Listen to great interview with legendary filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, with an intro by Ang Lee.
A little taste:
“In our productions—because we produce our films—basically, every day is like a war. We have to fight for what we want. The thing is, we try to do as much as we can, and so we roll until the last minute. I still remember when we shot Happy Together (1997) in Argentina, we shot one day a place called Ushuaia, which is the [most southern] part of America—because after that will be Antarctica, right. It’s so far away from Buenos Aires. We shot and shot until we realized, with Chris, I said, “Do we have enough film stock?†“No, we ran out of film stock.†“But we still have one scene. What we are supposed to do?†Then we sit down and then Chris comes up with an idea. So we go to all these photo shops to buy film rolls. It is like film rolls—but film rolls normally have thirty-six frames, or twenty-four frames. So we just rolled it and make this whole scene in still shots. So each shot lasts one second. And this is the way to do it. (Laughter) And we had fun, because I think at that point, we all feel this is an accomplishment! Sometimes people think, “Well, this is your style.†But I always want to explain—to students, especially—I say, “Well it’s not only an aesthetic decision. Sometimes it is a practical solution to solve your problem.â€
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(Our dear Christopher Doyle, the last Toxico International Guest, will be filming again with Kar Wai, in China, this summer. And mmm yes oh yes Tóxico will be dropping by for a visit.)
(Gracias Nadia por el link.)