Sitges 2025: Interviewing Kenji Tanigaki and Tse Miu - The Furious

We had the pleasure and honour to interview two amazing people that presented The Furious. Kenji Tanigaki, director of the movie, and Tse Miu, its star.

Mike y sus Chinos: How is the experience of going to this festival? How have you seen the audience? How have you seen the organization? 

Tse Miu: Well, this is my very first time to be in Spain, in Sitges. And I love this city just because it's very beautiful. And I really love the audience, their reactions. Because this is the people, this is the reaction, this is the passion that I imagined before I came, right? Yeah, I love it here. Yeah, I love Sitges. Because Sitges loves our film.

Kenji Tanigaki: You know, we spend a lot of time with these movies. Maybe two years or two years and a half. Every day we were thinking about this movie or how to make it good. And then our shooting period, we have the good day, we have the tough day, of course, right? But yesterday, what happened? The whole audience is, wow! That's deserved. Before that, the struggle is nothing. That was a very memorable day for us.

MysC: It was truly amazing to see the movie in a theatre. the sound, and the images, Tse Miu running a lot with flip-flops and barefoot! It was truly amazing. I think you're going to win the audience award.

KT: Oh, that's a bonus! That would be an honour. But yesterday, that applause is already enough for me.

TM: For me too. 

MysC: I wanted to tell you that I really liked that the martial styles of each character, they are very different. As a martial artist and as a teacher, it was a pleasure to look how each character has a different style. It's rare, but it was beautiful. 

KT: Because a lot of the action in the movie is for the fanboy (I'm the fanboy). So, I don't like to watch if I don't understand who is winning, who is losing. And if everything, every actor and every character look and fights the same, I don't want to watch this. This time, we are so lucky to have talented actors who can really move. And every actor has a strong martial arts background. Like him (to Tse Miu), Kung Fu, Wushu, and Joe (Taslim) has Judo. There’s Silat and karate, everything. And our main actor who plays Kung Fu and the other plays Judo. So, their distance and the feeling of distance is totally different, right? If you confront Kung Fu and Judo, Judo is trying to grab his sleeve. That decides everything, how they fight. Do you remember the fight between Tse Miu and Joe Taslim in the security room?, It's a narrow space. That kind of fighting is representing their character. Because Judo guys try to grab your sleeve and Kung Fu guys don't want to let you grab. That's the distance. That kind of space, to me, is very interesting. That's why, in the middle of this battle, he took his jacket off. That means, I don't let you grab. And Joe Taslim said, oh, my fingers! Because when he plays Judo, which part is the most tired? Fingers. That's a very organic reaction from him. 
I don't think all the audience can understand. Some of the audience would say, oh, that's a cool fight or, oh, they can move fast. But if some of the audience understand, I think it's enough. And, you know, that's a very characteristic introduction, I think much better than a lot of dialogue. 
If you watch carefully at the end, Tse Miu used Judo soul to beat up this guy. That was very important for us, because Joe Taslim died, but he helped him. Kung Fu guy used Judo soul. That's very narrative.
In the first half of the shooting, I try to lead the story and lead the characters. But at the second half, the character or the actor or the story lead us.
One day, we talked about that we can use the Judo soul at the end. Because in the script, we didn't have this kind of thing. We were shooting, shooting, shooting, and differentiating Kung Fu style and Judo style and karate style. So, maybe we can use Judo soul by Kung Fu guy. That was a very perfect combination. This kind of leading is thanks to the actors, thanks to the characters, and thanks to the story. So that's the most important thing. 

MysC: We noticed that, because this is something that my Sifu, my teacher, told me. When you are fighting with another person, another kind of martial art, like Judo, you have to take off your sleeves so they don't grab you.

KT: Maybe we need a Catalan fighter next movie (laugh).

MysC: (laugh) And for us, it was an experience to see this movie because of that, the technique of the martial arts. 

KT: Joe is from the national team of Judo. So why don't use his technique? We have Yayan (Ruhian), Brian Le, Joey (Iwanaga). We wanted a kick fighter, nice kick fighter like in the 70s, 80s. We had a lot of kick fighters from Korea in the 80s. But recently, no movies. Not any movie with kick fighter. So, I need a kick fighter to beat him up.

MysC: Brian remembered us to Sammo Hung. He's a lovely, lovely villain, with a lovely face.

KT: Very charming. 

MysC: How do you prepare for a film as complicated as d? 

TM: Actually, we started a month in advance. I started training in Thailand. I trained every day, practiced for six days, and took a day off. I was like a professional athlete. Even for the first month, it just takes 50% of the actions. And for the last part, we just try to fill it and try to do a lot of rehearsals to finish the film. Because the director is really focused on the details. So even for me, sometimes I don't understand the part of the choreography. For example, when the knife is coming, I know the director has precisely designed every movement for the actors. So, for this action film is like a net.

KT: I remember four months before our action team started the design some of it, not the choreography, but some of the characters' fighting style. So, we shot, we tested the style, and I sent it to Tse Miu. 

TM: I was surprised.

KT: I must say, our Japanese stunt team, especially Sonomura our action director, he's our colleague, we worked together this time, and they did a great job. Their choreography is very detailed. And sometimes, to me, so much detail. I don't know how actors can bring this kind of feeling. But to me, it's very unique. I want to bring this kind of uniqueness. 
And luckily, two months before or one month and a half before we shot, everybody came to Bangkok to open up the stunt camp. So, every day, starting from the morning they practised the choreography again and again. Our actors brought it better than I expected. That’s actually why I'm so happy to have they training and working together because in the screen, they fight each other, but they must work together. It was very good to have a stunt camp. And even our DP, I put our DP into the stunt camp.

