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Director Ning: a reel pioneer

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-08 10:39

  Related Reading: Too funny for words

He's been called China's Guy Ritchie and likened to Quentin Tarantino, but his dream is to become the country's Steven Spielberg.

Ning Hao is best known as director of Crazy Stone (Fengkuang de Shitou), a black comedy and dark horse that galloped into 2006's domestic box office with resounding triumph.

The film about a precious jade piece, and those who want to protect, steal and rub it, was immensely popular. The 3-million-yuan ($490,000) production raked in 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) in revenue.

Crazy Stone made Ning - then an aspiring young director with only two independent films, and several music videos and TV ads, under his belt - a cinematic icon.

With 20 million yuan and support from the country's flagship movie producer China Film Group, the 32-year-old is again zipping down the black comedy track with Crazy Racer (Fengkuang de Saiche). The film he describes as "Stone 2.0" is set to hit theaters on Jan 20.

His latest flick is a bit more convoluted than Stone, featuring four groups and more than 10 characters. Major personalities include a silver medalist cyclist, a fraudulent sexual-enhancement medicine salesman and his more-than-100-kg wife, several gangs and two dimwitted murderers.

These characters find their lives interwoven with one another's - and with murder, suspense and humor - in convincing and comical ways. There are also a few touching moments thrown in for good measure.

"I ask myself a question before I make a movie: What I can learn from making this film?" Ning says.

"In this case, I thought of Moliere, who depicts various characters in one story, using an absurd style, and weaves their lives together. It seemed very challenging to me, so I tried it."

Multiple characters and intersecting storylines are nothing new to Western films, such as Pulp Fiction and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But few Chinese directors have attempted this style, which requires a knack for managing the plot and characters.

It wasn't easy for Ning, either. He came up with the original storyline in late 2006, and spent eight months with eight writers drafting the script.

He was so demanding, he "sapped" at least six writers, who ran out of ideas.

"They sat there all day long, exhausted, and told me they had no inspiration at all," he recalls.

Writer Wang Yao even used an abacus to calculate the characters' intricate interrelations. He describes the writing process as solving a "calculus" formula.

Another writer drew a story map of the characters' relationships. But it was so complex, it confused even Ning.

The team was constantly revising the script until shooting started in 2007.

Taiwan actor Lu Kung-wei, who plays the salesman, says he received five drafts of the script in one month.

The result was a film totally unique for mainland cinema.

"The movie is like a rollercoaster," Ning says.

But Ning believes audiences won't have trouble understanding the plot despite its complications.

"I never underestimate viewers' IQs," he says.

"Chinese audiences are as smart as those of any other country.

"Aren't mobile phones complicated?

"China is a developing country, but we don't use outdated mobile phones.

"Actually, we often use the most advanced ones in the world."

Ning instead finds the most difficult task in filmmaking is determining what the viewers will enjoy. But he always bears in mind that he's a Chinese film fan, too.

"When I see a movie, I don't watch it from a technical angle, such as where the camera is shooting from or how dark the lighting is," he says.

"What I care about is the opening half hour. If the first 30 minutes are enticing, I will continue watching - otherwise, I'll give up.

"The bottom line is, I will not make a film that doesn't pull audiences along."

The film is set for an intense rivalry with John Woo's star-studded epic Red Cliff (Chi Bi), which opened on Jan 7. But Ning says he's more concerned about audience feedback than box office returns.

"If I make a film that performs very well at the box office but audiences feel they have been duped, I wouldn't be happy at all. I'd feel better if it was the other way around," he says.

Ning says he doesn't care much about being likened to Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino. "They use the same style - black comedy influenced by postmodernism," he says.

"But I hope someday I can make films like Steven Spielberg's, earning both acclaim among audiences and have box office success.

"I also think it's best for Chinese cinema, which suffers from a genre shortage, to have versions of Ritchie, Tarantino and Spielberg."

Ning believes it's exciting to try different genres, and plans to take on a bolder challenge in March by shooting a frontier film set in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"When I went to Xinjiang, I thought it would be so similar to Texas if all the street signs were in English," he says.

"Frontier films are from America, but I think I can make the genre work in China, too."

The following project on Ning's agenda is a sci-fi flick - arguably, a very "Spielbergian" move for the Chinese director.