RINGO Lam Ling-tung looks like a man whose mission is going well. He sits with a once-rare smile tugging at his lips, his head obviously filled with pleasant thoughts.
It is not difficult to conclude that the reason for his contentment lies in the fact that his new Hong Kong movie, The Victim, is almost ready for general release.
But the director dispels that notion when he starts talking about not The Victim, but fatherhood and 'slavery' instead - his own slavery, to be exact, which started with fatherhood and has turned out to be a condition that seems to have made him more content.
'I don't own myself,' he says with uncharacteristic cheer.
'I've come to the conclusion that there is actually very little in this life that I do own. Very little that I do is for myself.' His master - and his motivation - is his eight-year-old son.
'My son owns me; I belong to him,' he adds, happily. 'My considerations for work or for making money are all motivated by the thought of providing for him. He's my boss! 'I have to consider making my films cleaner and less violent because of him, too.
'Previously, my work was rather explosive and violent, but I have to tone it down now.' There certainly are a lot worse things to be motivated by, as evidenced by the many films that have been produced with nothing but the proverbial fast buck in mind.