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Valentina Vellucci In France they have ceased to broadcast big
brother because people are bored of it and don’t watch it. What I want to
ask you is how are reality TV shows that are similar in format to big
brother received in Malaysia? Because here in Europe it has taken us a long
time to understand the ridiculousness of these shows and you have been able
to understand it with such sharpness and irony and express it in one film.
What is the format for reality shows in Malaysia? Are they similar to
European ones?
peter davis Reality
shows are not very real in Malaysia they are more like TV series and just
like normal documentary stuff. We don’t have many reality shows as such.
jerrica lai I think the
reality show is a very new phenomenon in Asia. I think big brother is
actually very advanced compared to what we have. What we have are shows like
the apprentice, and we only just got this show in the last year or so. So we
are only now catching up to European formats of reality shows. I also think
that because of the cultural differences and maybe some cultural barriers
reality shows like big brother will not be so controversial. They are still
quite mild; there wouldn’t be the extremes within the shows.
pd it’s all very
censored
jl We are latching on
to some shows though, like for example, the American idol, pop idol, X
factor and all those things are done locally. I think it’s just a matter of
time until we do something like big brother.
Aliyah HUSSAIN Even
though it’s as you say quite a new format, you have still cottoned on to the
idea of the ridiculousness of reality TV and managed to express this in such
a fresh and innovative way, in a way that us in Europe haven’t even thought
of and we are bombarded with the stuff. You have managed to think about the
ideas behind it and even philosophise the concept of reality TV.
pd Yeah well I think
it’s more of a TV filler in Europe, I know in England big brother has been
going since I was 16 so maybe ten years that it has been on television, I
think It’s already big brother 8 or 9? I think it’s just something to watch
in TV and something to talk about. Football as well, I mean I don’t enjoy it
but it brings people together because it means they can talk about something
that everybody can watch together.
jl I think that it is
probably easier for us to poke fun at it because we are further away, we are
not so close. If we had a sort of big brother show in Malaysia and we poked
fun at it then it could become a big issue. It’s probably easier for us,
because we are also very exposed to western TV shows and programs. It’s
easier for us to make fun of it if it is not happening so much in our
backyard, it’s easier for us to be critical about it. Whereas if we were to
live in it then it would be very difficult because the whole society is
involved in it. Also I think that helps us to come up with the idea and put
our commentary on it.
GABRIELE FRANCIONI
Talking in terms of the script, we think that it is one of the best ever
written, did get you contribute to it whilst filming or did you have to
adhere to it strictly?
pd Well first of all
the script was laid out how Joon Han wanted to write it, but because of
being in Malaysia and the demands from financial backers he had to change it
a lot. We were able to put our own input in there, but for me it didn’t
deviate too far from what I originally had to work with.
jl Joon Han gives us a
lot of space whilst working, he will ask if the line feels comfortable when
you are saying it but he is also a very specific director who will explain
to us exactly why he wrote the lines in the way he did. He explains his
vision, why the punch line is a certain place or why a certain words need
emphasising. So once explained we will try to work with it a get it to fit
his intention. But sometimes if it still doesn’t feel right then and then he
will change it. So it is a mixture of fixed script and some improvisation
according to what feels right.
pd It’s to give it a
more natural feel and flow I think so instead of being chained to the script
and to stop it from becoming stale.
jl In fact we have
scenes where on the day of the shoot he writes a completely new script and
says ok lets just do this. It’s good because it feels good for us it’s fresh
and as long as we get the gist of what we are saying then its fine.
AH You can see that
during the film because at the beginning it has this incredible momentum and
pace and sometimes that’s hard to keep consistent in a film, to keep
laughing all the way through until the end, but this film definitely
succeeds.
pd Well Joon Han gives
very good direction and the editing is also great. He is a very pernickety
director, if it’s not right you say it over and over again and the more you
say it the more real it becomes.
jl Sometimes it’s just
pure exhasution, when you’ve said the word over two hundered times and then
you get frustrated or fed up and then sudenly you have it. Perfect!
GF How long was the
shoot?
pd Well it was a
thirty day shoot for the filming but around fourty in total, some of the
days were exhausting we worked for like 26 hours! There where a few days of
very intense filming where everyone was on edge and it was very draining.
With some of the clinic scenes we had problems where some of the actors
didn’t turn up for whatever reason so Joon Han would rewrite the script and
then again and again due to more unforseen problems with people turning up.
One day we had to film three versions of the same scene.
GF So how many takes
per scene on average?
jl Well it completely
depends on the scene, some are really long. One for example, the cleanex
scene, you dont see the doctors face so much becuase on the day of the shoot
he didin’t turn up, it was only the second day of shooting! So we had a
complete rewrite ending up shooting without the doctor, with different
angles and it was dubbed later on. We had to do that becuase we had very
limited time in our locations, in the clinic they were actually still
working whilst we were filming so we had to work hard within the constraints
that we had.
pd Also we had to do a
lot of rehearsals because we had a very limited amount of film, it had to be
perfect before we shot it. Practice makes perfect.
GF How did you get
into the role of Reflesia, especialy her bad side? Surely it’s not an
extension of your personality? How did you prepare and was it difficult to
get into charecter?
jl I think one of the
biggest challenges that I had when I first read the script was that I wasn’t
sure I if I could pull this charecter off. I was also concerned that I
didn’t want to just play a one dimensional bitchy charecter. I wanted her to
have other aspects to her personality that people could relate to Becuase I
don’t think that people are only good or bad, everyone has certain mixed
traits to their personality. It is sometimes the situation that drives us to
behave in certain ways and this is what I wanted to express with this
charecter and give her a bit more depth and make her more rounded.
gF
We want to ask, in relation to your charecter in the film, during the final
scene where you sing the love song, is that a moment where you are true or
is it still faking compassion and love?
jl I think the final
scene is the only part of the film where she is really true to herself, I
think it’s expressed by the people gradually dissapearing. It the the moment
where she realises everything that she has lost. She’s lost her integrity,
everything that she believed in about art and all becuase she was so driven
to suceed that in this tunnel mindedness she lost her values along the way
and forgot the reason she started out doing what she does.
VV The film deals with
very serious issues for example profiting from death. Do you think this is a
result of changes in society and religion and what are your opinions on the
matter?
jl I think it’s very
important to realise that we do not take the film seriously at all. It is a
comedy, the issues are not taken seriously we try to find light side of
things. Throughout the movie the issues that we address are very serious and
part of problems within the society but for us we try to express them with a
sense of irony and laugh as a way to cope with these problems.
03:09:2008 |
