From the young, confused and vigorous boy in "Young Nezha" to the incarnation of Xuanzang, walking slowly and resolutely among the world of living beings, over the past thirty years, Lee Kang-sheng has been the main character in Tsai Ming-liang's movies from beginning to end. logo. He is an actor and a symbol, and has even become the embodiment of time. His life and the characters in his artistic works are intertwined and become an indistinguishable "river". But Lee Kang-sheng is not just a "well-off man" in Tsai Ming-liang's movies. In recent years, he has also appeared more frequently in different film and television works, cooperating with young mainland directors and starring in characters that are in great contrast to his past.
Hishorts just closed! During Xiamen Short Film Week, Li Kangsheng, as the final judge, not only participated in the heavy review work, but also directed and starred in the short film "Windy Days with Clouds".
Li Kangsheng
End of Hishorts! After the review work, Li Kangsheng accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from The Paper, talking about his creation from actor to director, and his understanding of his "slow life".
Short films, a freer creative medium
At first, Li Kangsheng only agreed to be a judge, but later he temporarily added the short films of two other actors Huang Lu and Yu Haoming to be screened and communicated with the audience. Li Kangsheng woke up early to catch an early flight, and after intensive watching and discussions every day, he "recognized bed" again. Li Kangsheng bluntly said that "I was too tired from the beginning to relax."
But he still enjoyed the process. "Some feature films asked me to be a judge, but I turned them down." Li Kangsheng said that the reason why he was willing to accept Hishorts! I was invited to the Xiamen Short Film Week because "I think I can see relatively new things, things for young people."
He believes that purer creations can be seen in the short film ecosystem. “Feature films are subject to market pressure. Sometimes directors have to make films that suit the audience’s taste, and sometimes funders also put pressure on them, so most feature films There are not too many surprises. On the contrary, because there is no pressure when making short films, it is a carrier that allows for more freedom of creation."
Li Kangsheng poster
Li Kangsheng, who has acted in many art films, has already visited film festivals all over the world. The young atmosphere in Xiamen makes him feel fresh and energetic. "It is only five years old and it is already very diverse. There are many possibilities in the future." One week. Spending a lot of time gathering young people with boundless creative ideas reminded him of the past, "When I was young, I was more energetic and impulsive, and wanted to do something for myself. But when I get older, I will be more conservative."
This time, Li Kangsheng also brought his self-directed and acted short film "Windy Days with Clouds".
At first, the car manufacturer approached Li Kangsheng and asked him to shoot an advertisement. Li Kangsheng felt that he was good at making feature films. "I told the producer and asked him to convince the boss. During the process, the producer was also asked Brainwashing the boss. Fortunately, the boss also knows that if you want to shoot a purely commercial story, you don’t have to ask me, so the creation is relatively smooth and free."
"Windy Day with Clouds" Poster
Regarding being a director, Li Kangsheng said, "I am very demanding about photography. Although I don't understand it very well, I care about the coordination of the entire shot. As for the actors, because I am an actor, I may know better when to force the actors to do more. Something comes out.”
When Lee Kang-sheng was an actor himself, there were often only simple hints in the script for him to perform. However, because the opponent actor in the short film was a child, he still needed to give as detailed instructions as possible and even demonstrate to the young actors how to act. "Xiaokang" is created in a very different way.
I once mortgaged the house for my father to make a movie
This short series has a total of 5 episodes, and Li Kangsheng is Hishorts! Xiamen Short Film Week specially edited a version that met the length requirements, removing the product placement part, leaving a divorced father "abducting" his daughter on a road trip to celebrate his grandfather's birthday. 80% of the scenes take place in the car, and Lee Kang-sheng talks a lot more than he does in Tsai Ming-liang's movies.
Lee Kang-sheng hopes to use such a short film to "care about modern society, family culture, parent-child relationships" and other issues. Since the completion of production, "Windy Days with Clouds" has won several awards in the advertising industry.
Li Kangsheng first became a director 20 years ago. At that time, he and his good partner Tsai Ming-Liang agreed to make a short film each, with Lee Kang-sheng making "Missing" and Tsai Ming-Liang making "Not Parting". The titles and themes of the films echoed each other, and they were eventually combined into a feature film.
As a result, Tsai Ming-liang shot "Unbreakable" first, but it got longer and longer and became a full-length film, which incidentally used up Lee Kang-sheng's share of the budget. Li Kangsheng, who had already aroused his creative desire, simply mortgaged his house to complete his feature film debut "Missing". The film also won the New Wave Award at the Busan Film Festival.
