A message of love fuels Asian omnibus
Omnibus films, once regarded as box-office suicide, have become fashionable in recent years, particularly in Asian cinema. First we had pan-Asian horror triptych Three and its sequel of sorts, Three ... Extremes, which have both been successful with Asian horror fans worldwide. Wong Kar-wai recently contributed a segment to portmanteau film Eros, alongside offerings from Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni, and LA-based John Woo is one of seven directors shooting a short for a Unicef filmmaking project entitled The Invisible Children.
The recent Pusan International Film Festival hosted the world premiere of another pan-Asian collection of shorts, About Love, structured around the themes of love and communication. Three of the region's hottest up-and-coming directors - Ten Shimoyama from Japan, Yee Chih-yen from Taiwan and Zhang Yibai from the mainland - have each directed a short that deals with a cross-cultural love affair. The resulting feature-length film, a co-production between Japan's Movie-eye Entertainment and China's Tianjin Film Studio, was one of seven at Pusan presented at a special outdoor screening.
The basic concept came from Japanese producer Taku Ushiyama, who was keen to bring together some of the region's top filmmakers in a pan-Asian co-production. 'Japan imports a lot of movies these days, so the audience is being exposed to foreign filmmakers,' Ushiyama says. 'We thought it was time to start exploring collaborations with other Asian directors.'
Ushiyama chose the three directors because he felt their previous films resonate with youth. Shimoyama's credits include popular youth drama Innocent World, while Zhang's first feature, Spring Subway, helped establish a new style of filmmaking on the mainland. Yee's second film, Blue Gate Crossing, about a teenage girl questioning her sexuality, was well received and secured a slot at the Cannes Film Festival two years ago. All three directors have also made music videos and TV commercials, so they have a sharp, contemporary style.
The theme of love was chosen because it's something that transcends cultures. 'Feelings of love, loss and rejection - these are things that everyone can relate to,' says Zhang, whose segment is set in Shanghai and features Japanese star Takashi Tsukamoto and Chinese actress Li Xiaolu. 'We set out to show how love is expressed within the limitations of language. When language fails, how do we express love?' The cross-cultural elements give the film an additional level of humour on top of the romance.
In each segment, boy meets girl, or girl develops hopeless crush on boy, but they don't speak the same language. Naturally, this results in plenty of miscommunication and missed opportunities, but eventually the two lonely souls manage to make a connection. It also made shooting the film an interesting experience.
In Shimoyama's story, filmed in Tokyo's hip Shibuya district, Taiwan's Chen Bo-lin plays a foreign student who falls for a Japanese girl, played by Misaki Ito [The Grudge]. 'There was no time to learn any Japanese, so I had to have an interpreter on the set,' says Chen, who has recently been busy learning Cantonese to work in Hong Kong movies. 'It worked out OK, but took more time to shoot each scene and for me to understand the director.'
Yee's segment, filmed in Taipei, was slightly easier to shoot because the director and two stars - Taiwanese singer Mavis Fan and Japanese star Ryo Kase - all speak English. In one of the film's funniest moments, Kase's character receives a crash course in Putonghua. 'A lot of the performance was based on nuances and body language,' says Kase. 'Actually, I like working with foreign directors because you have to try harder to understand them and you end up paying more attention to what they say.'
The film is unashamedly aimed at a youth audience. All three segments have the slick, highly polished feel of a music video and showcase the three vibrant cities and six young actors. For the most part, it also avoids being too cloying. Yee says he cast feisty singer Fan because the role 'needed a strong woman - otherwise it would be too sentimental'.
The Pusan audience appeared to love the results - or at least understand the jokes - even though they were reading Korean subtitles. 'The audience responded to every little detail,' says Zhang. 'It was way beyond our expectations.'
The filmmakers are planning to release the movie in Hong Kong, the mainland and Taiwan around Valentine's Day.
In the meantime, Ushiyama will be looking for further opportunities to collaborate with his neighbours. 'Not many Japanese film companies work with China because it's a big step to go there and get to know the talent,' he says. 'You need a good interpreter.'
