The film, Customs Frontline, by Herman Yau had its global premiere at FEFF 26 in Udine last May and is going to be shown for the first time in Asia this July. Yau was a China native born in 1961 who studied Film at Hong Kong Baptist University; he is known as being the director with a huge number of films. All through his thirty years of career, he has made more than seventy films that have each managed to push the boundaries of Hong Kong cinema.
In recent interview Yau gave insights on the creative process behind Customs Frontline. The production company supports an action movie and therefore, this has incorporated themes such as antiwar movement and bipolar disorder which affects people’s life.
To note among most of Yau’s works are notoriously violent movies like The Untold Story (1993) and Ebola Syndrome (1996). In 2001 he produced Master Q 2001 that was the first Chinese language movie using live action combined with computer animation. Sara (2014) was nominated for Grand Prize at Osaka Asian Film Festival and named as a Film of Merit by Hong Kong Film Critics Society. Two years later, The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell (2023) directed by Yau featured in International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
Besides directing, Yau is also involved cinematography and editing. Collaborating with his cinematographers is one thing that he treasures whereby it ensures quality and effectiveness for every shot taken. Formerly an editor before taking up direction as a career, it gives him an insight into editing whose quietness makes it enjoyable unlike when on film sets which are always busy.
Although often considered primarily an action director because of his well-known action movies, Yau insists on not being typecast into a single genre. His various works coupled with his reflections on filmmaker identity encourage him to explore different themes and adopt different styles too. His hard work combined with a little bit of fortune has contributed to his success, attesting the everlasting influence he has on Hong Kong cinema.
View of the Arts: Please talk a little about Customs Frontline which is your most recent project.
Herman Yau: When I first met with the production company, they told me they wanted me to create an action film. We wrote the script together and then I started thinking about what else we could add to make it more interesting. In my Customs Frontline, I decided to develop two major themes around it; this is the antiwar message as well as how bipolar disorder affects people’s lives. For many societies, mental health at workplaces is a great concern.
My intention was to imbue this movie with an anti-war spirit while also highlighting the struggles of people suffering from bipolar disorder. It is essential for me that viewers don’t see them as patients but as ordinary persons who are burdened by circumstances beyond their control. Bipolar disorder is a modern-day illness and it is wrong to label such individuals as patients. My concern here is mostly placed on their experiences so that there can be empathy and understanding towards them too.
View of the Arts: In this film, you have worked with Nicholas Tse, who has also directed the action it. So how’s your collaboration with him on this movie?
Herman Yau: First I put Nicolas into the film as one of its leading roles and later he asked me if he could be responsible for the direction of action. I didn’t say yes immediately, because I wanted to ponder over it but then 24 hours later, I replied definitely. Although there was doubt in my mind about hiring him to be an action choreographer, by that time I knew he was going to give his best shot and that is why we ended up working together.
View of the Arts: What makes your fight scenes stand out from other movies? How do you go about choreographing and shooting these sequences so that they are most effective?
Herman Yau: Let’s first talk about realism. Realism is an abstract word. Something may seem true to you while phony to me based on our life encounters and backgrounds. Our audience says that some of those car actions like falling off cars cannot happen in real life during test screening but on set we had a real driver driving it and all the crashes were actual ones; likewise, the scene when a car bangs against a man sending him flying up about five meters looks unreal to them but was actually taken this way. Therefore many things look surrealistic for people watching at home but real for me personally hence realism is just an abstract word.
Still remembering such things, I witnessed something similar once. One day while walking along the street, I saw somebody being knocked down by a vehicle. He flew away several meters forward before reading newspapers that said he had survived it afterward. This means even life itself contains many surreal things.
Considering Customs Frontline though our viewers think our stunt scenes appear extremely dangerous and sometimes not realistic, I believe they are reasonably balanced since they could really happen in real life.
View of the Arts: You are also a cinematographer, for those who may not know that, besides being a film director and screenwriter. How does your experience as a cinematographer influence your collaboration with other cinematographers when making films?
Herman Yau: It is important, therefore, to work with my DOPs closely and try to make our films look good at all times. We talk about everything and aim for the best shot. In case something goes wrong during shooting, we redo it. I have known Joe Chan, Ngai Man-yin, and Derek Siu for years now so we understand one another well. Interestingly enough there is little need for us to speak on set but it took time for us to get where we are today. This kind of understanding just takes time.
View of the Arts: As a cinematographer, how does your approach to directing differ when you are also doing the camera work?
Herman Yau: In most of my films that I direct, I tell people that I want a DOP/cinematographer. The only thing I am particular about is the camera angle so that it is on the right place to have an ideal shoot and also achieve efficiency during filming.
View of the Arts: Shock Wave won critical acclaim for its explosive action and gripping storyline. What lessons did you take from that film into Customs Frontline?
Herman Yau: In terms of technical aspects in filmmaking, I think just go with it. On the other hand, when making continuous action movies that’s why sometimes question how do I understand myself as a filmmaker. For instance, for a couple of years now, there have been two such efforts which one was halted after undergoing censorship and another one post-production hoping not be affected by censorship. Frankly speaking, being called an “action director” would not make me happy.
View of the Arts: Are you a hands-on editor who sits closely with your editors or do you let them work freely until you jointly review their final edit?
Herman Yau: The actual process of editing itself takes quite long time, and I must admit once in a while I enjoy doing some editing. Before becoming a cinematographer/film director like now, when I used to be editing films, and in fact it was one of my favorite positions among others where I worked as an editor! Even after becoming a director, today still love editing even more than before.I know what is going through your mind at this point –after all those days on set, loud noises, and countless hours working with loads of people; sitting inside an editing suite without noise feels great. Seeing the film come together shot by shot is very exciting too.
The first few films of my career, I edited myself. With time and a good rapport with the editors, we agreed on that. After another 20-30 years and saying goodbye to my old editor, now-a-days other editors are left to do their magic. Although it is something I used to love doing and still do today, editing was something I have been involved in.
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