Sifu Guy Lai
"Millionaires Express" HKL Interview:
When
he was working in a lion dance troupe, I used to go dancing, and he
would like to go dancing too. We both liked to go drinking together,
hang out together. He loves to make jokes, and is a very active person.
When he was a child he did kung fu suited for the stage such as
tumbling. Even though he is fat… he’s very agile and very intelligent.
Whatever you tell him, he may repeat itt o you 3 or 4 years later. So
he’s very intelligent.Sammo is very easy to approach. He’s someone who
likes to drink… How shall I put it? Party. So he’s very sociable. He’s
a very good director and actor. In a lot of films at that time, even though Lau Kar Leung directed "Shaolin Martial Arts", there wasn’t one film that explored Wing Chun in depth, because Wing Chun is too simple, three parts making up one set, and it’s not beautiful to watch. Standing there, just rotating… Yeah, it doesn’t look goon on film. One day, when we were doing „Dirty Tiger Crazy Frog”, another film I did with Sammo, he asked if we could film using Wing Chun. I sait that one could film in such a way that made Wing Chun look good. He asked me about what I knew, so I told him my thoughts and that we could try them out. After I finished talking, he decided that it was doable. Nowadays most movies take two or three months, some just spend one month on making a film. That’s why that film was well received because we took a lot of time and used a lot of film. If something wasn’t good, we would redo it, and repeat the process, thanks to Sammo Hung’s hard work. He has high standards. So whenever I plan the action sequences, if he feels that it’s the same as what was filmed earlier, he might say „These moves look good, but you’re repeating yourself. That won’t do, what can we do?” I’d reply „No need for concern. If I add something new in between the moves, then the audience will feel that we’re taking a different approach”. He’d say „Show me.” He’d go like this… looking at you. After I’d demonstrated, if I see a smile then I can go, I know that it’s okay. If he’s like „Hmm!”, then I know it won’t do. So it’s all due to good communication and we’ve known each other for so long… so long. There’s unspoken communication.
Also Yuen Biao and Lam Ching-ying are very experienced. A lot of it was a result of suggestions from them, which we incorporated and also because I’d been doing Wing Chun since I was a child. So for each move, how to make it look good, I would discuss it with them. The credit doesn’t go to just one individual. The aches and pains, the difficulties during filming… it all paid off. So we were all pleased with it. It was special, because we all worked in unison. None of us ever quarrelled… It’s… the process, the changes made… It was a product of all the experience accumulated through the years by Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying and what I told them about Wing Chun. It wasn’t just me. The credit lies mostly with them, rather than with me, because they were more experienced in film work. So of course I feel a bit… like I’m walking on air… proud. However, everybody… To produce a film and have others acknowledge its merits, one would feel this way anyway.