Chow on CJ7

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Quentin Tarantino called him the best actor in Hong Kong, but Stephen Chow has also been drawing attention because of his directing. He first drew a wide audience with "Shaolin Soccer" (2001), an offbeat story of a Shaolin student who decides to put his martial arts skills to good use . . . on the soccer field. Then came the Warner Brothers-inspired "Kung Fu Hustle," which incorporated broadly comic Road Runner sequences and dancing axe-wielding gang members. But with "CJ7" Chow toned it down a bit in the "wacky" department, blending a mellow zaniness with warm-fuzzy moments. "CJ7" is, after all, intended as a family film.

Media had a chance to ask Chow questions via email, and the director received so many responses that he was only able to answer two questions from each . . . and those answers, given the amount of questions overall, tended to be quite brief. But here's what he had to say:

Could you talk about the influence that the old Warner Brothers cartoons have had on your filmmaking?

Not only old WB cartoons, Japanese cartoons, comics, and the like all have influence on me.

There's a lot more zany WB-influenced comedy in "Kung Fu Hustle" than there is in "CJ7." Why is that, and would you say that your natural inclination is to run with the wacky comedy or to balance it with drama or action?

Films should be handled in specific ways according to the different themes and topics; unlike other films I had made in the past, "CJ7" should give you warmth with a sense of family love, but not wacky or black comedy.

And there you have it. Check out "CJ7" for yourself to assess this new direction for Stephen Chow - links to the DVD & Blu-ray editions below.

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