MysC: This is something I wanted to ask you. I was amazed about the work of the camera person. Everything was very fast for me to see. But it was hard for me to understand how much work this camera person was putting into the movie.

KT: That's why we put the camera crew to the training camp too. Not training together with the actors, he just grabbed the camera and move around. So he knew how to capture that moment. At the ending, is not five guys fighting, he said almost six guys fighting, including the camera crew. That was very important, because usually in the action scenes the first take is the last rehearsal with the camera man. After the first take, the camera man says, oh, now I know. No, no, no, for us that is too late. Because for us the first take would be the best take, right? I didn't want to waste that opportunity.
So yeah, everybody came to the stunt camp. And then everybody knew what was going to happen, that was very important.

MysC: About Sonomura... 

KT: Oh, you know Sonomura? He's a character. 

MysC: I noticed the choreography style of Sonomura in the film, too. It’s very low to the ground. 

KT: You know everything (laugh).

MysC: (laughing) No, no, no, I don’t! Sometimes Tse Miu looked like a spider. It was like you had eight arms. But you only had two in real life. 

TM: Sometimes even I don't understand what I'm doing, actually, during the shooting. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. But it's just right there. They're special.

KT: I don't know if it works very well or not, But I can see the uniqueness of that choreography. The Japanese team, and of course Sonomura, and Thai team. Oh the Thai team! Thai team was very strong. Tse Miu uses his hammer to hit them! But they were very collaborative. And they worked together very well. 

MysC: The best of all the action world.

KT: Yeah, I think so. 

MysC: What were you looking when you chose the main actors? 

KT: Day one, Bill Kong, our producer, told me, I want to shoot the ultimate action movie. And I need Tse Miu. Day one, this guy is on board. And we need a partner to fight with him. Who is good? I don't want some character similar to him, so it gave me the gap. We have the difference. Oh, maybe Joe Taslim, because he does judo is very strong and a big guy. 
I flew to Jakarta, we ate together and become friends. Friends first. And then I told him, hey Joe, do you want to play the role in our film? He said, oh yeah! Yeah, he's willing to be part of the film. And then, for the villain? Who's good? Oh, maybe I can call Brian Lee. Hey, Brian, you have the time? Yeah, yeah! And Joey. I worked with Joey many times, he has fought with Donnie Yen or played a part of Rouroni Kenshin. So I know his ability. I call him and luckily, everybody is willing to be a part of this movie. 

MysC: With Jija too. 

KT: Oh Jija, yes. The screen time is not so much, but I needed a strong introduction for this movie. So I asked the casting director, can I call Jija? Because we know Jija. Our friendship is long. The casting director asked Jija and she said, oh, no. I don't want to play. And after she knew I was directing this movie she was willing to. I'm so lucky to have her. 
This time, we were be able to use her martial arts background. But Jija, as you know, she's a taekwondo fighter. But Navi (Joe Taslim) and Jija are a couple. And because Joe Taslim is a judo guy she must learn judo. She said, oh, maybe we can kick, kick, kick. No judo. Because judo is very hard. But, yeah, she tried very hard to play judo girl. And she did it. She was great. 

MysC: How was the experience with the rest of the cast? 

TM: Well, to be honest, they're very good people. And actually, I really like working with them. I remember that there was a very impressive scene that we did with Joey and Brian Lee. There was this thing that we fight each other at the end. And there is one move, one take, I don't feel is complete and I wanted to try again. And they never complained, they were very cooperative. Everything was just right there at the first take. They were very professional.

MysC: Do you have any interesting or surreal anecdotes from the shooting? Something fun, something difficult? 

TM: To my recollection, I don't see any, interesting anecdotes on the set. There's a lot of pressure on the set, because you have to remember a lot of moves. So it's a lot of pressure. You'll see that, especially in the ending, there are five actors on the set, and they'll be in a different corner each practising their moves all alone.

KT: I remember our first shoot, when Tse Miu is running. It was April in Bangkok and it was so hot and humid. He must run barefoot, and you don’t see this in the shot, but we put a carpet for him because I wanted to protect his feet. And after we put the carpet we had lunch. After lunch time, the carpet is very hot. So in this take, he can run very fast for real. Yeah, very, very fast.

TM: That was my fastest 15 meters ever! 

MysC: Thank you so much.

Web junkie (Israel, 2013) review

“I used the internet. My dad brought me here to see the doctor… But they tied my hands and locked me in here instead”

Director: Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia

Writer: Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia

The documentary opens with the desperate face of a Chinese teenager. He’s crying. He said that he still doesn’t really know why he’s there. He didn’t do anything wrong. His parents drugged him and took him there while he was still sleeping and now, he’s trapped.

 

 “I was just playing” he says. He’s feeling actually hopeless, depressed and with no motivation to live and, exactly like him, other 70 teenagers are in the same situation. There’s no time to play there. Just march, obey orders and be reprogrammed.

 

Welcome to Daxing Camp, where your useless videogame-addicted son can “reconfigure” himself, and finally become responsible and excited to become a productive member of Chinese society.

