NOTES
NOTES INTRODUCTION 1. Al l biographical data were collected through personal interviews with Tang Shu Shue n i n Los Angeles i n 2002 and 2003 . Some of this informatio n i s different from that provided by previous sources. She was 'a native of Yunnan', according t o her biograph y i n A Comparative Study of Post-War Mandarin and Cantonese Cinema: the Films ofZhu Shilin, Qinfian and Other Directors (Hong Kong Urban Council, 1983) , for example. 2. Afte r careful consideration, I have chosen to use Tang Shu Shuen's full name in this book instead of'Shu Shuen' , which she apparently preferred, mainl y because her full name has been widely and historically known i n the Hon g Kong context . 3. Tan g was credited as the sole screenwriter of all of her films, except the last one, The Hong Kong Tycoon, in which she had a co-scripting credit . 4. Thi s claim, like most others in this book, was done without Tang's approval. During my interviews with her, Tang clearly stated that she was not a feminist and did not necessarily identif y wit h feminist politics . 5. I am quoting from the newspaper advertisement of The Arch when it had its theatrical run i n Hong Kong in 1970. CHAPTER 1 1. Tan g recalled in interviews how Subrata Mitra had conflicts with the Hon g Kong film crew . One o f the examples she cited was that Mitra , i n order t o achieve a certain kin d o f cinematic look , rejected th e conventiona l light s available a t Catha y Studio s an d chos e t o build hi s own light s with pape r 242 Notes pages from 45-151 mounted on wood instead. The Hong Kong film crew members looked down upon thes e cheapl y buil t light s and thre w the m dow n fro m a slope i n th e middle of the shoot. The crew members called Mitra 'Ah Cha', the derogatory term fo r Sout h Asian s livin g i n Hon g Kong , many o f whom wer e see n as associated with jobs like security guards, according to Tang's recollection of those common prejudices . CHAPTER 2 1. China Behind was shown in film festivals i n Hong Kong and Taiwan several times, including at the 8th Hong Kong International Fil m Festival in 198 4 and at the 1s t China Times Evening News Film Awards in Taiwan in 1990. 2. Intervie w conducte d i n Taipe i i n Septembe r 2002 . China Behind was th e only 35mm black-and-white film Chang Chao-tang has ever shot. 3. Tan g told me in an interview that she had to smuggle some of the Communistlooking props , which include d th e Little Red Book, into Taiwa n b y hidin g them i n tigh t fil m cans . Sh e recalle d fondl y ho w sh e 'snatche d th e can s from the hands of the Taiwanese customs officers while yelling at them tha t the fil m woul d b e exposed shoul d the y open the m fo r investigation' . Thi s imagery of the filmmaker fightin g wit h the customs officer ove r a film ca n with no film i n it left a particularly strong impression on me. It has become for m e an imager y tha t speak s to Tang's relationship t o her own work an d her self-positoning i n that context, among other things. 4. I n an interview with Chang Chao-tang, I asked him, in retrospect, why he would thin k Tang , of all people, would becom e th e firs t Chines e directo r who made a film examining the Cultural Revolution. He replied by saying that perhaps because Tang was partly an outsider, that she, unlike 'the people who were caught u p in the middl e of the typhoon' , coul d see more clearl y the historical significance o f making such a film. 5. Informatio n o n cre w and funding wa s gathered fro m a n intervie w I did i n December 1997 , Hon g Kong , wit h Cheu k Pak-tong , on e o f th e assistan t directors of China Behind. CHAPTER 3 1...
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