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Jacob Cheung - The Conscience of Hong Kong Cinema
Written by YumCha! Editorial Team
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Moviegoers did not have to wait another five years for Jacob Cheung's next work. In 2008, he premiered his new film Ticket at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, and spared some time to talk to YumCha! about his latest work and his experiences in filmmaking over the last two decades.
Ticket to the Heart




The most memorable part of the film for Cheung is the scene of Zeng Yu Tong crossing the river on a mid-air rope-pulley bridge. "The rope is 200 yards (183 meters) long, but it only takes two minutes to cross the river. One can imagine how fast the pulley goes!" Cheung was very concerned about the actors as there was no safety net, and the river rapids below were very dangerous. It took two days of continuous shooting to successfully complete this daring scene, but the efforts were well worth it. From this scene, the audience can see the kind of determination necessary for a mother to undertake the grueling journey through rivers and mountains to deliver her infant daughter to a better life.

Ticket around China
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Yanjing Cathedral | Meri Snow Mountain |
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Nujiang River | Yanjing |
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Ancient Tea Horse Road | Mountainscape |
Twenty Years of Filmmaking
Jacob Cheung was nominated for Best Director at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) with his very first film, Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch (1986), a historical drama based on the turbulent life of China's last royal eunuch. Though he lost out that year to Stanley Kwan, Cheung would become a regular at the HKFA, winning Best Screenplay in 1989 for Beyond the Sunset, which depicts a mother-daughter relationship, and sweeping Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay in 1992 for Cageman, a social drama about the struggles of the lower class.Looking back at all his films, Jacob Cheung has an especially strong impression of the following works:

"This is a lesser known film. The first half focuses on psychological fear while the second half emphasizes images. From this film I learned that ghosts don't actually need to appear in a ghost film. Having the image is enough."

"I wanted to make a film similar to The Sound of Music. This is also my first film with child actors; I really like it. I plan to make a musical again in the future. One idea is to film China's The White-Haired Girl story, and bring out a feeling similar to Carman."

"The film I am most satisfied with to date. Be it in directing technique, shooting, or editing, Intimates is my most developed work, even more so than A Battle of Wits. The story is very meaningful, and the characters gave the actors a lot of room to perform. The whole film is like a stage play, and the circumstances are very realistic."

"Back then, I borrowed HK$2 million to make the film. I actually only finished paying back the debt last year (2007)... Leslie Cheung contributed a lot to the film; he participated with kindness and sincerity. He only received a nominal fee of HK$1 for acting in the film, and patiently taught the child actors not only about acting, but also about life. Later when I came up with the idea for A Battle of Wits, I originally wanted Leslie to participate, but sadly he's not here anymore."

"At first, I wanted Midnight Fly to continue Intimates' exploration of a woman's emotional world, to be an Intimates Part 2. Intimates was set in China during a conservative era. Midnight Fly's story was moved to modern-day Europe to bring out a different, uninhibited atmosphere. In the film, Anita Mui stays to help her romantic rival Junna Risa, representing the camaraderie between women. I think that amongst people, being able to give to your enemy is more admirable than giving to your lover. Thus, I changed my original idea; instead of being Intimates Part 2, Midnight Fly became an independent story."
A Battle of Time
After Midnight Fly, Jacob Cheung joined a film production company, and took up an executive position. The great pressure he experienced at the position led him to understand that he only and simply wanted to be a director so he left the film company to work on his own. Cheung started planning A Battle of Wits back in 2000, but encountered many obstacles in the financing process. During this time, he also filmed two television series, Seven Swordsmen and Hero on the Silk Road, but the collaborations were not happy experiences, making Cheung wary of television productions. Things began to look up for Cheung in 2003 when he met producer William Kong and Japanese investors. After five years of waiting and uncertainty, A Battle of Wits was finally confirmed for production in 2005, and completed in 2006.

In 2009, Jacob Cheung is preparing his new film Matouqin which, like A Battle of Wits, is again a grand war film with an anti-war message. The matouqin, or morin khuur, is a stringed instrument that symbolizes Mongolia, and there are many stories and legends connected with it. Cheung's film details the turbulent life of a Mongolian slave who escapes from his owner and ends up leading an army of slaves in battle for Genghis Khan. The battlefield turns him cruel and ruthless until one day he is awakened to the tragedy of war by his comrade's sacrifice. Matouqin will be shot in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region with an estimated budget of HK$80 million.
No More Hong Kong Films


In twenty years of filmmaking, Jacob Cheung has had his share of ups and downs, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the strong sense of passion, sincerity, and humanism in his films. Be it small mother-daughter relationship dramas or big-budget pacifist war epics, Jacob Cheung films always come with a conscience, a cause, an earnest appeal to the human spirit. In an era of fewer and fewer Hong Kong films, we are fortunate to still have Hong Kong filmmakers like Jacob Cheung.
Interviewer: Garden
Special Thanks to 2008 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
Jacob Cheung Filmography
- Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch (1986)
- Beyond the Sunset (1989)
- Goodbye Hero (1990)
- Lover's Tear (1991)
- Cageman (1991)
- Always On My Mind (1993)
- The Returning (1994)
- Whatever Will Be, Will Be (1995)
- Intimates (1996)
- Yesterday You, Yesterday Me (1997)
- The Kid (1999)
- Midnight Fly (2001)
- A Battle of Wits (2006)
- Ticket (2008)
Published May 25, 2009
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