I would like to congratulate you on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF 2010). Are you surprised by such a warm welcome from American fans?
Sammo Hung: Yes, I am very excited, surprised and sad. I received an award and I will probably have to retire soon. [laughs]
Has it ever occurred to you that it's time to slow down a little? It looks like your fights are more intense than the ones you did 25 years ago. How are you feeling?
Sammo Hung: I'm fine, fine. You know, I like my job. And after all these years I still feel great. I really love films, this is very important to me. Every time they give me happiness, and when you are happy, you have something to think about.
Your grandmother, Chin Chi-Ang was a famous fighter, your grandfather, Hungg Chung-Ho was a famous director, and your parents worked behind the scenes in films. Have you ever had the opportunity to work outside of the film industry?
Sammo Hung: No, I don’t think so. My grandparents were very popular people. I spent all my time with my parents. After I was born, my parents and grandparents stopped working in the film business. I was an ordinary child, I went to an ordinary school, but I didn’t like ordinary school. Later I went to the Beijing Opera School. It was a new style and new training. In fact, my family did not force me to act in films. At that moment, I was only thinking about several friends on my mother’s side, their parents, they were worried about Sammo: “Oh, what will he do after school?” “Oh, let him study opera for now, and then do something else.”
Did you learn any important lessons while studying at a Chinese drama school that you still follow today?
Sammo Hung: I guess everything was important to me. At that time and at that moment I was learning something new, I could not think about other things. Learning drama and action, anything, is very important, and I'm still learning. You have to think about how to do everything in the best possible way.
Out of all the different jobs involved in film, acting, fight choreography, directing, screenwriting, what is most important to you and why?
Sammo Hung: What I enjoy most is making films and writing scripts. I like to have a few ideas in mind and then create stories where the characters are the most important. I like inventing characters. I'm not a fan of hero types; there can be many different characters in my films.
I'd like to talk about your fight choreography. All the films you've worked on are equally strong, but they all look different. I mean “The Three Kingdoms” with the musical accompaniment of Peking Opera. How do you determine what style or look is needed for a fight?
Sammo Hung: In most cases, I first need to know about the film, about its characters. When creating a fight, I always base it on the character, whether it's fighting or just action, it doesn't matter. Otherwise, the audience will watch the fight, and it won’t be important to them either. If you create a fight similar to the character's image, with the same attitude and movements, the audience will remain partial.
In the films that were shown at the festival, “Ip Man” and “Ip Man 2”, and in “Stars of Destiny”, you collaborate wonderfully with Donnie Yen. Can you tell us about your collaboration?
Sammo Hung: Mr. Yen is a truly great action actor and whenever we create fights, he is very easy to work with. We were having a great time. Most of the time when we fought each other, it was a piece of cake for us. I love playing with Donnie Yen; Since Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, he is the best partner. These three people go together very well.
How do you feel about popularity in the USA? Has she ever been important to you? Your series “Curfew” was very popular here, but, apparently, you didn’t try very hard to conquer America. You work tirelessly, but are not particularly worried about your own success. Have you ever wanted to achieve American fame, as many of your contemporaries strive for?
Sammo Hung: Naturally, this is important for me, but I have never specifically tried to achieve success outside of Hong Kong. I am not very pretentious and soft. If the opportunity presents itself, I'll certainly give it a try and see what happens, but I'm not going to go out of my way for it.
I would like to talk about your work with actresses. You manage to make them look amazingly strong, but at the same time feminine and sexy. Do you take a different approach when creating fight choreography for women than when working with men?
Sammo Hung: The difference is actually very big, because they are, after all, ladies. When we create fights for men, a man can get hurt and he will do anything, he can handle a lot, you know? But a girl is a girl. You have to be careful and you have to know how they behave when they are in pain. It’s one thing when only you are hurt; you deal with it yourself. But you can’t do that to a woman on screen [shows Sammo Hung’s classic face, contorted in pain], you can’t. She must be strong. She needs to pay for such things; Girls who act in action films are a little stronger than others, and much stronger than men, because the energy of their bodies is different from that of men. If a man wants to do something, he strives to be a “man,” but a girl remains a girl, so we need to focus more attention on them, provide them with more protection.
You have been part of a very important era of modern Hong Kong action cinema since the 60s, very prominent in the 70s, in your own films in the 80s, and in recent films like Stars of Destiny, Ip Man and Three Kingdoms. You had to face a new era in combat cinema. What specific era of action cinema is your favorite?
