Stephen Chow: 'Vietnam has many cinematic talents'

Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow said Vietnam has a lot of film talent, both actors and behind-the-scenes workers.

The artist is preparing to release the animated film Monkey King as a production director. Speaking to VnExpress, Stephen Chow said that when he came to Vietnam and through research, he realized that there are many people who are good at both performing and behind the scenes.

Actor, director and producer Stephen Chow. Photo: HK01

When he visited Ho Chi Minh City last year, Stephen Chow met director Le Binh Giang and a number of young actors. During the trip, he mainly learned about the Vietnamese cinema scene and connected with film production units. The 61-year-old actor is looking for potential actors to collaborate on projects produced by his company. He also hopes to have the opportunity to make films in Vietnam.

Stephen Chow said he really likes Vietnamese cuisine and hopes fans will suggest restaurants and delicious dishes for him.

His new project - the animated Monkey King - adapted from the novel Journey to the West , revolves around Sun Wukong when he was born, before meeting his master Tang Sanzang. The monkey is mischievous, competitive, aggressive and always lonely. After the battles, the monkey realizes that he needs to get rid of his big ego. Through the trailer, the audience recognizes some images from old films of Chau Tinh Tri reappearing. Chau Tinh Tri said that this was the intention of American director Anthony Stacchi and producer Peilin Chou. Anthony Stacchi focuses on combining Eastern and Western cultural elements into the animated film.

For example, in the action special effects scene, the crew included images related to Chinese opera. Stephen Chow believes that the director and his collaborators are capable of creating an interesting and unique image of Monkey King. He said: " Journey to the West is one of my favorite stories, and I am very happy to bring this story to the world audience. Making an animated film has fewer restrictions, and there is more room for imagination."

The work took two years to complete. Stephen Chow joined the project with the intention of learning from filmmakers around the world. His greatest joy was working with creative teams from many countries. During the process, although there were times when there were disagreements, he was satisfied with the collaboration and learned a lot from the experience.

During his career, Stephen Chow has participated in many films adapted from Journey to the West . He played the main role in two parts of A Chinese Odyssey (1995 - 1996), directed Journey to the West: The Love Story (2013) and was the producer of Journey to the West: The Love Story 2 (2017). Among them, the two parts of A Chinese Odyssey were very popular and are considered to be among Stephen Chow's most outstanding films. Since 2008, the actor has stopped acting and focused on being a director and producer.

The Hong Kong comedy king is working on many projects. His team is currently recruiting female actors for Shaolin Girls . He was born in Hong Kong and joined TVB in 1981. Initially, he played unknown roles, appearing only for a few seconds on film. In 1989, Stephen Chow's career took a new turn with the lead role in The Legend of Fuyao . In the 1990s, Stephen Chow starred in a series of comedy films that were popular in Asia, such as Saint of Gamblers, School of Might and Magic, and The Legend of Fuyao .

According to East Movie , in the 1990s, pirated discs were the main way to connect Stephen Chow with audiences outside Hong Kong such as Thailand, Vietnam, mainland China, Malaysia... and made the actor a familiar name to audiences. His creativity, familiar character images, childish acting, and somewhat "vulgar" humor became spiritual food for young people. When the Internet boomed, Stephen Chow continued to accompany many audiences, of which students made up a large portion.

Actress Carina Lau once said about Stephen Chow: "He is a freak, wearing a mask to attend film premieres, riding his bike around all day... He is truly a very special person, a talented filmmaker. He has many crazy ideas but making films requires emotion, maybe having to put aside common sense. He

Vnexpress.net