 

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center in 2017, 170 million people under 18 regularly use internet in China. The videogames industry reached 24 billion dollars JUST in 2016 and even if the contribution to the Chinese economy is quite huge, game industry is still strongly criticized and blamed, because it’s actually the drug dealer for 24 million teenagers that are completely addicted, and spend more than 17 hours gaming on daily basis. Internet addiction is a real problem in China. The situation was so bad that, in 2008, the Government decided to implement new laws to regulate the use of videogames and formally declare “internet addiction” as a clinical disorder. They opened 400 rehabilitation camps to help desperate and broken families giving clinical and medical help and psychological support to their lost children.

This documentary was extremely painful to watch: in my view, these boys were just playing. Did they deserve to be treated like freaks just because they love “World of Warcraft”? No, of course not. But most of them quit school, neglected family and friends and refused any contact with reality. They spent most of the time at internet cafés, some of them spent over 8500 dollars to play videogames being constantly awake for days. Now in the camp, they look like just oversleeping lifeless zombies.

 

I am not a gamer, at all, in general I’ am not a huge fan of technology and I am still struggling to use my smartphone but, for anyone watching this documentary, is definitely clear that for these teenagers gaming is not just a hobby but a way to escape from the pressure that society put on them to succeed, to have a good job, to finally settle and commit themselves to something serious.

 

The movie director chose close–ups as narrative aesthetic and it’s masterful how she lets – in front of the camera- not the mouths but the eyes of those boys to talk about hidden worlds in which they venture alone to not be observed or judged.  In these far worlds they can be finally themselves, they can be understood and have real friends that, probably, share with them this thing (I really struggle to say “addiction”).

 

Much of the criticism that the documentary had to face is focused on the lack of insight into the healing method, therapeutic choices but, with the benefit of the doubt, it hasn't been really easy to shoot in a military hospital under close and forced surveillance and review. Tension during shooting in the presence of the camera is clearly palpable and even the psychologists, in those few moments when they got framed during counselling, they express themselves with the same ease as they are walking on eggshells.

 

This tension in the shooting also includes the mysterious professor/addiction specialist/mastermind of the camp Dr. Tan Ran who, in many pompous words, makes the main point of the problem quite evident: families are afraid to have a mental ill person at home, the Government fears that young people stop to be functional, do not communicate and reject social roles and relationships, to turn themselves into depressed and anxious adults who are actually useless to society, and something to be ashamed because of their non-productivity.

 

 

Both of the parts refuse to see reality: these teenagers feel deeply lonely, they distrust adults cutting any communication with them and, above all, they reject the Confucian vision of the family where fathers are always right just because they are your parents.

With their empty eyes these boys say: "I won't respect you if you won't hear me".

It's really heart breaking but I’m a romantic person and I would like to think that their games addiction is only their way to scream a giant NO.

The best: All the scenes during family therapy are truly powerful and they hit your guts. If you don’t feel that: sorry mate, you are heartless.

 

The worst: Consistent with her narrative choices, the director chooses again an anthropological approach focusing on the tormented protagonists and, purposely, leaving out even a minimal investigation to the massive Chinese videogames market.

Written by Valentina Zaccagnini.

 

TRAILER 

 

 

Hot Soup (China, 2020) review

 "It doesn’t matter if society changes, people's desire to find       happiness remains the same"

Director: Zhang Ming
Screenplay: Zhang Ming, Wu Ming, Liu Qinyu
Cast: Thomas Price, Li Meng, Zuo Yi

The interesting director Zhang Ming (The pluto moment, The bride) returns with his new production, Hot Soup. An interesting film that tells us about happiness, its quest, its meaning, but above all, how we anchor ourselves on that journey to find it and whether sometimes we lose the course of our lives.

 

 

 

As customary in some productions of this director, the film shows the plot from various points of view. In this case we have four protagonists with different plot threads but that by the montage and several common objects gives us the feeling that there is only one main character. Something we found tremendously original and successful.

Four wonderful stories about four great women in search of happiness in modern Shanghai.

A young executive argues with her fiancé about starting a family, her disagreements will lead the couple to make disparate decisions. A PhD student argues with her teacher for her thesis on happiness. A teenage girl fails to find the perfect boyfriend who meets the expectations of her father, a cruel mobster in a wheelchair for life. A girl dreams of going to the United States who falls in love with a young taxi driver. 

 

 

Hot soup is a delight in many of its aspects, sometimes strange and sometimes a very close film, with a slow tempo, but of agile and surprising montage, that will show us the difficult path of four women to find and understand what happiness is. 

As we have told you before, the plot unfolds from a unique and quite original point of view, since all the stories are intertwined as if it were a single protagonist, showing the viewer that tireless quest to get such precious treasure, that even if they don’t share a path, they have the same destination.

At first glance it may seem like a simple film, but director Zhang Ming delights us with endless details and nuances that manage to capture our attention in an excellent exercise of elegance and good work, but always without losing those specks of tradition that we love to see so much in his films.

"What's the point of investigating when you already have the solution"

Technically the film is excellent, thanks to its elegant soundtrack and a gentle photography with a certain predominance for greenish tones and precise camera work. It also worth mention that it has a remarkable cast with very solid interpretations and quite varied locations. 

 

In short, Hot soup is an exquisite film about life, effort, dedication and how humans become obsessed with seeking precious happiness and sometimes we don't realize that you get it from the little things of everyday life. A clear reflection of how demanding modern society is if you are a woman, and how this brave woman keep trying to find the yellow brick road, when their happiness depends on the ruby shoes.

The best: Its original montage.
Visually very cared for.
A luxury cast.

The worst: A somewhat strange film if you can't get into what the director proposes.
The montage, although we thought it was wonderful, can confuse more than one viewer.