"Missing" poster
Asked Li Kangsheng why he was so obsessed with filming "Missing" back then, he said it was because of his father. "My father had always been looking forward to my brother giving birth to a grandson for him to hold. One time, my mother took her grandson to the park to play. The little boy had a big bump on his head. When he got home, my mother was very panicked and said, "What's the matter? What to do? My brother was very worried when he saw that he would scold her. I just wanted to use this story to develop what would happen to my family if the child disappeared. "
The "missing" grandfather and grandson in the film respond to each other, showing the warmth and alienation in family relationships. At the end of the film, Li Kangsheng typed a line, "Dedicated to my father in heaven." The memory of his father has traveled through 20 years and continues into his current creation.
Stills from "Windy Day with Clouds"
In "Windy Days with Clouds", Lee Kang-sheng plays a father who takes his daughter to celebrate his grandfather's birthday. On the way, he meets another "father" Ma Jiahui who has lost his child. "Maybe it's because I don't have children and I don't know how to be a father." Li Kangsheng observed that the divorce rate in today's society remains high, and there are also many friends around him who don't know how to get along with their children because of divorce. He combined these observations and imagination Projected in the film, he becomes a clumsy and helpless father.
Li Kangsheng said that his father had a profound influence on him, "My father came to Taiwan from the mainland and was very strict with me since I was a child. He is more than 20 years older than my mother. He is the so-called strict father in Chinese families."
In "Young Nezha", Xiaokang is working hard to get into a key university. This is also what Li Kangsheng's father expects of him in real life. As a result, Li Kangsheng was spotted by Tsai Ming-liang in the game arcade, and he went astray from then on. This matter has made Li's father brood for many years and he could not agree with it. Li Kangsheng, who did not receive his father's approval, has always felt uneasy in his heart.
The first time I felt my father's attitude towards his film career changing was after filming "Long Live Love". The film won the best film at the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan and also won the Golden Lion, Venice's highest honor. Because he won international awards, Li's father no longer opposed Li Kangsheng's filming and did not urge him to find other jobs. "He didn't say he agreed, he just didn't stop me anymore."
Stills of "Long Live Love"
The significance of "Long Live Love" to Li Kangsheng is not only external awards and his father's acceptance, but more importantly, he began to realize that he had "enlightenment" on acting. ""Long Live Love" made me discover that I have some insights into acting, and I found that I can give the director more unexpected performances."
The characters in the movie use words to talk about trivial matters, but when it comes to love, they remain silent. The long shot of Yang Guimei crying in the park at the end of the film even evolved into an organized "crying New Year's Eve event" among young people 20 years later. At the beginning of the new year, Li Kangsheng saw this strange event in the news and forwarded it on Weibo, saying that he would go there next year if there is another chance.
After his father passed away, when Li Kangsheng was cleaning up his room, he also found a video tape of "Youth Nezha". "I didn't even know this happened. I was shocked and moved at the moment."
"Youth Nezha" poster
Keep your own pace and walk without distractions
In Xiamen, Li Kangsheng communicated with the audience and said hello. The host said, "Director Kangsheng speaks as slowly as he does in the movies." Slowness has almost become Li Kangsheng's signature state.
Tsai Ming-liang once said when evaluating Lee Kang-sheng, "He is very strange. Everything is slow, his reactions are slow, and even turning around is slow." The slowness of Tsai Ming-liang's movies was "dragged" by Lee Kang-sheng .
Li Kangsheng
When we first started working together, Tsai Ming-liang couldn't stand this kind of rhythm, and even criticized Li Kangsheng, but Li Kangsheng replied to him, "This is how I am, this is my nature." Tsai Ming-liang did not expect that he would retaliate, and this sentence The words also changed Tsai Ming-liang's view on acting, "We always have pre-existing views on actions, and we always feel that specific emotions must be performed how they should be performed. I began to find that there was something very unique about him. His The movement may be slow, but why do I always want him to move faster?”
Even in later performances that became increasingly "slow", Tsai Ming-liang believed that "this slowness and loneliness are actually telling the essence of life."
During the interview, talking about the process of adapting to a different rhythm between himself and others, Li Kangsheng said, "I am not anxious, but the director is more anxious. At the beginning, I worked with Uncle Miao (Miao Tian) and Yang Guimei, and they I feel it's weird when I'm acting opposite, but they can't cater to me, and I can't cater to them. I don't feel out of place. I think this rhythm is my personal characteristic. I do myself, and they do the same. They were fine. Later, everyone got used to it, and we became a team. In fact, actors can each have their own rhythm, and they don’t all have to be in the same rhythm."
