Actor Sung Kang and Co-Writer George Haung talk to The Inside Reel about approach, concept and representation in regards to their new action film: “Weekend in Taipei” from Ketchup Entertainment.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00There's a between you and me I'm not gonna lose you again
00:21You're supposed to be dead
00:33Guys, what are you doing here?
00:34We forgot our keys
00:35You're just killing cars and he's punching everyone? Who are you people?
00:38Get in
00:39Let's be a mother
00:50Directing a movie is hard
00:57Things go sideways really fast
01:01I've been on sets where everyone's not on the same page
01:07It can be a nightmare
01:10We've been collaborating for the last 10 years
01:14We've written a couple of scripts together
01:16I wanted to do a female transporter set in Asia
01:21We set about writing it
01:23It just evolved organically from there
01:26We had actually written it to be set in Hong Kong
01:29But the budget of that just proved to be too high
01:32Luke had made Lucy
01:34He spent a couple weeks in Taipei
01:36I really had a great experience there
01:38You're from Taiwan
01:39Why don't you go over to Taiwan and see if we can relocate the entire movie over there
01:43I scouted the island for a month
01:45It was great, we can do it
01:47They said, perfect, you're going to direct it now
01:49It was like, oh my god
01:51Having worked with Luke for 10 years, we have a shorthand
01:56Again, he's an icon in this genre
02:00He's done this hundreds of times
02:03He knows exactly how to execute it
02:04I really thought, I'm going to get the support I need as a filmmaker
02:09It was an easy yes to say, let's go do this
02:15I'm John Lawlor
02:17I was undercover to finally take Kwong's operation down
02:25We were getting it all on camera
02:34We can still solve this
02:35The confidential informants come forward
02:42I just need one weekend
02:44What's the handoff?
02:45Taipei
02:46Absolutely not
02:47After what happened last time, go relax
02:48The drugs will still be here on Tuesday and so will Kwong
02:51The greatest thing, I'll go over to Sun about this as well
02:54It's very specific
02:55The characters have stakes
02:57They have something to lose or there's something they want
03:00And not necessarily just money
03:02It has to do with what they want internally
03:05Actually, Sun, could you talk about that in terms of Kwong?
03:09Because he, as a character, he wants something that maybe he never was intended to have
03:14Could you talk about that yin and yang of him?
03:19That's something that George and I explored and discussed at the beginning
03:26Of trying to give Kwong a different dimension that's different from a typical bad guy
03:35On paper, Kwong could read as just a guy who's just angry at the world and power-hungry and money-hungry
03:42But underneath it, he's a guy that's just in love
03:47And that's something I think most people can relate with
03:51But then in this fictional world, what would this character do?
03:56If that person he is in love with, his first and only love was being taken away from him
04:03And so then there's a why, the stakes are
04:05Those are the stakes, right?
04:08Joey, my love, you're home
04:12What are we celebrating?
04:15Just another day with my beautiful wife
04:21Cheers
04:25Where were you today? You didn't pick up your phone
04:29Bad signal, bad battery
04:31Just my trial started today
04:34How did it go?
04:37Officials won an investigation, board members won my head
04:42Other than that, just great
04:45I'm sorry, who's the snitch?
04:48That's an excellent question
04:53And that's fun as an actor to dive into, right?
04:57Just being angry for the sake of being angry or being bad for the sake of being bad
05:02That's really hard to put your hooks into
05:05But this was something that I would wake up to and be excited about
05:10And then also being able to have a discussion with George
05:14An Asian-American male that understands how difficult it is to have three-dimensional representation
05:23In Hollywood
05:25So that was something I felt like, okay, I'm in safe hands
05:30Because these characters are very dangerous
05:32Because they can just be this one-dimensional kind of forgettable character
05:38That doesn't really push the needle forward
05:41And I think it's a different time
05:43So I think audiences are desensitized
05:45And they're hungry for something like this
05:48And the questions that are coming from all the interviewers
05:51It's something, a bad guy character that they can relate with, right?
05:57So you're kind of rooting for him, right?
06:00So I think the job was done
06:09Joey, my love, where were you today?
06:11My trial study
06:16Ready?
06:22Who's this next?
06:23That's an excellent question
06:24And George, you know, because that reflects back in tone
06:27And this is blending a couple different genres
06:30You have the action genre, but you're also doing almost a
06:33There's a romantic, like, satire slash comedy element
06:37And that requires a certain taste
06:39That requires a certain sort of crispness in the way people interact
06:43And then to slow down at times
06:45Could you talk about that and finding that dichotomy, if you will?
06:50Well, you know, a lot of it happens organically
06:52I mean, you know, look, we set out with the intention
06:54We're going to make, you know, an action film
06:56We're going to, you know, play in that sandbox, that genre
07:00But then, you know, when you get, like, incredible actors
07:02Like Sung and Gweilun Mae and White Yang and Luke Evans
07:06When you have those resources at your disposal
07:08It's like, okay, let's do a little more
07:10And so, you know, it all evolves organically
07:13Especially when you have someone like Sung who wants to put in the work
07:16You know, he came to, you know, he flew down to Taipei weeks before we needed him
07:20Because it's like, okay, let's work on this character
07:22Let's figure this out, let's see how
07:24You want to do all the prep work and the leg work
07:26And, you know, as a filmmaker, that really is a gift
07:28To have someone who wants to invest, you know
07:31And so it makes all the other things, you know
07:33It just happens naturally
07:35Yes, you know, I like to have a sense of humor about things
07:37And, you know, I wanted to, you know, really, you know
07:40Create a family dynamic that would, you know
07:43That's more heartfelt, you know
07:45A romantic interest that, you know, really, you know
07:47Can grab audiences
07:49And so, yeah, you know, it is a narrow tightrope to walk
07:52And, you know, hopefully we got across the other side
07:54Without, you know, too much, you know
07:56Without any casualties
07:58But, yeah, but it really is
08:00It speaks to everyone who worked on this film, you know
08:02The collaboration of it to pull off something like that
08:05Where we can have the action
08:07We can have the humor
08:08We can have the heart, you know
08:10Ideally, we created a movie that hopefully appeals to everybody
08:12Has something for everyone
08:15I can finally take him down
08:18I don't know why you married Kwon
08:20Sometimes it's easier to forget the past
08:24Joey, it's been 15 years
08:27Whether I broke your heart is not coming back
08:31What are you doing here? How did you find me?
08:33Mom, who's this?
08:34Mom, you have a son?
08:35John, Kwon is sending men right now
08:40You bring me my wife and you kill John Mahler
08:43You're in trouble now
08:49Seriously, who is this guy?
08:51I see you haven't changed a bit
08:52Everyone, shut up and let me drive