Sammo Hung: I have been working for over forty years. You see, I started working forty years ago and I have aged so much. Literally speaking, times are different if we take 1973, 1975 and today. Time rolls like a wheel, rolls, rolls, rolls. And when time changes, we have to change with it; this year it was a French film, two weeks later we had an action film, and now we have a comedy. And all because time does not stand still, it constantly pushes us forward. You see, now, with new technologies, viewers can see a lot of new things. So how do you come up with fights, how do you shoot action films, how do you keep up with the times and satisfy the demands of the audience? A filmmaker has a lot on his mind; you need to do something that can attract an audience.
Now you've started dreaming up fights in 3D!
Sammo Hung: [laughs] Exactly!
Are you tired of questions about Bruce Lee?
Sammo Hung: To be honest, I haven’t talked about Bruce Lee very often, only a couple of things. And all because of Bruce Lee, he is our hero. Understand, there are so many things, his films, his posters on the walls, many will never forget him.
Have you ever thought about writing an autobiography?
Sammo Hung: My friends have been asking me this question for years, but I don't like it. I do not know why. I have done so many bad things in my life, and I don’t want anyone to write about it. And if someone writes a lie about this, then why write at all?
Is there a film that is closest to you in spirit?
Sammo Hung: I like many of the films I have acted in, such as “Prodigal Son”, “Rickshaw”, “Dragonheart”, “Eastern Condors” and “Millionaire Express”. I am pleased with many!
If you retire after the festival, as mentioned earlier, your fans, such as those who came to the awards and the festival, will remember your career. How do you imagine these memories?
Sammo Hung: I don’t even know how to say it, but I always like it when people remember me. When they meet me they say “Hello” or something like that. But even if they don’t recognize me, or forget, I won’t have anything against it either! [laughs]
When you think of the greatest Hong Kong action stars of the last forty years, and Bruce Lee, You, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen are on the list, you don't get the feeling that there is no one else in your company. Have you ever thought of a future rising action star that we should keep an eye on in the future?
Sammo Hung: At the moment it is difficult to determine. I hope that soon I will be able to find out about such a person and then make a couple of good films, but now it is very difficult. I'm still searching, I'm still waiting.
How then do you imagine the future of Hong Kong action films?
Sammo Hung: It's hard to imagine. This is because the action movie market is in very bad shape for economic reasons. Fortunately, “Ip Man” and “Ip Man 2” may give producers or other producers (most of whom have similar tastes) a chance to make other good films. Then time comes into force again and a new, younger generation. It is very important. In the market, among the top sellers, action films always have little chance; The new generation is deprived of this opportunity.
Is there a chance that “Ip Man 3” will still be filmed?
Sammo Hung: No, to be honest, I don’t want to make “Ip Man 3” anymore. There are a lot of kung fu films these days. I did it because the screenwriter put his whole heart into writing the story, as did the director, and Sammo Hung has a big heart. I'd like to make another action film. Whether it's successful or not doesn't really matter, but you have to put your whole heart into it. A little more heart, a little more feeling, then everything will be alright.
Sammo, what will be your next project?
Sammo Hung: I don't know how to spell its title in English, but it's dedicated to a character from Peking Opera. The main character's name is Wu Sheng, but the main storyline revolves around the stage. I've heard people say about it: “Oh, it looks like opera.” But this is not so, and you will see for yourself. The plot is very good and the characters too. I am a production director, but I like this film. When I took this job, I had just finished filming Ip Man 2. Since they wanted to shoot the film in March, we started training in January and that way they prepared in advance.
Please be so kind as to wish something for our readers.
Sammo Hung: I want to wish everyone something. I wish you all good health, don’t take everything too seriously and don’t torture yourself. Be kind in heart and light in thoughts.
Oh well. Sammo, I think you should listen to yourself!
Sammo Hung: It's like in my case. You see, you have to constantly fight with yourself. I constantly tell myself: “I want this!” I want that!” But we must continue to work, we must create something, this is very important. And after all, when the work is finished, success or failure will no longer matter much.
Posted by The Lady Miz Diva Velez
Source: thedivareview.com
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Ip Man 3D, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Yip Man, Ip Man 2, Sammo Hung
Tags: Ip Man 3D, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Yip Man, Ip Man 2, Sammo Hung
By the way, this new project that Sammo was talking about is called Da Wu Sheng or My Kingdom. Filming began in November! There are already photos from the filming! Someone write about this movie on the site!
What does a good person mean? ;) He is a legend, he is among those who essentially developed the industry of Hong Kong "action" cinema! :) I dream of shaking his hand and hope that I can make my dream come true. :)
Sammo Hung is a good man, you can see it in his face
Thank you
My pleasure. ;)
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Yes, great!
Great interview!