Sitges 2020: Interview with Ryo Katayama, Director of Roar

First of all, congratulations on your film, Roar, we really enjoyed it at the last Sitges festival.

Ryo Katayama, Director of Roar

Mike y sus Chinos: Japanese independent cinema is something that comes very rarely to our country, but thanks to festivals like Sitges we can enjoy some interesting productions. Is it difficult to film an independent movie like Roar in Japan? How is the health of this kind of cinema in the Japanese industry?

Ryo Katayama: Thank you for watching my film. It is very precious that we get response from people overseas watching the film like this. Regarding filming an independent movie here, it is tough considering the budget. “Roar” was shot in 7days. In that perspective, I would say it’s in very harsh environment. However, the absence of sponsors makes it possible to realize what the director wants to do without caring the balance of power. So, I believe that we can expect high quality of works in those kinds.

MysC: The film moves around the experiences of various main characters and the palpable desperation to try to keep going. A tough story about today’s society. How does this project get into your hands? And why do you decide to film Roar?


RK: This story is set in Fukui, my hometown, but I used to hate there. I hated the people who cannot get away from the indigenous blood. However, as I grow up, I started to realize the fact that the people I hate are also trying hard to live their lives. So, I thought that depicting the people trying hard to live where I used to hate may turn out to be an overwhelming hope instead. That’s the reason I decided to make this film.

Still of Roar

MysC: Watching your film, we are surprised by the crushing spontaneity of some scenes and how the viewers get involved in them.  -What motivated you to explain such a raw story and such brutal realism? Is it based on any personal or close experiences?

RK: You can see my personal experiences in various scenes. I believe that they’re adding
the realism to the film. I’ve been also an actor since before I started filming. As an actor, I’ve always acted just by “living the character,” and I asked these casts to focus on “living the character” in my film as well.

MysC: What are your references when creating a movie?

RK: I refer to my own memory.

MysC: The interpretative level in the film is excellent, both for the main and secondary characters.
How was the process of casting? And how was the experience of working with them during filming?

RK: I’m really happy to have such feedback. Maybe because I’m an actor myself. I expect the casts for a lot of things, but the bottom line is that I like “a person who doesn’t lie,” or an honest person, in other words. Acting is a “lie,” and thus we need the casts to do with their “real” emotion to turn this “lie” into a reality. During filming, we discussed over and over again how we create the “real.” I was happy surrounded by these wonderful casts.

Still of Roar

MysC: Could you explain some anecdote or curious filming facts?

RK: We shot this film in about 7 days, but had 110 scenes in total. The schedule was like hell every day. So, especially the latter half was full of funny accidents;
For instance, the scene with the main character, Makoto and the tramp had basically no conversation, and only three of us, Mr. Anraku as Makoto, Mr. Fukaya as Cinematographer, and the director Katayama as the tramp, were there. We were recording with a fixed microphone. Two of us actually fell asleep during the scene supposed to wake up and the laughter of Mr. Fukaya woke us up. It happened a lot. In a sense, it might be a moment that we were playing the “real.”

MysC: What did you enjoy the most and what was most difficult when shooting the film?

RK: I’m afraid that there was no room for finding enjoyment. It’s the story about the rock bottom. Instead, there were so many difficulties. As I said above, the crew member was only Mr. Fukaya, the cinematographer. Mr. Anraku, the main cast, was the only person who could help on the set. There were some people who helped us on the location, of course, but they all had their own daily jobs. So, it was very tough to manage the shooting just by three of us. At the same time, I felt an extreme sense of unity among us. Maybe that is the reason I’ve never thought of changing the cinematographer when I film.

MysC: After watching your movie, we are very interested to know about your future projects. Could you tell us about any of them?

RK: I filmed my latest project in my hometown Fukui again. The title is “Icchorai” (English title: TBD). It’s in post-production. It’s about a man who runs a Ramen noodle shop on the shopping street, which appeared in “Roar” as well. The man had a dream to go to Tokyo, but caring his dad forced him to stay. He had no choice but clinging to the past. It’s the story about such man. Here is a teaser, so please take a look. Thank you.

TEASER "Icchorai"

Sitges 2020: Interviewing Mathieu Turi, Director of Meandre

Mathieu Turi is a French director who surprised us in 2017 with Hostile, an interesting sci-fi production supported by Xavier Gens and which, as in this one, explores human emotions. After enjoying the amazing Meandre, we had a chance to talk to him.

Matheiu Turi, Director of MEANDRE

Mike y sus Chinos: First of all, congratulations for your terrific movie. Meandre has been a breeze of fresh air (although claustrophobic) in the sci-fi genre. Our impression is that it's going to be one of the best sci-fi films of this year, and it will be a tough movie to beat.

Mathieu Turi: Thank you so much! :)

MysC: It's been 3 years since the premiere of Hostile. How’s it been the writing and production of your new film, Meandre?

MT: Actually, I wrote the script for MEANDRE during the development of HOSTILE, and just after the shoot, my producers wanted to do it, so it was kind of quick, even if the word “quick” in this business can mean a year or two… So in 2019, we were ready to shoot and we did from November 2019 to January 2020, during 32 days, in a French studio near Paris.

Matheiu Turi, Director of MEANDRE

MysC: The movie almost starts with Lisa inside the tube, a labyrinth full of traps where she must learn something she still doesn't know. How do you start writing this story? It feels like something you have experienced, metaphorically speaking.

