With his signature circular glasses and mustache, Michael Chow is an exuberant force at the crossroads between eccentric | dG1fclBIMnB4THg4SVE
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - When I was young, I wanted to become a painter.
00:06 - A painter religiously, but you learn very quickly.
00:09 - China in the West was nothing.
00:12 - They say, "No, you can't be a painter.
00:16 You can't do anything."
00:17 - Except for restaurant and laundry.
00:19 - So he said, "I'm not gonna do a laundry,
00:21 I'm doing a restaurant."
00:22 - He had to invent a whole new persona.
00:28 - The name, Mr. Chow.
00:30 - I wanted to create respect, respect for my country.
00:33 - Because no one had called him Mr. Chow.
00:36 - Chinese are low of low, so I wanna show them
00:39 we are the sheik of sheik.
00:40 This is theater.
00:41 We're looking for transcendence to a higher place.
00:45 - The restaurant was crazy.
00:47 - All the Hollywood is there.
00:49 - It was a safe place for a lot of people.
00:55 - But Mr. Chow is a character created by him,
00:59 of the man who doesn't want people to know
01:02 who he really is.
01:03 - Give me a black and white with a stick, please.
01:08 My father was completely an artist.
01:10 - Revolutionized the Beijing opera.
01:14 He said to me, "Wherever you go,
01:19 always remember you are Chinese."
01:22 (man shouts)
01:25 - The problem with race, it hurts.
01:28 You take away my glasses and take away my Rolls Royce,
01:32 I'm knocking it up now.
01:33 - These paintings speak about turmoil, about tension,
01:40 but they're also very joyous and free.
01:42 (man shouts)
01:45 - Art and creativity is something
01:47 that is very important to him.
01:49 It's one of the things that makes us human.
01:54 - Most important thing about artists
01:56 is their job to be true to their time,
01:58 true to their dream,
02:02 and above all,
02:04 true to themselves.
02:08 (upbeat music)
02:11 (whooshing)
02:14 (upbeat music)
02:16 (upbeat music)
02:19 (upbeat music)
02:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]