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What inspired you to enter the industry?

I have loved the cinema since childhood. I moved to Hong Kong from Hainan Island with my family when I was 10. There were not many kinds of entertainment and we basically just watched movies. I gradually fell in love with films. I wanted to join the industry, no matter what job I did. I believed I could be happy only in this field so I devoted myself to film-making.

How did you make your start in the business?

After graduating from secondary school, I studied scriptwriting and film directing at Hong Kong Film Culture, a non-profit-making organisation founded by a group of film-makers including Tsui Hark, Ann Hui and Yim Ho.

Between 1981 and 1982, I worked there arranging screenings of famous films from around the world. After that, I worked as assistant director or production co-ordinator for many films, which helped me garner experience in working on all parts of film production.

So how did you make your first film?

I made my directorial debut, Finale in Blood, when I was unemployed for a while and Golden Harvest asked me to make the film with a completed script. The box office was bad. I left the company after that.

What inspired you to make Made In Hong Kong ?

Having worked under the pressure of major studios, I decided to go independent and started to write the script for Made In Hong Kong in 1994. At the same time, I secretly saved up short ends of film stock from the films I was involved in. By autumn of 1996, I had saved more than 24,384 metres of film and, after raising $500,000 from friends and relatives, I started production with a crew of five.

What was the story based on?

I borrowed from the gangster genre to portray the changes in a young boy during harsh times. I tried to portray Hong Kong as an ultra-modern, alienated city where families and values are ignored, and youngsters try to escape the gloom of their hopeless lives. The main character Ah Chu is part of a violent gang, together with a girl named Ping who suffers from an incurable disease, and a physically and mentally disabled guy Ah Long.  Through the voice-over of Ah Chu, I wanted to express his bleak future.

How did you feel when the film won best picture at the 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards?

It was a surprise; I did not expect I would win any prizes, and director Wong Kar-wai's film was so great. I think I won because my film impressed the audience, and maybe because I was a new director, they gave me extra credit.

Could you tell us about your other award-winning film Durian Durian ?

The story depicts how Yan, a prostitute, struggles to maintain her self-respect and still manages to survive. Her life on the streets is bitter, but she is able to turn it into sweetness - like the durian, a fruit that smells foul but tastes delicious.

How do you see the Hong Kong film industry?

Hong Kong people like to criticise local directors a lot. I think it is not fair because many Hollywood productions are good only because they have advantages we don't have. If you take a serious look at Hong Kong movies, you can see that our stories and productions are not that bad. I have no desire to work in Hollywood because I believe Hong Kong movies can affect a lot of Chinese overseas. We work under adverse conditions because we do not have a literary history. Our achievement is the result of our hard work.

What difficulties do you face in making films?

For me, it is that I sometimes want to do every job on the set. This is probably because I started from the most fundamental level so I understand each part of making a film. I know lighting and I know cinematography, which makes me a bit tough on the set. I also write my own scripts, which requires a lot of research work.

Being a director is not simply giving orders - you also have to bear heavy pressure.

However, it's very exciting to complete a film that is a reflection of yourself. And when you see that the audience likes the movie, you can tell that your investment was worthwhile.

What is the source of most of the pressure in film-making?

Most of the time, the budget is the problem. As I seldom use professional actors, my work doesn't promise box office success. A director like me finds it hard to survive in Hong Kong because audiences lack the interest to go to see my movies. I must keep a tight rein on my budget.

If my film fails to earn a profit, maybe I can't even make another film. Making a film is a challenge, because you cannot repeat the same formula after one success. You must be creative for each movie, and audiences have high expectations when they see the quality of your work.

What is your advice for young people interested in the industry?

We definitely need new blood. Many young people are not willing to be a film professional because they cannot make money from it. They would rather choose information technology or commerce. I hope interested young people can invest their time in something they really like. Do not care about how much you can earn. Moreover, prepare to start with the basics instead of dreaming to be a director on the first day.

What are you working on now?

I am shooting two movies. Public Toilet  tells stories related to public lavatories in four countries which focus on 'excitement, anger, sadness and happiness'; Hollywood Hong Kong  touches on issues surrounding the demolition of the squatters' settlement.

Name: Fruit Chan Kuo

Birthday: April 15, 1959

Birthplace: Guangdong

Occupation: Film director

Fruit Chan Kuo is a down-to-earth director with two decades of experience in the industry. The failure of his first film, Finale in Blood, did not deter him from carrying on, and his second film, Made in Hong Kong  achieved great success, reward and recognition.

His arrival in the top echelon of Hong Kong's cinema industry was not the result of good luck only, according to the approachable and popular movie-maker; Chan credits a lifetime of effort and the uncomplaining dedication of many years' hard work for his eventual success in this demanding business.

His films The Longest Summer  (1998), Little Cheung  (2000) and Durian Durian  (2001) depict the changing lives of people from Hong Kong's grass-roots during the time of the handover of the SAR to China.

This year, Durian Durian  won the award for best screenplay at the 20th Hong Kong Film Awards.



Making movies 'a work of the heart'