong Kong. The movie will open in the United States on May 4 at theaters in Los Angeles and Washington DC. It will open in New York on May 11, followed by a national run. Future projects for the famed director include a sequel to "Black Mask," the movie that helped vault Jet Li to international fame, and Tsui said he would not rule out a return to Hollywood if he found a good script and material. Tsui said Hong Kong directors have left their mark on Hollywood, which can be seen in the look of action sequences. He said he has also been encouraged by some of the emerging trends in Asian cinema. "I think that Korean and Thai artists are extending the possibilities in film to make an influence in Asia," Tsui said adding, "The Hong Kong and Korean film have a large degree of similarity in terms of action and tempo." He said directors in the region need to search for their own distinct signature in order to avoid one of the downsides of Hollywood -- the formulistic repetition of story and style. "There is so much similarity now that we have to be cautious of being over saturated ..." Reuters
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