MT: I would say it comes from different sources, but I always try to put myself in, so there is something at the same time personal but also universal which is the idea of claustrophobia. I’m not claustrophobic at all, but I remember that, when I was a little boy, I used to go under our house, where I had to lie on my stomach to move, and It was a creepy feeling. Also, in ALIENS by James Cameron, there is that scene where Bishop needs to travel in a narrow tube, to go from a building to another, and I was terrified, being sure an alien would pop up… but nothing happens in the scene, and I was even more terrified :). And more seriously, the movie is about loss, mourn and pain, but also hope and the determination we need to live in this world, so I guess everybody can put something personal on it.

MysC: Continuing with the script, when we finished the movie there were a lot of theories about what has happened to Lisa. Most people agreed it was some kind of purgatory, something religious. Our opinion it's a little different since we see traces of Buddhism in it (the monster, the suffering, learning to accept things in life, the love, the forgiveness, and finally the ascension, almost literally, to the enlightenment). What did you intend to explain?

MT: This is a very interesting question, as my idea from the start was to put that religion or/and philosophical vibes around the story. It’s not a gimmick, it’s at its core. I won’t spoil the movie, but I really wanted to put Lisa in a position where she had to go through all the process: death, love, forgiveness, peace, etc… And for that, she needs to fight physically AND emotionally. So, this is indeed important to me. I also wanted to mix the idea of science-fiction and religion, and the concept of faith in general.

Still of MEANDRE with Gaïa Weiss

MysC: Next, we want to talk about the direction. How difficult has been to plan in advanced, together with the director of photography, all the sequences of the journey that Lisa does?
How did this affect to the art department too?

MT: That was the challenge from the start: shooting a movie in a very narrow space, without forgetting to be meaningful in the camera movements, the shots and the rhythm. So, as I always do, very early in the process, I draw every shot. EVERY shot of the movie, so I have a very clear idea of what I want and what I need. And after that, me and my DOP, Alain Duplantier, we worked on the “how the hell we will achieve that? “part. This is where ideas come and go, and where the creative process is at its best, because everybody try to find new ideas, better concepts or sometimes illumination on a scene that become something new. We worked also a lot with our Production Designer Thierry Jaulin on the sets, and it was very VERY complicated. The main reason is that we couldn’t have just one very long tube, because it would have been impossible to shoot in it. So, we had to imagine several pieces of it, one for each trap, with all the mechanisms and some movable panels to shoot through it, and some other long portions to all the “calm” moments when she just crawls. And even for that, we had to create some crazy rigs, like a little cage on wheels that fit perfectly to the tube and could move up, down, ahead and forward. It was kind of experimental!

MysC: It's very interesting how the lights and monotony of colour, contrast with the high alerts on Lisa's bracelet and the colours of the tests. How did you imagine all the scenes? Why these colours?

MT: The idea we had with Alain, the DOP, was to be very experimental with the colours. First, he had the crazy idea to light barely exclusively with the light from the bracelet. We had to find a very expensive led system, which we could morph to a bracelet (actually four of them), and who could change colours, be solid, etc… We also needed to hide a cable in the suit, which contained batteries for it to work. Then, we decided to play with the colours and the contrasts, mainly the dark blue/grey of the tube going against the yellow/gold/green bracelet. The idea was that the coldness of the tube, representing death, was enlighten by the warm and the hope represented by that gold. Like a sparkle in the night. Then, for the traps, we worked on lights coming from the tube this time, with aggressive colours, acid green, blood red, fire orange, etc… 

Still of MEANDRE with Gaïa Weiss

MysC: Regarding the actors, there are only 4 of them in the movie. Gaïa Weiss has all the weight in the film. Was it difficult to choose the character of Lisa?
How was the preparation for her role?

MT: Casting was not easy, but I was lucky enough to have Gaïa accepting the part, and boy she nailed it! It was complicated, not only about being alone in the tube, but because she had to be always at her best physically AND in her interpretation. And she is in EVERY shot or so. I’m grateful I had the chance to work with her, she completely had the movie on her shoulders, and she gave everything. Peter Franzen was awesome too. I really wanted to work with him, and he’s as kind as he is professional, always trying to push the envelope and doing more. It was a dream to work with him.

MysC: Can you tell us some anecdote from the shooting?

MT: I could write a novel with anecdotes from it ^^. But I would say that one in particular is the day we put the tube on fire. I didn’t want full VFX fire shots, so we basically… send fire in the tube! We did it the last day (obviously), on an outside lot, by night. It was kind of friendly, with all the crew watching the SFX fire guys working. And the idea was to put some fire in it, for maybe one or two seconds, to avoid the set to be completely wasted. We put two cameras on it, sending the fire… but the fire guy couldn’t stop the fire! It was safe for the crew, as the cameras were piloted from distance, but the entire part of the set was destroyed on take one. We were lucky that the shots were AMAZING for the 10 seconds we needed, and we were able to do take 2 and 3 or some other part of the tube. But 90% of the fire shots are from that take. Sometimes you got just lucky… This is movie magic!

Still of MEANDRE with Gaïa Weiss

MysC: And finally, tell us about future projects, if you can. What's next on your mind?

MT: I have TONS of projects, but you know, in this business, you have to work on several projects to make one of them real. Some I can’t talk about, but I’m also working on a big medieval film, adapted from a famous French comic book (can’t talk about it, or I’ll get killed :)).  I would love it to be my next project, but it’s so big that I think I’ll have the time to shoot another movie before that… All I can say is that it won’t be a comedy ;)

Sitges 2019: Interviewing Zhang Chong and Liu Bo

Today we bring you an interesting interview with Director Zhang Chong and producer Liu Bo from the excellent fantastic film Super Me that we saw at the last Sitges Festival. A clear example of the fantastic health of the Chinese film industry thanks to the multitude of young directors who dare to innovate. Without further ado we begin.

