爱华网StephenChow
Thestar ofShaolin Soccer doesn't mind if the joke is on him
ByBryanWalsh
April 28, 2003
HongKong Crown Price - Stephen Chow
(Cover photo from:http://content.time.com/time/covers/asia/0,16641,20030428,00.html)
StephenChow shuffles like a Mongkok street sweeper as he leads methrough his HongKong offices. He's so subdued that for a moment Iwonder what's happened to themanic Chow of films like Fight Back toSchool and All for the Winner. But thenthe diminutiveactor-comedian-writer-director laughs his movie laugh, mouthopenlike a jack-o'-lantern, eyes sparkling and nearly rolling out ofhis head,body leaning forward just enough to draw you in on thejoke the happy jokethat's at the heart of his career: "Can youbelieve where I am?"
Chow certainly doesn't seem tobelieve it, butsuccess speaks for itself. His brand of lowbrowcomedies which mix dizzyingverbal wordplay, banana-peel pratfallsand kung fu (think the Marx Brotherswith jump kicks) are wildlypopular with Asian audiences. His 2001 film,Shaolin Soccer, wasHong Kong's highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time,taking innearly $46 million Asia-wide, and is also set to be released intheU.S. this August by Miramax. Chow's star turns have includedfive of the otherbiggest box-office hits in Hong Kong history. "Iwanted to capture themass audience from the start," he says.Mission accomplished.
In films, Chow usually plays thefool butalmost always gets the girl. Moviegoers swallow the conceitand cheer, because"Little Stevie," as he is known to fans, is oneof them. "Actingis my job, and directing and producing," Chow says."But it's only ajob. Besides that I'm just like anyoneelse."
IfHong Kong has a Charlie Chaplin, he's it.The 40-year-old Chow started off asthe lint in society's navel buthas pulled himself up through wit, will and akeen appreciation forthe cinematic uses of insanity. After growing upimpoverished inworking-class Kowloon, he tried to break into acting at age 19byauditioning for a training course run by a local TV station.Knowing hisheight might be a problem he's dubiously listed at 1.73meters he bought anexpensive pair of elevator shoes. The judgesnever gave him a second glance."At that time the concept of a starhas got to be somebody tall like ChowYun-fat," he says. "Someonelike me on the TV or the screenisimpossible."
Deniedaccess through the show-biz front door,Stephen Chow probed the side entrances.An actress friend securedhim a place in a less serious nighttime acting class("a lot ofpeople my size were studying there" unlike in thefull-time course,Chow says). That led to a job co-hosting a popular children'sTVshow with future art-film icon Tony Leung Chiu-wai. It was acomedown forChow, who had once told his mother he wanted to grow upto be either a kung fumaster or a thespian. "I was someone who kepttalking about method actingand Al Pacino or Robert De Niro," Chowsays. "One of my friends said,'Yeah, your point is very good andyou know a lot, but unfortunately you're achildren's show host.'And that was true, and ithurt."
Thesix-year sentence he spent amusing kiddieswas not wasted. Children's showsproved an ideal outlet for hisbrand of mo lei tau (nonsense) talk and toilethumor. He worked hisway into other TV roles; they led to his first movie part,in the1988 film Final Justice, for which he won the Best SupportingActorhonor at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards. "It was like, finally Igotit," Chow says. In demand, Chow started pumping out 10 or morebankablecomedies a year. Still, by the time he began work onShaolin Soccer, Chow wasstarting to worry that his movies weregetting stale. "The ones I makebefore are not that good," he says,shaking his head, "so this one Ithink, it's gotta be great or I'lldie!" Needless to say, hesurvived.
For adedicated populist whose slapstickcomedic antics have included chewing acondom like a piece of gumand suspending a string of gleaming mucus from hisnose whilesucking face with screen goddess Karen Mok, Chow has earnedsomehighbrow praise. Asiaphile director Quentin Tarantino hascalled him the bestactor working in Hong Kong, while film criticShelly Kracier, editor of theChinese Cinema Digest, has writtenthat Chow is a "genius." Genius ornot, Chow is still asdown-to-earth as an eager film extra. "He's one ofthe kindest, mostcharming people on earth," says Dede Nickerson,Miramax's Asiaconsultant, who helped Chow dub Shaolin Soccer into English foritsU.S. cinema release. "He never compromises himself to thepeoplearound him."
At atime when economically andepidemiologically challenged Hong Kong seems to bethe butt of anendless series of cosmic put downs, the SARS-stressed massesneedChow's brand of comedic escapism more than ever. "He can reallyhelp youcheer up," says Ruby Chan, a local fruit-juice vendor. "Ican watchhis movies again and again." Hong Kongers want to feelthat they can takeall the abuse the world is giving them and stillbounce back with a rubberysmile just like a Stephen Chow hero. Notthat the icon is without his critics.Like others in Hong Kong'sallegedly triad-ridden film industry, Chow has beenaccused ofhaving underworld connections. He's long disputed the chargeandeven participated in a famous celebrity protest march againsttriad involvementin cinema, but in August 2001 he was rejected forresidency in Canada after alengthy fight on the grounds of allegedtriad associations.
Chowhas put that controversy behind him. Atthe height of his success, he remainsmostly invisible off screen.You won't find him making the scene at theDragon-i bar with therest of Hong Kong's cinematic swells; his mug rarelyapp ears in thecity's voracious tabloids. His offices are a pair of clutteredroomsin Kowloon that could easily pass for a fly-by-night travelagency,except for the myriad awards scattered like paperweights."Yeah, I don'treally remember what that one is for," he says as Ipoint to a statuette.Together we shuffle into another room, wherehis production company iscelebrating a staff member's birthday.Chow offers me a slice of chocolatecake, then fades into thebackground. When I look again, he's gone. I imaginehim escapinginto the crowded streets of Kowloon, just an ordinary guy,withextraordinarytalent.
Withreporting by Sophie Taylor/Hong Kong
thearticle(http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/steven_chow.html)(已无效）
