Pang Ho-cheung
Prolific and versatile writer-director Pang Ho-cheung is one of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed and unique filmmakers, known for such hits as warmhearted drama “Isabella,” graphic slasher “Dream Home” and raunchy romantic comedies “Love in a Puff” and its sequel, “Love in the Buff.” Upon the release of “Vulgaria,” his naughtiest work to date, the candid and humorous director talks to Penny Zhou about school, filmmaking and vulgarity.
My mother was a social worker and my father was a part-time policeman who also worked at a law firm. When I was little, my parents were pretty strict with me. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV. After elementary school, they got divorced, and from then on I got a lot of freedom.
I’ve always been an avid reader, but I hated schools and exams. During middle school and high school, I often skipped class to watch movies. It was my favorite thing.
When young people today say they like movies, they just mean movies per se—they can download them on their laptop and watch them on a tiny screen. Even when they’re in the cinema, they don’t mind being late or distracted by text messages. But what I like is the whole “movie” experience. I need to watch them in the cinema and I enjoy every part of it, from waiting for the curtains to open to going to the toilet. It’s like a sacred ceremony.
Audience members sometimes ask me how I came up with those “weird ideas.” But for me, they are just thoughts that have been in my head my entire life. The reason why other people don’t have them is not because I’m smarter, but because luckily there’s some part of my own voice and creativity that has survived Hong Kong’s educational system.
I shot a short film with my older brother when I was about 12. My mother borrowed a big ol’ camera and asked us to film her singing and dancing. We soon got bored of that and decided to shoot our own stuff. Mom was supportive, but under one condition—she had to be the lead! So we ended up making a wacky action movie headlined by her.
The first and only semester I did in college in Taiwan further proved that I was not academic material, so I returned to Hong Kong and joined ATV as a television writer. It’s a channel that nobody watches, which was an advantage for me because I could write any nonsensical bullshit I wanted.