Mike y sus chinos: Congratulations on your film, and especially welcome to the festival. How was your first impression both on the public and on the organization?

Zhang Chong: It’s the first time that I come to this historical festival and I’m really delighted, in addition, that Super can participate in the Sitges Festival programme is an honour, since in China there are not many films of this type of fantasy genre and here I can find many colleagues with similar productions.
The atmosphere of the festival is very relaxed and I think this is fantastic. It’s a place with good "taste".

MysC: How did the Super Me project come about?

ZC: My original idea came from the studies of the psychologist Sigmund Freud and everything related to the id, the ego and the super ego. I wanted to capture that search and internal persecution that our protagonist suffers and try to capture the complex functioning of the human psyche.

Liu bo: As a producer, I pay particular attention to the category and the quality of the product and that is surprising, since in China these kind of films are rare and I think that Super Me has what it takes to respond to the international market with originality and creativity.

MysC: Although you previously told us that it is an original idea based on Freud's theory, is there something based on some legend or Chinese Folklore?

ZC: Yes, although the film is based in part on Freud's theory, there is a very important part that is the dreams and the analysis of them. In China, it’s something very important for the population and there are many books that talk about it. Many Chinese citizens after waking up wonder or would like to know what has happened in their dreams. I believe that this curiosity is something universal, something daily that can interest any citizen of the world and that is why I wanted to reflect it in my film.

MysC: Super Me is a production that has been taken care to the last detail, for its direction, action or its visual beauty. What was the most difficult thing and what did you like the most about making the film?

ZC: One of the most difficult things has been to translate the concept of the Chinese dream, the aspirations they have in life and their ambitions. Creating all of this has been really difficult because it requires research and a lot of effort.
The part in which the whole team have enjoyed the most has been creating the love story and everything that surrounds it, altering the hormones of almost the entire crew in the process (laughs).
As you have mentioned before, Super Me is a film taken care of to the maximum since it was 346 days in production and we shot it in just 80 days, this is the origin of why it looks so good as a whole.

LB: In my case, the most painful and complicated thing is that the imagination has no limits, but the budget does, and that is sometimes a problem. On the other hand, what I have enjoyed the most has been creating and producing the world around Super Me.

MysC: Why did you choose Wang Talu as the lead?

LB: Wang Talu has been a good friend of mine for some time, and although he is young he has a great personality apart from having a lot of fame in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

MysC: How was the experience during filming?

ZC: The experience with the actors was really pleasant and professional. Wang Talu and the rest of the cast are well-known actors in Asia and are highly professional, which was very easy for me to work with. When they received the scripts, they found it very fun and interesting to be able to work on this fantastic proposal. I am very happy in general.

MysC: Being the Chinese film industry one of the most powerful and varied in genres today, how do you see the future of Chinese fantasy cinema?

ZC: The Chinese fantasy genre has a great future, currently there are a large number of young directors with innovative and very daring ideas, they dare to dream, to carry out their ideas and they do not hesitate to experiment with new hardware and shooting techniques unlike the fifth or sixth generation who prefer deeper or more traditional themes. A great future awaits the Chinese fantastic.

LB: In the Chinese market there are several categories of fantastic films, both budget and quality, but behind each image and set of colours there is a code of life that demonstrates the essence of Chinese fantasy.

MysC: Can you explain any anecdote that happened during filming?

ZC: Each day of filming was a new adventure, but to be specific I will explain something to you (laughs). Each of the 300 workers had a notebook with a multitude of drawings and symbolisms that appear in the film, for example, each weapon that we see Wang Talu carry was drawn on that notebook along with everything it means in the scene. During the film we are not going to explain all those hidden references but every theory about Freud or Jung that you sense in Super Me is studied to the maximum in a solid way. In addition, each actor has his symbol (meaning) in the film and has to perfectly execute and understand everything written on that notebook.

MysC: Finally, we would like to know what future projects you have.

LB/ZC: A fantasy genre series with the working title Sweet dreams. But who knows, maybe we will change the roles in our future projects, when there is money, everything is possible (laughs).

MysC: Thank you very much for your time, we wish you the best with Super Me.

ZC/LB: Thanks to you, the truth is that we hope that the public will enjoy the film, we believe that it deals with a universal theme that everyone can understand beyond Chinese culture.

Vortex (China, 2019) Review

"If you take me with her I will never see my father again"

Director: Gan Jianyu.
Screenplay: Gan Jianyu.
Cast: Da Peng, Ou Hao, Li Meng.

Liu is a gambler addict who owns a repair shop where he usually schemes. He needs money desperately after losing everything. A friend of dubious legality offers him a simple job to earn quick easy money. He just needs to steal an unregistered car and resell it. The simple scam complicates when he finds a girl in the trunk of the car.

We usually think that money can fix all our problems and that it really would give us that happiness that all mortals wish. But what do we really need to be happy? The actors of Vortex belong to the lower class in the society, think that money is everything and can solve their problems. We are humans and we make a lot of mistakes, but we try to learn from them. At the end, we all wish love and happiness in life. Welcome to Vortex.

Director Gan Jianyu films this frantic thriller shoot in a classic mood and impeccable execution. A race for survival in a hostile world full with insatiable predators, where only the smartest will emerge alive.

