In just two years, and after directing only two films, 37-year-old Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) has become one of Taiwan’s top-name directors. His first movie, Rebels of the Neon God, won the Sakura Bronze in the Young Cinema category of the 1993 Tokyo International Film Festival. And his 1994 film Vive l’amour brought even wider fame by winning the prestigious Golden Lion Award for best picture at the Venice Film Festival.
After growing up as an ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, Tsai came to Taiwan to study at the Chinese Culture University’s Department of Drama and Cinema. He graduated in 1982 and gradually gained a footing in the field. His first venture into film came in 1993.
Critics have commented that even though Tsai has been in Taiwan for a relatively short time, he has made keen observations of the people and the society. Many moviegoers—especially young people—quickly identify with his true-to-life characters, who struggle to contain the sadness and emptiness of life in a materialistic urban world.
FCR: How did you break into the film industry?
Tsai Ming-liang:There are a lot of young people who are interested in breaking into this industry. I guess I was luckier than most of them. One of my teachers recommended me to a TV station to write scripts for some drama programs. After a while, I also started to write some movie scripts and had the chance to direct some TV dramas. I guess people liked my work, so the Central Motion Picture Corp. offered me the chance to direct Rebels of the Neon God. Since the movie won an award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and didn’t lose money for the company, I got another chance and more money to direct a second movie, Vive l’amour.
But many young people with talent don’t get the chances that I’ve had. Only three out of the fifty students in my university class are still in the industry. More than a hundred film students graduate every year, but very few of them can enter the business. The production quantity for Taiwan movies is too small. There isn’t a need for so many film students. And those who are lucky enough to get into the business usually can’t stay long because they can hardly feed themselves on the low income.
How have the awards you’ve won changed your life?
Winning awards offers encouragement for what I’ve achieved, but I don’t think it’s influencing my life. Nor will it cause any pressure on my future work. People have their ups and downs. Just because my last two films won awards doesn’t guarantee that my works in the future will all be as good. I can only guarantee that I’ll do my best, but every piece of work is a new start, and previous achievements don’t really help. Maybe with the awards I have enough of a reputation that I won’t be kicked out of a film company if my next work fails. Actually, I’m always prepared to face failure. If I make a lousy movie or TV show, I’ll hide myself away for a while until things calm down, then come back and give it another try.
What kind of market considerations do you take into account when you make a movie?
I have my own kind of commercial considerations. I have to know who my audience is going to be. Before starting a movie, I always make it clear to the film company that my movie is not going to be a big seller. It’s not that I don’t like big sellers, but when I set my ideal plan for making that movie, I also set certain restrictions on what I’ll be doing. Consequently, I also foresee certain restrictions on the audience. I target my films at intellectuals and university students. I think these are the groups that can identify with my films. I don’t want people who can’t appreciate my films to come to the theater. They might go out and tell their friends it’s a lousy movie and ruin my reputation. One person like that can cost me ten potential viewers.
What are some of the difficulties that Taiwan directors face?
As a result of the shrinking domestic and overseas markets, not many people want to invest in the local industry. Instead, they invest in the film industries in Hong Kong and Mainland China, which have larger markets and thus lower financial risks. Taiwan directors have only limited funds for making movies.
When I made my first movie, my budget was ten million (US$380,000). The movie didn’t make money for the company, but it didn’t lose money either. Anyway, the company saw some market potential in that movie, so I got twelve million (US$450,000) for my second film. Film companies have their practical considerations. They have to see what you can do for them before they decide how much money they’ll invest.
But with such a limited budget, a director has to count every penny. We have to find ways to cut expenses, such as by not using a big cast, so that we can use the money on more important things. In Rebels of the Neon God, the actors were all new faces. Anyway, money is a big problem for most Taiwan directors. But there is one advantage when movie companies make only a small investment: if the movie sells, the profits are big, and if it doesn’t sell, the losses are small.
Each year, the Government Information Office (GIO) picks eight movies and gives each of them either four or ten million dollars (US$150,000 or US$380,000). By providing this assistance, the government is trying to promote the industry. It means well, and the money gives some new directors a chance, but there are also side effects that are harming the industry. Movie companies don’t add the four million to a film’s budget; they just use the money to cut their market risk by four million. They often ask directors to send their film proposals or scripts to the GIO first, and if the movie doesn’t get the money, the film company turns it down.
Lack of professional manpower is another problem. Since the production volume in Taiwan is small, technical people are not paid well. Many of them end up moving to advertising or some other profession. And when newcomers find out that the film industry is not as profitable as they had expected and that they have to work hard, they quit. Being a director, I can at least get a sense of achievement when I’ve finished a film, but where can a lighting man get such a sense of achievement? Even if he can, it vanishes quickly if he can’t feed himself.
Do you think these problems can be overcome? How do you deal with them?
Being a Taiwan film director, I have a lot of complaints. But I don’t think many people share these concerns. I don’t have the power to improve the whole environment. All I can do is try to solve my own problems.
As long as we’re making movies in Taiwan, we have to deal with the environment. Directors here have to worry about many trivial things. In other countries, for example, a truck full of camera tracks [for wheeling cameras around a set] is always ready on the scene. But in Taiwan, a director has to know what length of tracks he’ll need for the next day and tell his assistants to rent them. If he forgets, there’ll be no tracks. If he doesn’t calculate correctly and rents more than he needs, he wastes money.
Basically, I don’t think there will be any major improvement in money or manpower problems in the near future. For myself, winning awards may give me more bargaining power so I can get a bigger budget and better technical support for my next project, but this is very individual. People who haven’t won awards still face the same situation. The fundamental reason is the lack of a market. Without a market, no one will invest. And without investment, nothing happens.
—interview by Jim Hwang