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SINGAPORE: Wayne Wang wants to make a gangster film musical.
The 59-year-old Chinese-American director of "Joy Luck Club" told TODAY, with a laugh: “I told Rich (Wong, cinematographer of his film 'Princess of Nebraska') that the next project we do should be a gangster musical that’s incredibly violent. And all these macho Chinese guys will break out in song. I loved 'West Side Story' and am really interested in the genre, so I am very serious about it.”
This might come as a surprise, coming from arguably one of the most influential Asian-American film-makers of the '80s and early '90s, famous for his Asian-themed movies such as "Chan is Missing" (1982), "Eat a Bowl of Tea" (1989) and the beloved weeper, "Joy Luck Club" (1993). But this is a man who has reinvented himself time and again for the past 25 years, weaving in and out of Asia and America, and switching between big budget and independent films.
As he leapt from his pioneering days of untrodden Asian-American cinema to an independent route of the much celebrated "Smoke" (1995) and "Blue in the Face" (1995), both starring Harvey Keitel, he serendipitously went all Hollywood and stamped his name on "Anywhere but Here" (1999) starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman, the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy, "Maid in Manhattan" (2002), and "Last Holiday" (2006) with Queen Latifah.
The Hong Kong-born director, who admits that he has been somewhat wizened by the many years in Hollywood, has now come full circle and back to his roots, concentrating on what he calls “my community, my family, my culture”.
Wang’s latest films, "The Princess of Nebraska" and "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" - both opening on our Golden Village screens come October 16 as part of a Wayne Wang retrospective - are based on stories by award-winning writer Li Yiyu and centre around the new generation of Asian American immigrants.
“I am very interested in the lives of recent mainland Chinese immigrants to the US. I think part of it for me is that I’m an immigrant myself, even though I’m very American,” he said over the phone from San Fransisco.
“Still, there will always be something about my own roots growing up in Hong Kong, being Chinese and moving to a totally different country that I will always want to explore further.”
When asked which of the four films that will be screened at the retrospective was his favourite, the director, who studied film and television at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, answered without a hint of hesitation: “It’s got to be 'Last Holiday'. It’s really funny and has lots of heart.
“I guess I also picked it because it’s dedicated to my father, who always taught me not to be afraid to go out and live life.” - TODAY/sh
Wayne Wang will be sharing his industry and personal insights with a public lecture (October 11) and film-making tutorial (October 13). For tickets and more information on the lectures and his retrospective, log on to www.gv.com.sg
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