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Jay Chou: The dream of satisfying everyone with "City Full of Golden Armour"
by kelvin@multistars - 25th September 2006Jay, who has been busy promoting his new album, went to see "City Full of Golden Armour" in Beijing on the 25th of September. This is the first time Jay has seen the whole movie, Sina interviewed Jay immediately. Jay told the reporter that after seeing the movie, he feels honoured to have the chance to do this collaboration. Jay hopes that "City Full of Golden Armour" will have a chance to go to the Oscars, he said happily: "If we went to the Oscars, I will give a copy of my album to everyone I see, to let foreigners know that Chinese people have such good movies and music."
Sina: In "City Full of Golden Armour", there were originally only two princes, the producer Zhang Wei Ping wanted you to be in it, so Director Zhang added Prince Jie. According to reports the decision was made when they were shopping in Hong Kong that day, Director Zhang wrote this role even before the Spring Festival. When you found out about this collaboration what was your feeling?
Jay: I want to especially thank the producer Zhang Wei Ping for giving me such a rare opportunity. I only have the most confidence in music, I haven't thought much about anything else. I've liked movies since I was young, it's just that no one hired me to act. I never thought I'd have a chance to participate in such a good piece of work and to act such a bright role. My own national consciousness is very strong, this Chinese style of ours in movies and music can let European and Americans know that Chinese people have such amazing pieces of work.
Sina: After seeing "City Full of Golden Armour", what feeling do you have?
Jay: I just saw the work print, I feel I am very proud, I have a lot I want to say. I want to say to Director Zhang, thank you so much for letting me see a different me! This is the happiest thing this year. At the start when I was going to be in "City Full of Golden Armour", all the friends around me were proud for me, I said it's not like you are acting in it. Now that I've seen the movie, I particularly want to let my mother see it as soon as possible.
Sina: After seeing the last shot, the credits rolled out to "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed", when the lights came back on in the cinema, what kind of state were you in?
Jay: I couldn't jump out, I was still at that environment, I didn't feel like I was in the cinema, I felt like I was still in the palace. This is the power of movies. I felt gloomy in my heart, it was the charm of the movie. I wanted to cry but I couldn't cry.
Sina: This time "City Full of Golden Armour" has gotten the praise that Chinese big movies have never gotten, the movie manager was especially excited, you didn't think of this before you participated in "City Full of Golden Armour" did you? Hearing this news, are you happy?
Jay: I've been looking online these few days, there are a lot of good reviews, I'm very happy. I want to say to my fans, you can see a different me in "City Full of Golden Armour", remember you must be filial to your parents. I hope all friends must go and see "City Full of Golden Armour", even if there wasn't "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed", "City Full of Golden Armour" is still great to watch. "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" is one of my best slow songs, it's great when combined with the images from the movie, the movie has added a lot of points to my song. I heard a lot of people cried after being moved.
Sina: The media and audience who have seen the movie said that we see the Jay outside of music, another especially cool and knows how to act Jay, were you surprised?
Jay: I'm very happy, I really want to know other people's evaluation. This is different from music, I'm a complete newcomer when it comes to acting, I want to be a very good chess piece. This time I'm very honoured to be working with seniors, in the past I was only an artist, now that I have "City Full of Golden Armour" I can step into the world of movies. The experts in "City Full of Golden Armour" are experts of experts, for example Liu Ye is very humours privately, we didn't have many scenes together, after seeing the movie, I think he can really act. I hope that in terms of acting, I can become like them one day, walking down one step at a time. I feel I've improved in "City Full of Golden Armour" compared to "Initial D", because of the director, and also because of working with these international superstars.
Sina: Have you seen the North American trailer? At that time some people said, Jay plays a small role in the North American trailer, how you do see this?
Jay: I think it's very reasonable. North Americans don't know who I am, everyone can hear my music because of "City Full of Golden Armour", I'm very happy to just be able to work in this big movie.
Sina: The ticket price of "City Full of Golden Armour" is 160 yuan, do you think it's expensive?
Jay: I think it's worth it. Its scenes, music, the acting is experts of experts, they are international superstars. If it was me, I might even spend double the money.
Sina: Right now if there were two choices for you to choose, film "City Full of Golden Armour 2", do "Still Ye Hui Mei", which one would you choose?
Jay: I've done all that needs to be done in "City Full of Golden Armour", I should do what I have confidence in.
Sina: This time filming "City Full of Golden Armour", it's your first time seeing Chow Yun Fat?
Jay: Yes, in the past I only saw him on TV. Chow Yun Fat said to me, he once saw me on Hong Kong TV playing the piano, he felt it warmed his heart. Chow Yun Fat is a happy fruit, there are a lot of funny moments. I will do magic for them, I'm thinking in my heart, I grew up watching your "God of Gamblers". Chow Yun Fat will also often invite everyone to eat, he's got the big brother feeling about him. My stability in acting is not as good as his, normally I love to be funny, but I just can't be in front of him.
