The return of Anthony Chen
Award-winning Singaporean director Anthony Chen returns to the Philippines after 10 years with a new film, The Breaking Ice, which will be shown in Manila this month.
In 2013, Chen promoted his critically acclaimed movie "Ilo Ilo," which tells the story of a couple who hired a Filipino nanny to care for their son. This time, Chen introduces "The Breaking Ice," which portrays the progression of a romantic relationship between three young adults in their 20s. His latest movie has already created a buzz after being nominated for the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard, a section in the prestigious competition that recognizes young talent. It was also the closing film at the just concluded Qcinema 2023 International Film Festival.
This is the third time Singapore selected Chen's movie "The Breaking Ice" as the entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the 2024 Oscars. Ilo Ilo (2014) and Wet Season (2020) were the first two. But just like the Philippines, his movies have never been nominated at the Academy Awards.
The famed director is based in Hong Kong after staying in London for 15 years. "I've recently lived in London for 15 years, but a year ago, I moved to Hong Kong because my wife was posted to Hong Kong by her company. So we're now in Hong Kong for the next couple of years."
During an exclusive interview in Timog, Quezon City recently, Chen discussed his latest film, his Oscar prospects, and his disinterest in streaming platforms. The lively discussion provided insight into the current state of the film industry and the challenges that filmmakers face in today's market.
Chen's candid remarks and thoughtful responses made for a fascinating conversation that shed light on his creative process, his thoughts on the industry, and his vision for the future of cinema.
The Breaking Ice
"This film is special because it's a real departure from my previous film. You know, it's very different from my first film, my second film, 'Ilo Ilo' and 'The Wet Season.' Those films were very social realist, and very naturalistic. And this film is very atmospheric. It goes into magical realism at times. It could. Sometimes, it's a little bit surreal, but it's great to be back in Cannes again. Exactly 10 years later, even though I had another film in Cannes during the pandemic, it was an anthology film. It was a short film I made. It was part of a collection of films, so it's not a feature, but it's great to be back in Cannes again. Exactly 10 years after 'Ilo Ilo' because 'Ilo Ilo premiered on the first Sunday in Cannes. And this film premiered on the first Sunday in Cannes, so it's exactly 10 years."
Oscar Awards
"Well, it's the third time I've been submitted to the Oscars. You know what? It's very, 10 years ago when I was still very young and 29 years old. Now, I'm 39, moving towards my 40s. I'm moving towards my midlife crisis. I don't know. It was more exciting and, maybe, 10 years ago and because, you know, as I've done this twice, and this is the third time, I don't have much expectation anymore.
"I'm not sure. It's very hard to put your finger on anything. And for me, I've matured a lot in the past 10 years. You know, I think in the past, right, it was such a, you were like a little boy in a candy shop when you went to Cannes with your first feature film, right, and everything was so exciting. In the past, I was flying around receiving awards; you're on the red carpet. But now you've come to a point where I'm more interested in making the work. I'm more
interested
in people connecting with the work and people talking about the work than talking about whether the film will win an award or whether it is nominated for how many awards. I think these days I don't care for all that anymore.
"I'm not sure if it's a goal, you know, I don't think any filmmaker was going to tell you like, yeah, I don't want an Oscar. If you give me one, I'll take it. But getting further into the Oscar race will help more people see and discover the film. It's not a bad thing, but I hope that more people discover the film, especially like you said, how is this film different? Still, this film was a product of the pandemic. A product of my existential crisis during the pandemic.
"And we all know that postpandemic cinemas worldwide are struggling like the box office is struggling everywhere. And for me, I'm just very heartened that, you know, the films that I make are still being distributed in many countries in the world, including the Philippines, you know, there. There's a distributor, Creazion Studios, which will bring it here. It's opening in December. In these harsh times, getting people to go to the cinema is hard. It's heartening that an arthouse film from Cannes by a Singapore director in Mandarin is on the big screen and in cinemas as far as the Philippines.
"For me, its more important than, 'Oh, how many awards the film is going to get or whether it's going to get the Oscar nomination eventually because in the end, I always believe, as a filmmaker, as a creative, you make films because you've got stories to tell, you've got something to say, but that dialogue is not with yourself, you know, that dialogue is with the the audience, and having that emotional connection for me is I value so much more than anything else."
Staying motivated through ups and downs
"I was reading a lot (during the pandemic). And this film was also a result of that because I was reading a lot of news. I was reading a lot of articles. At that time, there were many articles about young people emerging from Asia and Britain.
"I was living in the UK at that time, you know, like Europe, America, like this generation, Generation Z, and the issues with mental health, with anxiety. I was reading so much, and I felt like everyone was struggling in different ways, all these young people, but there was a collective melancholy. There was a collective sense of what I would do in life, you know, where am I going from here?