Stills from Tsai Ming-liang's movie "What time is it over there"
However, Li Kangsheng thought about it and felt that he "shouldn't be so slow" when he was a child. "No one said that when I was a child, and my classmates didn't say that I was slow when I was studying. I only got said like that when I entered this industry." , I just discovered it." This slowness may be related to the initial discomfort when entering this industry, "Everyone is my teacher, and I gradually became afraid to speak. I kept the words in my heart and wanted to express them. The things gradually became less and less. Maybe Director Cai has finished what he needs to say, he loves to talk a lot." Li Kangsheng joked.
Not long ago, the 74th Berlin Film Festival announced the list of the "Berlinale Special" section, and the new film "Nowhere", a collaboration between Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng, was on the list. This is the sixth time that Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng have been shortlisted for Berlin. It is also Tsai Ming-Liang’s return to Berlin after being shortlisted for the Berlin main competition with the feature film "Days" in 2020. "Nowhere" is a new chapter in Tsai Ming-liang's "Walker" series, in which Lee Kang-sheng transforms into a monk dressed in red robes walking around the city.
Stills from "Nowhere to Live"
At the 2023 Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival, Lee Kang-sheng's film "Where" was screened while walking at the Pompidou Museum in Paris. Tsai Ming-liang said, "I hope to live to be 80 years old and see how Lee Kang-sheng performs in this series."
The walking location of "Nowhere to Live" was in the Museum of Fine Arts in Washington. Talking about the walking over the years, Li Kangsheng said, "What we photographed was Xuanzang's spirit. The state of walking was actually the same, and the mentality became more and more determined as we walked. . When I was shooting in the past, I would still be disturbed by the surrounding environment to some extent, especially in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong city is too prosperous, with busy traffic and noisy people, so I will still be disturbed by the surrounding environment. Now I can really focus on nothing."
Break through yourself and try different performance methods
However, Lee Kang-sheng, who has been slow for half his life in Tsai Ming-liang's movies, has become a bit "faster" in recent years.
In recent years, Li Kangsheng's screen image has become more abundant. He has come to the mainland to make films and cooperated with more and more young directors. Talking about this change, Li Kangsheng said, "On the one hand, the directors I like to act in their films may be getting older and they are making fewer and fewer films. On the other hand, I also want to help young directors." Li Kangsheng Knowing his "advantages", "It's not easy to be a director. The first film means a lot to them. It's easier to get into major film festivals with my name on the cast list."
In "An Unexpected Life", Hua Qi appears to be honest but is actually violent and dark; in "Snow Cloud", Han Jiangyu, a returnee from a foreign land who lives in the past; in "Forest in the Mountains", Brother Sheng is bound by love and returns to the world...Li Kangsheng hopes that he It’s not just the “well-off” people in Tsai Ming-liang’s movies.
"I hope the audience can see Lee Kang-sheng with different aspects. I have also played the role of 'Wolf Master', a gangster boss, and the ghost-catcher Zhong Kui." In the list of films starring Lee Kang-sheng in recent years, he can also Seeing genre-biased creations such as thrillers and suspense, "break through yourself and let yourself try different performance methods."
Stills from "Forest in the Mountains"
Stills from "An Unexpected Life"
Of course, there is no need to worry that Lee Kang-sheng will lose his characteristics, "The directors who come to me are more 'accustomed' to me. Most of them grew up watching my movies, and they all feel that my performance has inspired them, and they also think that I should be able to You will come to me only if you are qualified." However, Li Kangsheng also admitted that as a Taiwanese actor, there are still restrictions on filming in the mainland. "Due to the accent problem, I don't seem to have filmed films north of the Yangtze River. When filming in the South, there are still restrictions on accents.”
The story of "Snow Cloud" takes place in Hainan
Li Kangsheng was once troubled by severe torticollis, which was life-threatening at one time. The most severe period lasted for five years, which made him suffer from depression. “He had to receive too much treatment and saw almost 50 famous doctors. Some of them concluded that I I am disabled for life, and some people think that I will be troubled by this forever. Massage is very painful, and I have no confidence in curing it." Later, Li Kangsheng said that he had become a good doctor after a long illness, and he finally got better after insisting on wearing a cervical collar for four or five months.
"Now I feel like I have made all my money in vain these past few years. Except for staying up late and smoking, I am pretty healthy at other times." When asked about his current health condition, he responded, "The condition is still not very good, mainly due to lack of exercise. . When you are tired, your neck will be very sore and you need to apply heat frequently and do stretching exercises.”