Sina: The lyrics to "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" are sung very clearly, this is a very big change in terms of your music, it's been reported that such a big change was because of working with Zhang Yi Mou?
Jay: I became clear because of Zhang Yi Mou. The director said he couldn't understand the songs before, "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" is a theme song for the movie, I thought it must not be too messy, there's so many people watching it, it's not only for kids to listen to. I think I'm very willing to make this change for "City Full of Golden Armour", for the director to be able to listen to it clearly. I myself was very insistent on the style of the song, but for "City Full of Golden Armour" it was worth changing, my mother also likes it a lot.
Sina: I hear from Director Zhang Yi Mou, that you got inspiration after filming a fight scene. Can you tell us about this?
Jay: When filming I was researching how to make the ending song fit in with the movie. At the beginning I wanted to make a fast song, but I thought fast songs don't move people, it's just more exciting. After filming the on "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed", I was very moved, I felt it was worth remembering. After filming the fight scene, I found the feeling of the fast song. I will finish making the fast song on the 1st of October, I want to call it "Golden Armour", it's the best fast song I have. It's very rock, and it has Chinese elements, foreigners will feel it is very fresh. I hope I can get some scenes that are not in the movie, I can cut it in the MV myself, filming "City Full of Golden Armour", there are some actions that are very beautiful, this fight scene is very real, maybe it wasn't used, if these scenes can be put in my MV then it will be too beautiful.
Sina: Director Zhang Yi Mou not only thinks the song "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" is written well, the lyrics are also very accurate, and moving. He especially mentioned the two lines he likes, "The chrysanthemum flower is ruined, hurt all over the ground, your smile has already turned yellow", "I'm wearing martial attire, roaring with the convulsions of nature". Vincent Fang hasn't been to the set, he hasn't seen the movie, how did you communicate this to him?
Jay: I gave the script to Vincent Fang to look at, I told him, the name must be called "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed", he wanted to call it "Golden Armour", but I felt "Golden Armour" was the name of the fast song. There have been too many moving things that have happened on the Chrysanthemum Flower Bed. I told Vincent, the feeling of the lyrics must be very sad, it can be to the queen mother or to a lover, not just one projection. We like the movies by Director Zhang, they have great atmosphere, the flavour of Chinese is very thick, I can find inspiration when writing songs. Vincent's lyrics don't have anything to say, "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" has deep meaning, I hope Vincent can come see the movie, he will be so moved he'll cry.
Sina: When you were filming the scene on the shield, it was 3 meters tall, it was only 2 meters wide underneath your foot, why did you request not to use wires?
Jay: Using wires will obstruct actions, if actions aren't beautiful. I rather not do it. But it was still ok at the start, after fighting for a few hours, afterwards I felt weak at the knees.
Sina: Was the fighting scenes in it hard? I hear that 99% of the actions were done by you.
Jay: The demands of the actions in the movie were very high, at the start I'd always ask, is this all right? I'm very interested in fighting scenes, I don't want to let people think I don't know how to do actions, if I can do it I'll try and do it myself. More difficult moves like flips, I can't do. When I have time I chat with the stunt man. After finishing the formal scenes, I didn't want to go home to sleep. The director had confidence in me, so the pressure on me was big, I can't be careless, I can't let down the confidence the director has.
Sina: Kung Fu themes and scenes often appear in your MV and music works, did you feel the action scenes in the movie satisfied your craving? How do you think your kung fu was in the movie?
Jay: This time I really enjoyed the fighting, filming "City Full of Golden Armour" and filming MVs is very different. MV only has one or two days, it only satisfies my own feeling of achievement. This time it is satisfying the dreams of the everyone, including my friends and family. I want to thank Director Cheng Xiao Dong, I didn't know how to fight in the beginning, he would cut some out to let me watch it every couple of days, he will go on personally to show me the actions, afterwards I got more and more confidence. The actions were very beautiful, it was filmed like I really knew kung fu. In the future if I have time, I will go to learn kung fu.
Sina: You mentioned that Zhang Yi Mou's movies and your music are both very strong in terms of national consciousness, how do you see Zhang Yi Mou's movies towards the meaning to the Chinese world?
Jay: I think Director Zhang is an index figure, he leads the "Chinese style" as the pride of Chinese people, Zhang Yi Mou's works make foreigners interested in Chinese movies. Movies and music are different, music cannot surpass the language barrier, it's very hard to reach the other shore, movies are different, movies are even more international, Americans and Europeans will watch Zhang Yi Mou's work.
Sina: You mentioned Zhang Yi Mou's movies plus your own music is number one, what kind of influence do you think "City Full of Golden Armour" will have on the understanding that the West have on China?
Jay: Without my music, "City Full of Golden Armour" will still be number one. "City Full of Golden Armour" will stun foreigners. They have always been interested in kung fu, this movie will make them take even more notice of Chinese culture. Not only does the movie have action, it also has deep inner scenes, because it is a story after the Tang Dynasty, there's the gorgeous palace and the clothes we wear, because it cost a lot to make, we hired amazing fine artists, I think it will definitely create a stir.