Shu Qi shares about her past of abuse

Set in 1988 Taiwan, Shu Qi's Girl tells the story of Lin Xiaoli, a withdrawn girl who finds hope through her friendship with the passionate Li Lili. However, this choice is met with opposition from her mother, Ah Quyen. The film stars Roy Chiu, jazz singer 9m88, and newcomer Bai Xiao-Ying.

Thư Kỳ chia sẻ về quá khứ bị bạo hành- Ảnh 1. — Shu Qi said the project started more than a decade ago when director Hou Hsiao-Hsien asked her to try her hand at directing.

Shu Qi said: "The idea of making a film came to me one day in 2011, when I was talking to director Hou about my concerns about acting. He suddenly asked me: 'Do you want to be a director?'. I was very surprised and wondered how I could handle it. But he said: 'How will you know if you don't try?'. And this idea took root in me from that moment."

Things went on like that, and in 2013 - during the filming of Assassin - the idea came up again. The Taiwanese actress said: "I didn't expect him to still remember this. With great doubt in my heart, I asked seriously: 'Do you really think I can do it?'. He said: 'Okay! What's wrong? You can write it yourself. Let's start with what you want to tell the most'".

After that day, she began a journey of writing the script for more than 10 years, constantly arranging, shuffling and rearranging. Sometimes she thought about the ending for a whole year. Shu Qi said: "Every time I met him, Director Hou asked about my writing progress. Many of his ideas influenced me. He often talked about Hemingway's iceberg theory, that the story of a film is often just the tip of the iceberg above the water, so we have to exploit the tip of this iceberg. When the bottom layer is solid enough, the part above the water can cause shock."

Talking about the content, the actress revealed that the story is based on personal experiences set in the context of family life. She said: "When I was a child, the economy was booming and construction was going on everywhere. Most of my parents had to work hard to make a living. At that time, I was often beaten up without knowing the reason. I didn't know what I did wrong. My father often came home drunk every night."

However, Shu Qi said she did not want the actors to be traumatized when reenacting this, so she changed the physical interaction scenes to "the sound of dogs barking in dark alleys, the sound of motorbikes coming home and stopping, the sound of keys on a man's belt when he goes up the stairs".

Thư Kỳ chia sẻ về quá khứ bị bạo hành- Ảnh 2. — Shu Qi said those dark days have almost become invisible scars.

She confided that because it was her first time directing, she just wanted to interpret the film in the simplest, most honest and purest way, through which the audience could see the conflicts and tensions between men and women, between mothers and daughters.

And despite her unhappy childhood, Shu Qi is still lucky because she "knows how to fight back". She shared: "Although my life after leaving home at the age of 15 was very difficult, fortunately, I am basically an extrovert and do not want to give up, so I can overcome difficulties. Now I am happy and grateful for what I have, but that does not mean that the scars from my childhood have disappeared. Those dark days have almost become invisible scars. Whenever they appear, my body's reactions are very uncomfortable. If it were more serious, I would be drawn into the darkness of insecurity".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thu-ky-chia-se-ve-qua-khu-bi-bao-hanh-18525083111350111.htm