Chow Yun-fat talks China censorship challenges, what he admires in Korean cinema
Chow Yun-fat talks China censorship challenges and what he admires about Korean cinema





Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-fat has reflected on the struggles of filmmakers under Chinese censorship and how it contrasts with the creative freedom in Korean cinema.
Speaking at Busan International Film Festival, where he received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award last night, the star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was asked by Screen for his take on the state of Hong Kong cinema.
“We have a lot of censorship requirements in mainland China so our scripts must go through a lot of different departments at the [China] Film Bureau,” said Chow at a press conference. “So we must have a very direct and clear situation for the script. We have a lot of restrictions now. It’s very difficult for the filmmakers. But honestly, we will try our best to do our Hong Kong spirit movies. This is our goal.”
The award-winning actor came to prominence in Hong Kong cinema’s golden era of the mid-1980s and early 90s, starring in John Woo action films such as A Better Tomorrow and The Killer as well as Prison On Fire, Hard Boiled and City On Fire.
“A lot of people in the 80s watched a lot of Hong Kong movies and I’m proud of that,” added Chow. “But somehow, after 1997 [when the UK transferred sovereignty of Hong Kong to China], a lot of things changed. We have to pay attention to our government otherwise it is hard to get all the money to develop a story and shoot a movie. The mainland China market is so huge that we have to find a solution to work there.”
At the mainly light-hearted press conference, where he repeatedly joked he was shifting from acting to a new career as an athletic runner, Chow was also asked for his thoughts on the Korean film boom
“The biggest competitive advantage of Korean films is the level of freedom,” he said. “The topics are wide ranging and you have a lot of creativity so whatever I watch Korean films I am always surprised to see this level of freedom.”
BIFF, which runs October 4-13, has programmed a special focus on Chow that will comprise screenings of A Better Tomorrow, Ang Lee’s four-time Oscar winner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and most recent release One More Chance by Anthony Pun.


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