"I was also going through that and connecting deeply with them, so I decided to make this film. I'm sorry. It's not. It's not exactly a love story. It's more of a love story between people and more of a story about self-love. It's also about three young people in their 20s who're lost and stuck in their lives, you know, and three strangers who bond over a short few days and winter and how they find warmth, solace, and comfort in one another.
"But eventually, they move on back to their individual lives. So in the end, it's not so much about finding love with someone else, you know, of course, they found comfort and all that, but in the end, it's also about learning how to get unstuck in life. It's learning how to love yourself."
Productive pandemic
"I wrote the script during the quarantine in China, and it was 21 days in a hotel room. It's quite interesting. The pandemic can be quite productive, you know. Between my first film and second film, 'Ilo Ilo' and 'Wet Season, 'Which was also the closing film at Qcinema in 2019, It was six years, but last year, in six months, I shot two films; I shot one film in Europe, one film in China, 'The Breaking Eyes,' and this film English language film called 'Drift.'
"I've never been so productive in my life, but the pent-up energy and frustration for the pandemic also fired me into making stuff. I felt like I was making films like they were the last films I'd ever made because of my sense of urgency. If there's one thing that the pandemic taught me is that life is too short. I will make more films. Life is so short."
Directorial goals
"I've made four films in 10 years. I've matured a lot and always find something new in each film. I'm not one to rest on my laurels. I'm not one to sort of; I'm happy to repeat myself whenever I make a film. For me, I must continue to grow. I continue to push myself and try something new. That's what I've been doing.
"And, of course, my state of mind is different now. When I made 'Ilo Ilo,' I didn't have a child; now I have a five-year-old. I was married already. I got married at a very young age. I got married at 25. Okay, yeah. So when we met either it was already 29. But yeah, as a man moving towards his 40s, it's quite interesting. I just said I had an existential crisis or in a pandemic, and I made this film and, and, you know, like, I felt young again, making this film, you know, like, there was so much energy and levity in this film that that I was releasing.
"But I felt like I'm walking from one existential crisis into another because I'm 39 now, and then I'm moving towards my 40s. And now I'm feeling this, whatever you call it, this early midlife crisis? And also, I'm walking into a post-pandemic world where the world isn't valuing cinema as much as it did before.
"I think you're walking into a world where the audience has yet to get as much patience as the powers because they're so used to just short content. You know, three-minute, five-minute, six-minute content on social media. They're so used to just scrolling and scrubbing on their phones. They're so used to just talking and pausing while watching Netflix.
"I still believe in the power of cinema. I still believe in the power of the big screen in a sea of strangers in a dark room. And you have no distractions. That powerful moment is when you're moved by a scene, by an emotion, and then, in that one moment, all the strangers have become one family because they connect deeply to feel that emotion.
"At the same time, I decided I'm still going to continue defending and championing cinema the way I grew up with it, the way I learned about it, the way I experienced it. I'm hoping that people will come by and embrace it because its impact and power are something nothing else can replace. It's different from watching something you know on your phone, on a bus, or on a train than when you invite friends to watch Netflix on a TV screen. It's different, and you know, people are talking to people on their phones, you're texting, you're pausing in between going to make coffee. Being in that dark room, moved and inspired, is really special."
Devaluation of films
"I would say (I'm) not really (a fan of streaming platforms). It's not going to go away because it's the new way of the world. The devaluation of films, cinema, and content has made me sad.
"In the past, when you made a film, there was value to it. You pay 10 US dollars to go to the cinema, or it's compounded by the collective box office all over the world. Then you sell DVDS, and then you sell your film to TV stations and airlines. There's a value to it. But all of a sudden, when people subscribe to a service, they pay, like, what, $10 a month for 3,000 films, the value of your film is like 0.0001 cents. When people don't value content and don't feel it is valuable, they don't want to pay for it because they feel like the content is free. And that's the problem now because the value proposition has changed. It's the same with music. You know, like, what I'm witnessing in film now is the Spotify-zation of our industry.
"In the past, a CD album cost $10. You go and buy it; you sell 7 million copies or 50 million copies around the world. And then you put it on. You go out, you buy it, sometimes you buy it on the day of it's release and there's a value to it. And now, I look at my musician friends, every time you play a song on Spotify, they get paid 0.001 cents, and they can't survive on it, and unless you're Taylor Swift, where your music gets played so many times with so many people every day, you're not going to make millions of dollars from it.
"And now I'm witnessing it happening to films where people devalue your content like you're not worth $10 anymore. You're worth one of the 1,000th of the monthly subscription. And it's sad when people are so used to it because social media content is free. Right?
"They think it's free, but people make money from the advertising. But because people are so used to getting things for free, they no longer value the work. And you know, like a film, it's the hard work of hundreds and sometimes 1000s of people over months, sometimes years. It takes so much to crop every frame, in terms of lighting and performance, in terms of camera, in terms of everyone, and it is set to be devalued."