Over the past three decades, Hong Kong-Taiwanese actress Shu Qi has inhabited some of the most memorable female figures in screen history. Now, she has turned her attention to directing. Her debut feature as director, Girl, premiered last week at the Venice Biennale, to great acclaim and many tears.
A highly embodied and visceral portrayal of a young girl's experience of daily life amid domestic abuse, Shu Qi's sensitive and sensory drama extends an outstretched hand of empathy to its young protagonist - and to her parents. It's a palm you'll be clasping tightly by the time the credits roll.
Screen Anarchy had the pleasure of speaking with Shu Qi about the film ahead of its premiere at the Venice Biennale. The interview was conducted in a roundtable format, paired with Kuriko Sato of Eiga - we've labelled the questions accordingly.
Eiga: I read in the production notes that you took 11 years to finish the screenplay after deciding to make a movie. Why did you take so much time? Was it hesitation with the story, or something else?
Shu Qi: First of all, it's thanks to the well-known master director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Eleven years ago, he asked me: "Why not become a director?" I didn't expect that question.
I'm not a professional scriptwriter, so it took a long time. I had to write, revise, and write again. And as an actress, I had a full schedule. I had to make time to write.
I had to find inspiration too. I found that here in Venice actually, when I served as a jury member. I watched so many different films, and what spurred me on is that perhaps the arthouse landscape is changing. If I did not give birth to my film, perhaps I would lose the chance to do it.
Screen Anarchy: You seem to craft a fresh film grammar to accurately capture girlhood in this film? These experiences are depicted viscerally and feel highly embodied on screen. Watching the film, I thought of other filmmakers doing similar in the present moment, such as Yoko Yamanaka with DESERT OF NAMIBIA. How conscious were you to find a new film language to accurately capture these experiences?
The harmful experience at the hands of the family is the central topic, and talking about violence that comes from that place and all the sorrow, all the darkness from that is so heavy as a subject to talk about. There are two possibilities: you grow up in a family with that characteristic, and through a healing experience you reach a so-called normal life; the other is that you do not heal yourself, you continue to perpetrate the violence to others - there is still an open wound.
I didn't want to show the father hitting his daughter, because then all this cannot resonate. The little girl has to be immersed in her closet - that way, I can show in the theater how she is truly feeling.My aim was to really let the audience resonate with Hsiao-lee's inner world. So, no actual hitting, but all that recreation of perspective. That's my answer about the film language, because that was the base of my choice - what to avoid and what to really recreate.
Eiga: Is this movie more or less autobiographical?
The father's character is inspired by and made up of 80% my own father. But chatting with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and drawing from my experience with him, I learned when not to direct. Hsiao-lee's character is based on her actress' own performance decisions. I just have to guide the actors, observe. The film started with my own observation, right?
During the shooting period, Bai Xiao-Ying was 15 years old. She didn't just do what I wanted from the notes I gave, she was truly sympathetic with the character. Based on this logic of observation, I wrote the mother character and Li-li characters, which are added - they're not part of my own experience.
I didn't want Hsiao-lee to be Shu Qi as a character. In the end, if you want to reach a combined percentage, these characters are 30% my own experience. My own mother was more violent than that character.
I think not only in Asia, but all over the world, it's the case that a lot of families don't separate in the wake of domestic violence - they stick together. I think if the child is the object of the violence, it's so harmful and damaging to their life.
If you can come through self-healing, maybe you can get to the reconciliation with yourself, telling yourself that it wasn't your fault. If in the audience there are mothers and daughters, maybe we can stop the cycle and start a reconciliation process. And if there are parents, maybe they can learn to act differently.
Screen Anarchy: You've started your career with a feature that is very personal to you, as many first-time filmmakers often do. I'm curious, what are you hoping to pursue next as a director?
While we were making Girl, I actually wrote two other works. Now, thanks to the fact that I'm in competition with this film, I've become more ambitious. I hope the next work will happen thanks to strong critical reception and key sales. The next work will still center female topics - it'll be about the life experience of a female grown-up - about life and death.
Girl premiered at the Venice Biennale and screened in Toronto last night. It screens again on September 10 and 11.