Chen Hung-i (1967, Taiwan) graduated from the National Taiwan University, Department of Philosophy. He is a writer and director whose commercials and music videos have won several prizes as have his feature films such as his debut “Candy Rain” (2008). For “Pupu” (2011), he received the Best Director award at the Taipei Film Festival. “The Last Painting” (2017) premiered at IFFR. His co-director Muni Wei (1964, Taiwan) works a theatre director, producer and filmmaker. She is the founder and director of Shakespeare's Wild Sisters Group. As a producer, she has frequently worked with Chen Hung-i. “As We Like It” (2021) is her feature film debut.
On the occasion of “As We Like It” being selected for IFFR's Big Screen Competition., we talked with the directors to discuss amongst other things Shakespeare, gender and a world without internet.
Where did the idea to adapt “As You Like It” originate from and why this particular Shakespeare play?
Chen Hung-i: Three years ago, I was in Rotterdam with a different movie, “The Last Painting” (2017), and during the premiere, I decided I wanted to make a film from a Shakespeare play, and that I wanted it to be about gender. From all of Shakespeare‘s plays “As You Like It” is most about gender and also, it is a comedy. Since my previous film was very heavy, I wanted to make something lighter and fun, so “As You Like It” was an excellent choice. We started development from there, picked the actors and approached Muni Wei, who really understands Shakespeare, to codirect.
But you changed the title to “As We Like It”?
Muni Wei: Yes, this title change is kind of a play on words. We wanted people to all look within themselves, to get to know and understand themselves better. To look into their own hearts and from there to understand the meaning of love.
Why was the focus on gender so important to you?
Muni Wei: I'm originally a stage director and in my stage plays, gender has always been an important theme. Also, I founded a feminist stage play troupe (Shakespeare's Wild Sisters Group). This got us thinking about how in Shakespeare's time, all roles were played by men and that it would be interesting if we had them all performed by female actors. So, we thought let's try that out.
And was it difficult to find the right actors?
Chen Hung-i: Actually, it was really easy to find them because lots of people wanted to play these roles where the gender was kind of in between male and female and even male roles. Also, in Taiwan, girls who are a bit of a tomboy are really common and that helped too.
“As You Like It” is a pastoral comedy but your film is set in city district can you explain about this choice?
Muni Wei: We wanted to adapt the play but stay close to its intentions and at the same time, engage in a dialogue with Shakespeare and his ideas and his time. The choice for an all-female cast was part of this but also this transportation to Taipei in the near future.
Chen Hung-i: We wanted to make a comparison between the very Western Shakespeare and Taiwan, between the different genders and between 400 years ago and the near future. The same goes for this difference between the pastoral setting and the big city. Ximending is a very special area in Taipei that kind of hasn't changed in the past 50/60 years so that is why we choose that area to make the film. There are a lot of people walking around and it is a pretty crowded area and I really like to go there and watch people. The choice to set the film in an area without internet also is part of this dialogue. We wanted to show what kind of utopia we would have without internet.
Could you tell us a little bit more about this utopia that you had envisioned?
Muni Wei: In the Shakespeare play, there was also a utopian place called the Forest of Arden. That was the utopia for 400 years ago. So, we wanted to imagine what a Taiwanese version would look like and what we want our life to be like in the near future. We see in Taiwan that some young people are doing things differently than we did a few years ago. Young people are going back to the countryside and start to produce handmade products and really respect our traditional culture. That is why, in the film, we give an important role to some of these aspects of handmade products like for instance the printing press or the different traditional Taiwanese crafts. We wanted this to reflect the future as we imagine it. Without internet, with lot of respect for Taiwanese traditions and with more attention for connections between humans and people.
Both in the play and the film music plays an important part. The soundtrack consists of very different types of music. Why did you select these songs?
Chen Hung-i: In all my movies, music plays an important role and for “As You Like It” we decided that the choice of music and songs should strengthen the themes of the film. We used all kinds of music including songs from the Japanese era, classical music and pop songs. For example, we picked “My Girl”, the old western pop song, because all the roles in the film are played by women. The Taiwanese song at the end is a very traditional song from the Japanese era. It is called “Young Mountain” and it is very well known in Taiwan. It talks about how in that era young people were very poor, but they had freedom and love, so that really went well with the general themes of the film. We also created a new song, especially for our film using these famous lines from “As You Like It” about how all the world is a stage.
A variety of animation are used throughout the film, amongst others to add emotion and a quirky atmosphere. What made you decide to use these different styles?
Chen Hung-i: It is a bit the same as with the music. Since we were adapting a comedy, we wanted it to be free and fun and interesting and that is why added animation. But because of budget reasons, we couldn't find one big animation company to do all the animation. Instead, we asked a lot of our friends to produce bits and pieces here and there. That is why we have many different styles of animation and why some bits are 2D or 3D or look like a game.
You worked together on films before but in different roles, with Muni Wei as producer and Chen Hung-I directing. What made you decide to co-direct “As We Like It” and how did you divide the work?
Chen Hung-i: Because of the nature of this film, the adaptation but also it being a comedy I decided that I couldn't do it alone, so I invited MW to help out.
Muni Wei: I have produced Shakespeare plays and operas and this background in stage directing was very helpful. But since I have directed some short films and documentaries, and I'm really interested in cinematography, I didn't find it very difficult to direct this film. I was mostly involved with the acting, researching the roles and with the script and I also wrote the song “All the world's a stage”.
And are you planning on directing more movies and maybe working together again?
Muni Wei: Actually, last year we were going to make a film about El Camino Francés, the pilgrimage road from France to Santiago de Compostela, which in 2017 I walked all by myself. I was going to be the director and he was going to be the producer. Because of the pandemic that project got cancelled, but I hope to pick up it up again this year.
And apart from this new project getting cancelled, did corona influence the production of “As We Like It” or any of your other projects?
Chen Hung-i: We had already finished filming “As We Like It” when the pandemic hit so we had a lot of time to edit the film, change bits and pieces. And actually, the pandemic inspired me for a new plan. I want to make a film about what happens when the world is changing in a very big way, how people adapt to that. We start filming that at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
It must be really strange not to be at the world premiere of your film. Has it been shown to a ‘real' audience in Taiwan?
Chen Hung-i: Right now, in Taiwan the situation is really good. There is no crisis and cinemas are open. “As We Like It” will premiere here on March 14th which will be a big event with a big audience. But I really hope that after the pandemic is over, we can all watch it together with audience all over the world. See it in a cinema and talk to each other and discuss the film.
