RIDLEY TSUI High flyer part 3 TM: I don't think if you're going to work in Hollywood that's going to be just as easy, to be in front of the camera as well as behind it. Again, because of rules and restrictions. JP: I also think Hollywood'll give you time. On a HK movie they might say "Ridley, here's the money, you've got thirty days to film". You can't spend an hour on the set telling the actor what his motivation is. Ridley is the director, he knows what the director wants, 'cause it's him. So he goes out and acts. And he's actually a very good actor. He can act in front of a camera, which a lot of guys can't do in HK. But in the west you've got time, you can spend five minutes, ten minutes to say to the actor "this is what I need for this shot". In HK you can't do that. In HK you'll rarely hear an actor say "what is my motivation" or something to that effect. Usually what they're doing is so robotic that they know exactly what's wanted of them. Usually that's the case. TM: But then you might as well do everything yourself, become a one-man moviemaking machine. JP: Have you noticed how Ridley uses the same actors more than once, if he likes them? TM: Yes, I have. JP: It's the same with crew. Because these people have worked with him before, they know his vision. TM: So that's the Ridley Tsui family then? You know, a lot of american independent directors do that as well. They use the same crew, the same actors. A lot of times they also write their own scripts. That's possible if you do an independent movie where the budget's not too high. RT: But when one man is in charge of so many positions... you have to let the other people share your pressure, share your stress. With Jackie Chan, every movie is the same, no news at all. If you want to make it fresh, you have to let other people share your pressure. Someone should say: "Jackie, the last film you did was a cop story, maybe this movie we can talk about a fireman". He goes: "No, just police". Every movie is like that. TM: There's a danger in thinking you're a good filmmaker and knowing you do good work, there's a danger in not asking other people their opinions. You have to be open to other people's criticism and advice. Because often their advice is something you hadn't even thought of. RT: You have to hear the opinion from other people. Then I will figure out if he's right or if he's wrong. TM: How did you get in touch with Hollywood? RT: Through Robin, Robin Shou. After part 1, because Mortal Kombat part 1 was very succesfull in America, after that Robin Shou recommended me for that job. Then Larry Kassanoff saw my showreel, he saw my works, my tapes, everything. And then he said "okay, I would like to see this guy". Then he hired me, initially just for testing. They think "Ridley is not bad, let's give him that chance". TM: Have you found that that's the way it works, that there's a lot of testing before you actually get the job? RT: Yes, you could say that. It's very lucky you know, because with Mortal Kombat part 2 I think I really showed off my skills and my style. And then the producer Larry Kassanoff, he hired me again for the Mortal Kombat tv series. When Mortal Kombat 2 was released in America, the audience think "This is pretty good, it's different from part one and other action movies" and then another movie company and another producer contacted me by long-distance phone call, "Are you Ridley Tsui?" "Yeah." "Would you like to make a movie in America?" "Yeah!" That's how I got the other jobs. TM: Have you found that in America you get a lot of things offered to you, and they'll say "yeah, you're fantastic, we should work together some time" and then it doesn't really happen? RT: No, not really, because they want to put more HK style into their movies at the moment. They saw what I'd done, so that's why they trust me. They know I'm a director, so they know I can handle everything on the set. That's why they invest money in me. TM: You mentioned there's a Mortal Kombat tv series coming up? RT: Yeah. Larry is still working on it. I think there's a rights problem. Larry owns the rights, but New Line invested money in the movies and they have a say, so they're still arguing. TM: But when they get the rights cleared, you'll definitely be part of that? RT: I think so, yes. But for now I've still got my own projects. TM: Tell me something more about those. RT: One movie is about the golden child, Jude is helping me with that. I would like hire Robin Shou to play the golden child. He's going to fight the devil who killed his entire family. There's this great twist at the end. And then with the other project I would like to talk about the chinese railroad workers. They were brought to America to work on the railroads, you know? Of course there's discrimination, the chinese get beaten. Robin will play the chinese doctor. So I would like to talk about chinese medicine, how it works. The Americans don't believe the chinese medicine can heal the body. And there's this murder plot that Robin gets involved in. TM: There was talk about you doing another project, an action film set in a high rise building. RT: Yeah. It's called Strychnine. That came through J.J. Perry, the stunt guy from Mortal Kombat 2. A producer saw that film and asked J.J. about me. So he gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to direct an american movie. I said okay, so they sent me a script. It's a low budget movie, but I would like to do it, as a first step. Even though the script is not spectacular, a bit like Die Hard, everything happening in one building. But there's action, kicks, punches, guns shooting, so I still want to make it. This film, I want to make it different from american action movies. I want to put more HK style in it. Stunts, wires, have the bad guy pulled back ten or twenty feet against the wall when he gets shot. Make it much more spectacular, to really show off the HK style. TM: And you think you'll have the freedom to do that with this film? RT: I think so. Because the producer trusts me, he believes in me so much. But first I will do the Mortal Kombat tv series. Then after that I will do my own projects with Robin Shou, about the golden child and the railroad workers and after that Strychnine. Tom Mes