First Person: Stanley Kwan
Famous for his subtle style and passionate movies starring strong females or gay men, Stanley Kwan has made such classics as “Women,” “Rouge,” “Centre Stage” and “Hold You Tight.” The soft-spoken Hong Kong director chats with Penny Zhou about family, career and homosexuality.
My mother was a huge Cantonese opera fan. We lived right beside a big theater and she always took me to see operas and films, mostly those cheap morning shows.
By middle school, I started tutoring juniors and made some money so I could afford film tickets. I saw a lot of Shaw movies during those years.
I went to Pui Ching Middle School, which is a great Chinese school. That explains my good Putonghua, though I have a strong Taiwanese accent when I speak it.
It is a Christian school and everybody had to study the Bible, and learn about ethics and social manners there. I was a model student.
My father passed away when I was 13, and my mother never married again. I was the oldest child so I had to take on a lot of responsibilities and was expected to become a doctor or something to support the family. But I’m scared of blood—it makes me dizzy.
Every day after school, I’d tutor to make some money, then go home and
take care of my four younger siblings. This kind of life is probably unimaginable for today’s youngsters.