Shooting ‘Chinatown 2’ was tough — Chen
BEIJING: On a low budget, and having to face inclement weather, shooting Detective Chinatown 2 in New York City for 40 days was tough.
Just ask writer-director Chen Sicheng.
The movie, which has debuted over the Lunar New Year, stars the usual suspects Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran.
Toward the end of a shoot, working in the rain on location at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Chen and producer Shawn Yue sat down in a production trailer to talk.
Newsmen wanted to know the weather had affected the filming.
Said Chen: “Because we are on a very limited budget, there’s no other options but to keep going. We shot last week on Madison Avenue, a small sequence, but we shot in the rain, we shot in the sun, we shot in the smog.
“If this were China, that would never happen. For continuity, the scene always has to be either shining or rainy. So we have to figure out a way to fix it in post.”
Shawn Yue said you couldn’t get to two shots this afternoon.
Chen, disclosing the main challenge about shooting in New York City, said: “There are three major points about the difficulty of shooting in New York City. One, expensive. Two, expensive. Three, expensive. Very expensive.” Point noted. As to the choice of New York City, a laughing Shawn Yue said: “He (Chen) wants to be tortured by the city.”
Said Chen: “When I was
A lot of Chinese comedies are very language-based, one person telling a joke to another so the audience will laugh. I want to try something else. I want the comedy to appear naturally in the storytelling. Chen Sicheng, writer-director
shooting Detective Chinatown, everyone who heard about it said, “Chinatown? That must be in New York City.” The Chinatown in New York is actually the most famous Chinatown all over the world. But we shot the first one in Thailand.
“I’m determined to make Detective Chinatown into a big franchise. There will be part one, two, three and four. To achieve that, part two is actually more important than part one. If part two fails, there will be no franchise.
“The first one in Thailand worked pretty well, but in order to raise expectations for the whole franchise, part two has to be way better than part one. That’s why I’ve come to the centre of the universe, to New York, so everyone will feel this is an upgrade from Detective one.”
On whether he allowed actors to improvise, Chen said: “Occasionally. I have a background as an actor, so I know how to communicate with the cast. We don’t really have time to try out things. What’s important is the rhythm, you have to keep everybody at the same pace, and find the right rhythm for the film as a whole. Some directors can’t keep that rhythm steady.”
On what he expects to achieve, Chen admitted: “To expand the Chinese film audience globally, to get more people from the around the world to appreciate Chinese film.
“Once upon a time, the Hong Kong film industry made a lot of films that were loved by the world.
“Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Chow Yun-fatt. But films from mainland China have never been that popular. They’ve never had a golden age, a global acceptance.”
On how he intend to reach artistic goals, Chen said: “A lot of Chinese comedies are very language-based, one person telling a joke to another so the audience will laugh. I want to try something else. I want the comedy to appear naturally in the storytelling.”