King of Comedy Stephen Chow's latest movie aims for the heart

Tuesday February 06, 2008 Hong Kong

AFTER two decades of making people laugh, Hong Kong's King of Comedy Stephen Chow now wants to make his viewers cry.

And he hopes to do that with his new Chinese New Year blockbuster CJ7, which opens on Thursday.

It is a warm, family-oriented flick with some heartbreaking moments.

Why is he doing it?

'I feel that people's tears are becoming very precious, we don't cry easily.

'It's easy to laugh every day but we hardly cry. When was the last time we cried?' Stephen asked rhetorically at a press conference here yesterday.

He was in town with co-stars Kitty Zhang and Lee Sheung Ching to promote the film.

CJ7, which was written and directed by Stephen, is a departure from his past 'mo lei tau' (no-brainer in Cantonese) cult brand of comedy which included classics such as Fight Back To School, God Of Cookery and Justice, My Foot.

His more recent films such as Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle focused on comic action with special effects.

Nothing quite like CJ7 which, beneath its fantasy tale and heavy CGI facade, is actually an inspiring story about father-son love that deepens with the introduction of an alien puppy-like pet, peppered with many tearjerker moments.

Stephen explained: 'Tragic stories are good, it's best to make a film that can touch the audience.

'I've done comedy for very long. So if I can make people feel touched and cry in a movie, that would be great.'

His perspective on comedies has changed too.

'Even a comedy shouldn't be laugh-a-minute.

'There should be funny moments as well as sad and touching scenes in a movie,' he said.

But if you thought the 46-year-old actor-director has lost his funny bone and gone all soft, well, he hasn't.

In fact, the press conference held at St Regis Hotel was one that was filled with laughter.

Seated between his two co-stars, Stephen was relaxed and in a good mood.

He didn't seem affected by the absence of his god-daughter, China child actress Xu Jiao, whom he told reporters earlier on Sunday night at the gala premiere that he misses.

The 11-year-old could not join them on the tour as she was down with fever and flu. She has a gender-bender role as his son in CJ7.

Asked about fatherhood on Sunday night, Stephen, who's reportedly dating a Hong Kong businesswoman, said it's not something he is ready to take on.

'I don't have to have my own children. I already have Xu Jiao as my god-daughter,' he had said.

'I believe the experience of fatherhood would be the same as that in the movie. As a father, there will be both laughter and tears.'

In place of Xu Jiao, Lee Sheung Ching, who plays a mean and grumpy disciplinary master in CJ7, joined the cast for the tour.

And from the lively banter he had with Stephen and the media, the supporting actor shows humour is in his bones too.

The former playwright displayed a dry humour, often cracking jokes while maintaining a straight face.

Kitty, on the other hand, was a cookie-cutter pretty face who bore a resemblance to actresses Cecilia Cheung and Isabella Leung.

But it was clearly Stephen's stage.

Even mundane things the comedian said seemed funny and had everyone chuckling simply because of the signature straight-faced way he said it.

When a reporter fired off a few questions at one go, he instantly forgot all of them.

'I'm old now, my brains are a bit problematic,' he said to laughter from the room.

On the movie's budget, he claimed it was a secret but added that 'my movies are not cheap. It's surely expensive. It's very expensive', his emphasis eliciting laughter from reporters.

It has been rumoured that CJ7 had the biggest budget ever for a Chinese film, costing over US$20 million ($28.4m).

UNIQUE HUMOUR

When asked if it was true that he could communicate better with dogs than with people, Stephen denied it.

Then he went on to wonder why dogs get overly excited when their masters come home even though the animals get to see their owners every day.

His anecdote had everyone in stitches - but don't try this at home. When you do it, it's not that funny.

And when asked a question he didn't feel like answering, he would deftly deflect it with humour.

Such as the latest sex photo scandal in Hong Kong, where naked pictures of a supposed Edison Chen and a string of Hong Kong starlets were found on the Internet.

Cecilia, whom Stephen has groomed in his movies, was also dragged through the mud.

When asked what he thought of the scandal, Stephen turned to his left and coolly asked Kitty if she has seen the news.

She replied she hasn't, and asked him in return if he has seen it.

'No, I've been too busy,' he muttered.

Then Sheung Ching chipped in, to laugher from reporters: 'I wish to read it but I haven't, work's been too overwhelming.

'And my friends don't read the news because they are serious people.'

Then, the press conference's host, deejay Dennis Chew, declared time was almost up and asked for the last two questions.

One reporter shot off three questions at Stephen.

One was of how he felt about veteran actor Eric Tsang describing Taiwanese singer-actor Jay Chou as a 'blossoming flower' while Stephen was described as a 'plastic flower'.

The comparison came up because Jay's Chinese New Year blockbuster Kung Fu Dunk also opens in cinemas the same day as CJ7.

Stephen jokingly told the reporter she has exceeded the number of questions and that he will only answer one.

Naturally, he side-stepped the floral question.

As for his next film, he said he has some ideas in his head but it's not time to reveal them yet. Currently, he's working on Kung Fu Hustle 2 and Dragonball.

But it'll probably be some time before fans get to watch them.

He added: 'I don't know how long I will need for the next movie. Of course I hope to work faster but I really don't know.'

credits: newpaper.asia1.com.

 

I think people will love this movie because it makes you cry, laugh, cry, laugh, which appeals to all different types of ages.