DONNIE YEN Rebel genius by Tom Mes In the pages of this magazine, I have been known to rant and rave about the many qualities of a certain Jackie Chan. But there's another Hong Kong filmmaker that I equally admire. This man is Donnie Yen. Not nearly as well known in the west, Yen's films differ greatly from Chan's, but both men share a dedication and a wholly personal view on filmmaking that makes their works truly unique. On my recent trip to Hong Kong I had the great fortune, thanks to the ever amicable Bey Logan, of finally meeting Donnie. In fact one of the reasons I went to HK was to interview him. For this humble reporter, a few yes and no answers to some simple questions would have made my day. But the interview that followed soon turned into something much bigger, as Donnie talked and talked, offering his views on filmmaking and being quite outspoken in the process. The following are excerpts from the interview. Click here for the complete version. "I'm quite confident that I'm capable of delivering under whatever circumstances. The toughest part is dealing with creativity and business at the same time. That is the hardest. If your producer comes up to you in the middle of shooting, when you're totally into the film, and says "We're fifteen thousand short", I mean how are you going to continue? That is the toughest, you have to maintain a certain kind of cool, a certain kind of calmness to deal with whatever unexpected circumstances that can occur every single shooting day." "You know, I have always been a rebel, in my whole entire life, since I was just a martial artist. I always have questions in the back of my mind. Why does it have to be this way? Can it be that way? I always try to question and challenge that system and I guess that kind of attitude I brought into the film industry when I was just an actor." "When I was an action choreographer, when I used to work for Yuen Woo Ping, I used to grab a whole team of people and just raise questions. To the photographer, or to Yuen Woo Ping: "could it be that way? Could be it be that? Can why try it this way?". Very soon, I established a kind of trust from Yuen Woo Ping, because I made a lot of his films happen with my suggestions." "I started becoming an action choreographer myself, but against the big boys. I was never an established action choreographer because I never won any kind of award. I'd like to win an award, but I think all awards are political. Every year the HK Film Award is won by Golden Harvest. Every single year! So you know they give it to their own boys." "I want to find a way to upgrade action movies in my own way. I can't compete with the big boys, the big companies, like Jackie Chan's movies, because I can't blow up a whole building. I can't make mainstream movies because of the budget. I have to make something different, something the audience would pay money to come and see, even though it's a low budget movie. At least they'll say "When I see a Donnie Yen movie, I see something new every time"." "I want to satisfy audiences, I want to satisfy myself. Maybe it's the whole ego thing, I don't know. Even if it is, it doesn't matter. You need a certain type of ego to be a good director. You have to be interested... basically in yourself, otherwise you can't have that confidence in your point of view." "I think the next couple of years I would like to make films that are more spiritual. Because I think the world needs it. I'm not saying that I'm a saint or anything. I'm in a position where I realise that somehow people can be influenced by films. I'd like to be more positive in what I give the world. There's so many problems. Hopefully my films can do something, bring some good to to the world." "To be honest Yuen Woo Ping really didn't teach me anything. That was the unfortunate thing. I learned everything by myself. I guess Yuen Woo Ping and most of these older directors, their knowledge of directing is based on experience, but they never went in to study theories behind filmmaking or directing. So I don't think they can answer any kind of question. If you ask them why, they don't know." Click here for the entire interview