The movie has a well-structured screenplay with rhythm and the sufficient drama needed in the story, almost a mandatory pause to slow down the violence that suffers the main character in this relentless chase.

When we talk about action, Vortex leans more to violence than to pleasant choreographies, giving the plot a visual severity that suits the film very well. This all makes sense since the main character is a person used to run and hide, but not fight.

The movie is excellent in the interpretative level achieving that we empathize with the main characters as well as the villains, because in Vortex, the Director emphasize the emotional links from both sides. Little Qiqi is amazing in her role as victim with a performance worth to see, intense and emotional for such a little girl.

The music soundtrack highlights the movie with overwhelming compositions that mix with the urban sounds, surprising us with some brilliant scenes.

In short, Vortex is a thriller that the genre lovers will like, but will not surprise those who are looking for fresh and new emotions. A well-executed film with a necessary message. Enjoy!

The best: The performances, especially little Qiqi.
The soundtrack.
The story rawness

The worst: A classic plot seen in other productions of the same genre.

TRAILER

The pencil (Russia, 2019) Review

"The best you can do is go back to your city"

Director: Natalya Nazarova.
Screenplay: Natalya Nazarova
Cast: Nadezhad Gorelova, Vladimir Mishukov
Festivals: Okno Filmfest, Vyborg, Russia – National Competition (National/World Premiere) Won critics award and special jury award.
41st CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Cairo, Egypt -International Panorama, International Premiere.
Golden Rooster Film Festival, Xiamen, China -International Competition, Chinese Premiere.

A pencil is something basic in our lives, but so necessary and beautiful, full of details and tints, but above all, full of history. A tool that approaches us to the beauty of details while we are drawing on paper.

Antonina, an artist from San Petersburg, goes to the north of Russia looking for his husband, a political prisoner wrongfully sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment. When she starts as an arts teacher, Misha, a student and local gang member, will make her life and the rest of the students miserable.

The pencil is a powerful drama about violence, injustice and how about fear shuts up in our own cages. A cold and distressing movie, of slow tempo and realistic realization. A very dark story where there's also space to understanding, love and empathy. A clear example of culture shock between several areas in the same country.

The classic screenplay structure engages us in a journey where our main character will find friendship, rejection and will be overwhelmed by the prejudices of a corrupted society incapable to act against injustices.

The low color in the film and the taste of documentary produce a stunning reality, especially in the tension and violence scenes.
The pencil has gorgeous shots that mellow down the industrialized locations and give a break to the viewer, showing that inside all that rust, stones, factories and metal, nature grows up beautiful and magnificent. Under all that much hostility and rawness, we also find amazing captivating scenes. Like the sweet piano notes that flow while the students imaginations wake up in wonderful places surrounded by a hostile and dirty society. Art is their escape route, medicine for their soul.

The movie is excellent in the interpretative level with an amazing cast. The spontaneity of the actors highlights the fierceness of some of the scenes and intensifies the emotional moments.

The almost inexistent music soundtrack works as a conductor in the peace times, filling the atmosphere with freedom and hope.

In conclusion, The pencil is a rough emotional small movie with a great message behind. It shows that inside the grey area we can find the color of life. Lovely.

The best: Excellent acting. An interesting plot with a demolishing message.

The worst: It shows with no mercy the cruel reality.

Sitges 2018: Interviewing Juuso and Jukka, directors of Heavy Trip

If you have seen Heavy Trip, you would know how wonderful it is. We couldn't miss the opportunity of interviewing the two directors Jukka Vidgren and Juuso Laatio. Two amazing people with a lot to say. 

 

Mike y sus chinos: Welcome to the Festival. Is the first time you come here? How do you feel about it?

Jukka Vidgren: Yes, it's the first time. It's such a beautiful place. It's warm, which is not in Finland. It's funny because the first snow just came in Finland and everybody is posting this pictures on Facebook, like "It's snowing"! 

Juuso Laatio: And we are here lying by the pool and enjoying the sun. 

JV: I was talking to Juuso yesterday and we were saying we've been in Cannes many times but this is much nicer and less stressful.

JL: Food is good and cheap and the service is always nice. Everyone at the Festivals has been very nice.

MYsC: How and when do you decide to do this project?

JV: It started like six years back. It was a long process. This is our first feature film, so it's always a long way. The script took a long time to write with Juuso and then we have to find the producers. It's kind of hard to find financing for a film for first time directors. But how we get the funding was because of the script.

MYsC: It's a little bit like what happens to the band in the film (laughs).

JV: There's a lot of true in the film. The characters are really acid. I'm like the drummer in the film. I'm the guy that says, ok, that's not a problem. And Juuso is more like the main character (laughs).

JL: Yeah, I puke a lot... (laughs).

MYsC: What motivates you to do this project?

JV: Well, a few things. The inspiration for myself was guys going to music. We live in the north of Finland and we've been doing a lot of music videos for metal bands of that area. Around Finland there are a lot of bands who make obscure metal and they're not getting rich by doing it but they're really into their music.

JL: There's a really nice contrast between the violent music and the loveable guys, the nice sceneries. I think it's a fascinating visual world, everything that comes from the metal genre. There's a lot to get inspired about.

MYsC: We have to say that we are musicians like in the movie (Mike is a hardcore singer and Eva is a classical pianist). And we relate to the struggle the main characters in the movie live with. Did you want to reflect that struggle?

