Stephan Chow: Hong Kong's Chow Seeks to Out-'Hustle' Hollywood

Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:45 PM ET

By Craig Reid

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - French directors like Francois Truffaut created a new wave in film in the 1960s, and a decade later U.S. movie makers including Francis Ford Coppola transformed Hollywood films for a new generation.

In recent years, world cinema's mantle of change has been assumed by Asian directors like Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou, and now comes Stephen Chow, 42, a Hong Kong director and superstar actor looking to strike U.S. box office gold with the martial arts film "Kung Fu Hustle."

"Hustle," a raucous tale of a hapless gangster's attempt to prove himself deadly, is loaded with slapstick humor that harkens to Charlie Chaplin, digital effects that might shame "Spider-Man" and kung fu that rivals the likes of Jackie Chan.

"We're in a midst of an Asian film cycle with directors like Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee and now Stephen Chow," said Michael Barker, co-President of Sony Pictures Classics. "Something is going on like the French new wave of the early '60s. This is fresh filmmaking, and Chow is part of it."

Barker should boast -- Sony Pictures Classics is distributing "Hustle" in the United States -- but if overseas sales are any indicator, movie fans hunger for Chow.

"Hustle" has racked up more than $66 million at overseas box offices and last month earned six Hong Kong Film Awards, including best picture. In two weeks in the United States, it has won good reviews and brought in nearly $625,000 in seven theaters. It expands to more than 2,500 U.S. theaters on Friday.

Chow, however, seems less concerned about gaining popularity in America than about avoiding artistic compromise.

ARTIST OR SELL-OUT?

Some of his contemporaries have crossed over into Hollywood filmmaking and been accused of selling out for a big pay check. Their U.S. work, critics have said, has not compared well artistically to their Hong Kong success.

"I only know how to make films my own way," Chow told Reuters, "and the way I like making films is that I start from nothing and put a project together using my own method."
"I think with others, they're instead given a project or a role and told to do that, then follow those rules," he added.

Set amid the chaos of pre-revolutionary China, "Hustle" is about a wannabe gangster named Sing (Chow) who unwittingly entangles the vicious Axe Gang with the residents of a decrepit community known as Pig Sty Alley.

The gang has employed a string of deadly assassins to wipe out Pig Sty Alley's seemingly defenseless inhabitants, but they are thwarted by the kung-fu kicking talent of neighbors who expertly cloak their skills.

Some critics compare Chow to Chaplin because of his comedic sense and his work as a creative force -- writer, director and actor. His use of computer-generated images also has set his work apart from the ordinary.

Most importantly, his martial arts skills have won the respect of avid kung fu movie fans who trace their love of the genre to American Bruce Lee, whose films like "Enter the Dragon" made him a star in Asia and the United States.

"Bruce Lee is my idol," said Chow, "and like Bruce, I saw myself as a martial artist first, and an actor second."

CHOW TIME

Lee died in 1973 and since then, martial arts fans have hungered for superstars. Jackie Chan has enjoyed major success with comedies like "Rush Hour 2," which took in $226 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices. Jet Li's action film "Romeo Must Die" took in $56 million, according to boxofficemojo.com.

Chow has aimed for U.S. success once before with "Shaolin Soccer." That film, too, was an international hit raking in $42 million, but it proved to be a major disappointment in the U.S. with only $489,600 at box offices.

While "Shaolin" distributor Miramax Films started with a strong marketing campaign, it delayed the film's release for about year then booked the film in only 6 theaters. It reached its maximum exposure on only 42 screens.

Chow said he disliked Miramax's English language version and added that "Shaolin Soccer" should have remained in Chinese with subtitles.

"With (Sony Pictures) everything was discussed. It wasn't about them saying, 'We are going to do this and that,' but about hearing my ideas -- a real collaboration," Chow said.

The willingness of Sony Pictures to work with Chow in creating the U.S. release of "Hustle," meant more of Chow's vision made it onto silver screens this time around. And with that, the writer/actor/director whose past films shattered Hong Kong box office records of Chan and Li is now ready to take them on in America.


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