JV: Yeah, definitely. It's like you always want to root for underdogs. We want to reflect in the movie the huge mountain the characters have to climb. Everything is very difficult. They're from a very small town, nobody in that town likes metal, they don't have a name for the band and they don't have a sound. They do have a lot of enthusiasm but they don't know what to really do with it. It's the same when you are in films. When we started so many times I thought, ok, we are never going to make this movie. We need people to believe in us. There's something very similar in that point.

 

MYsC: It's very well reflected in the movie the contrast between being a death metal or heavy metal person in a small town. Can you tell us about it and if you struggled in real life?

JL: I can tell you about that. I'm a metal guy but not from a really small town. People in my town is used to see guys with long hair, but my family and girlfriend keep messing with me to go to cut my hair, and people yell me in the street, go and get a haircut. That part is real.

JV: In Finland there's a lot of oppression about metal in small towns. But usually every town has a couple of those.

MYsC: We see that the characters in the film are very charismatic. Can you tell us about how was the casting? What were you looking for?

JV: We had a pretty good idea of what we were looking for. We did a very long casting looking for dudes that have those elements in those characters.

JS: I have to say though that all the actors in the movie are very similar in real life. If you listen to them, you could hear like the characters from the movie were talking to you.

MYsC: So the bass player character is like that?! (laughs).

JL: I mean is not that far, but he is really like a Zen type of person. He's really intellectual and he's a dictionary in somehow.

JV: He knows a lot. He's a really intelligent guy. He's studying film directing at the moment. It was good that we have time to bond with the actors because in the film they know each other for a long time. They had to rehearse a lot playing the songs together. And I think we succeeded in the idea that this guys had been together for a long time.

MYsC: Is there a song in the movie that is from one of your bands?

JL: There is a song that we have a very close connection. Mika Lammassaari is the one that made many of the songs in the movie.

JV: Songs that they play.

JL: We've made musical videos for two of his bands. He actually comes from the same school as us. So not from our bands but from friends’ bands. We tried to get them out as well.

MYsC: Can you explain some anecdotes from the movie?

JV: We had a pretty tight schedule so we did stuff really quick but we had great moments. There's a lot of vomiting in the movie so one of the greatest moments was getting 10 grown up people sitting at a table and thinking "what should vomit look like?", "how should we do that?", "how do we get the pressure". And the special effects guys says, "ok we have this pump thing". And then we had the props department...

JL: "Should it have corn? Or maybe more yogurt..."

JV: In that moment you realize how glad you are you choose this profession (laughs). We had great moments like shooting the scene with the wolverine, which is fake, but we shoot it where the wolverine lives at the zoo. The wolverine has a small dent where he lives and we were like, is it ok to shoot now? And they were like, yeah it's ok. By the way the wolverine it's actually in the dent. Ok, would he mind? No of course not! But if he starts making noises you should leave. And we did the scene very quiet, just in case.

JL: There was an animal trainer with us and actually we had to remove him from some of the shots.

MYsC: How was the shooting in the small town?

JV: It was good, it was the easiest relaxed part of the shooting. It's a quiet town. People were very friendly. There's a scene where the guys are pushing the car and some dude appears and says, hey I can help you! He didn't see the camera crew. The actors told him, no we are fine. But he insisted.

MYsC: And when wasn't easy?

JV: Well when we went to Norway. We had a huge crew and cast. We had car explosions, a very tight schedule and difficult stunts. We went to Norway because we wanted some locations to have huge mountains. But then comes the shooting day and it's raining. The clouds are really low, like mist, and you can't see any of the mountains.

JL: Like a white background. We could've shot that anywhere, like a parking lot. And then we had to digitally add the background which was kind of stupid because we went to Norway to shoot beautiful mountains and end with green background.

JV: And if our schedule wouldn’t have been so tight we have waited for a day but we had only one day to shoot. We are lucky to have digital effects.

JL: Of course we had to give up something else because the budget was also tight but they did a great job.

JV: It's amazing what you can do these days with pretty small budget. For example, in the Viking ship scene we only have a few days in Norway, because it's really expensive to shoot there, so we shoot it in Helsinki with the city behind us. And the mountains were added by CGI. It works perfect. Also we had like a hundred boats around. We shot that scene with a drone and everyone was approaching the "cool Viking" boat (laughs).

MYsC: At the end when you're shooting a movie you don't know what's going to happen.

JV: Yeah, totally.

MYsC: Ok, tell us about the mental patient. How do you come with that idea, putting a mental patient, in the movie, with the death metal band?

JL: I think that we always knew that we needed a new drummer at one point. 

JV: We knew that in a moment of the movie the main character needs some inspiration outside the band. His life is his band, but again he has this real job away from the band and where he has a different life from his band. So we wanted to combine those parts. We were going through different things like how should be the version he meets, how he ended up there. He is like a "Suomi" person, which means indigenous living in the north of Finland.
JL: There aren't actually black Suomi people.

JV: We have this person who is from really up high from Lapland, he speaks a dialect which is very different from Finish and we wondered, how would it be if it was a black dude. That character has nothing to do with his real background. We found a really good actor and said, well this could work.

JL: I think it's also something really different from them, from their world.

MYsC: So to end the interview, do you have any future projects? And can you tell us?

JL: We do, but we can't. I'm joking. It's a bit too early, we do have several ideas, but we are still learning from this movie.

MYsC: Well at least are you continuing with comedy?

JV: Yes, we need laughs in cinemas, we have enough drama outside.

MYsC: Well Juuso and Jukka thank you for this time.