A Talk with Director Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige on Man, Myth, Destiny, and The Promise

A hungry, desperate vagabond girl finds herself face to face with a goddess who offers a proposition; young Qingcheng will receive material wealth, beauty, fame and admiration… but at the expense of ever being with her true love. The girl makes her choice, but years later comes to regret it as she finds herself the well-kept concubine of wicked men. The only hope to change her fate is if someone beyond human can turn back time, produce snow in spring, and return from the dead. Truly, only a miracle will save her… a savior. Does Kunlun, the slave with amazing speed, have the power and will to alter the course of destiny?

The director of The Promise, Chen Kaige, crafts a tale that wrestles with the oft-asked questions of mankind’s existence. Are we products of cause and effect, locked into a fate determined by a personal or impersonal design? If so, how do our actions, or how does our will, play a part in the story of our lives? Are we even responsible for our actions, or are we merely puppets playing out a story? I met with Chen Kaige at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Seattle to discuss his views on religion, materialism, China, and the human condition. Despite jet lag and an endless string of interviews stacked on top of each other, he was articulate and excited to talk about the deeper aspects of the film.

Chen Kaige: There are so many things I can tell you. I was inspired by some very famous Chinese myths, existing in the past. Those stories sound sort of naïve: for example, there is a man in a very famous myth that is running very fast like wind, and he desires to catch the sun, and one day he just runs after the sun forever and ends up with a death. Although it sounds pretty naïve, that story was written like three thousand years ago; that’s the beginning of Chinese civilization and I felt that kind of original power, you know? The newborn civilization, to believe that one man can run that fast. I was also influenced by what I see in modern Chinese society, because I sort of “over-watch.� I mean, what’s happened in the last 25 years… our social values, cultural values, everything is sort of changed, I mean with some good reasons and some bad reasons. People have to change anyway, so our lifestyle is completely changed. I remember even in the Cultural Revolution, there was still sort of a trust between people, and friendship; everybody felt like they were equal, you know? Now it seems like people are more greedy, motivated only by how much money they can make. They have become sort of commercial, or money-driven, that kind of a thing.

So, you can see in this movie with the General, or the Princess… they’re all under the control of destiny, but personality and destiny are sort of related to each other and connect with each other, so I think those characters represent a certain kind of value Chinese people believe now. I’m not saying I agree with that kind of a thing, but I want to show something really happening in society today.

PJH: So the Princess’ dramatic choice in The Promise, to choose security and luxury over every knowing true love… you feel it’s similar to China’s choice to change?

CK: I think it is a kind of universal choice, you know?

PJH: Yeah, we know a little bit about greed here in the West.

CK: (chuckling) A lot of people will give the same answer to the goddess regarding what they really want. People sort of believing in materialism—they think real love is too far away, too abstract, particularly in China because the difference between East and West is that you know, western society is always sort of religious, and “love� is actually a word from God. But in China we don’t have a god, so we don’t know that love.

PJH: You don’t feel China has a god?

CK: No, I mean… the people in China believe in Buddhism… not because they want to have a spiritual life… they just want to get something from the power. “I want this, please give it to me.� It’s not right… it’s not like real religion.

PJH: It’s not a relationship with God: it’s whacking the god piñata and trying to get the candy out of it?

CK: Right.

PJH: You think that’s the way religion is being treated in China?

CK: Right.

PJH: More like praying to things to get things… there’s nothing deep or relational about it.

CK: That’s true, because you can see how many people go to the Buddhist temples, stay on their knees, and beg for something from the Buddha. Like you said, this is not really religion between God and human beings. I’m not saying there’s any specific political meaning in this film, but I hope that on the emotional level that people could understand this film better, not just take this as a fantasy piece or something.

PJH: What do you hope, as a storyteller, to accomplish with a film, both for personal fulfillment when you make a film, and also when it hits people? What do you think film (and story) can accomplish when it goes out?

CK: This is always the question mark… am I doing film for myself, or for the public? The story is really about destiny, because I believe we are under control. The young girl in this film makes one wrong choice and then she becomes cursed. Whether or not there’s a chance for us to challenge our destiny, to improve… this is the message I’m trying to deliver. In this film I’m saying we’re under the control of fate, but let’s fight to get what we want… you are right; every time I ask myself… I’m sort of a well-educated person, but the film is for the mass audiences, so how can I build a bridge between myself and the public to really let people understand what I’m trying to say? I think this is always a question mark every time that I start a film.

PJH: In the film there’s “destiny� and “fate,� but then there’s also the humanlike “goddess.� You seem to believe there is destiny… some kind of design to the universe, and a path for each of us… a sort of control in that respect. Do you generally think of that controlling force as impersonal or personal? Is there a mind—an actual caring force behind that fate, or is it impersonal cause and affect?

CK: I think it’s a personal thing, because people have a different destinies, you know? I believe everything is written… but I don’t believe in fortune telling, because if I know everything, I lose interest in life, you know? I think that the reason I believe in destiny is because it can encourage us to do something that we cannot even imagine in the past.

PJH: You mentioned you identified with Kunlun, rising up and overcoming adversity. Is that something you’re hoping to do, or something past or present in your life where you’ve overcome certain obstacles personally?

CK: I used to be that way when I was very young. I don’t want to call myself a “slave� but, close enough, because I was sent to the countryside to do very hard labor there when I was only sixteen. It’s hard in the imagination of western people… I was very sad and depressed at that time, and I didn’t see any future for myself. I didn’t see my parents for three years, there was no long distance telephone, and the only thing I could do was just write a letter to my parents… but I got very strong encouragement from my parents. They told me I would grow physically and spiritually… that it was bad that we could not see each other, but it was good to make sure that I could learn to handle situations myself.

I feel like I became stronger than before; it’s like the moment in the film when Kunlun stands up and is carrying his master, running like the wind… that’s been my dream, that I always dreamed… how fast I could run spiritually. People have a very sort of superficial understanding about freedom; freedom is something when, all of a sudden, the door is open and you are connected with the whole universe. You become part of that, you are not afraid of anything anymore. Basically we live in fear; we are all living in fear, so I think that this character is the one who overcomes his fear because he has nothing to lose. He has the so-called golden heart and he’s ready to help, not only Chinji’s own destiny, but others as well… so this is a beautiful character.

PJH: I’m thinking about the Princess; she gets a chance because Kunlun helps her. He kind of becomes a savior, wearing the shadowy drape and becoming more than man… do you think people need help in real life? Is there a place where perhaps we do appeal to something higher, not just to “get� something, but because we truly want freedom? Or is this power purely within ourselves?

CK: We need help. That’s why we need God, no matter how we want to call it, Buddha, God, or universal spirit… but I strongly believe that we are created by our Creator. Although I’m Chinese, I am not specifically religious… but I believe that it is very important for us to believe, you know? In China people ask “Why do we need a church?� I don’t even want to explain to them why we want church, but it is because we are human beings. Animals don’t need church. Human beings need church. And why is there is something called a movie theater? A movie theater is another kind of church, you know.

PJH: I’m from the West, so obviously we just celebrated Easter; I think about Jesus dying and coming back from death as the hero and savior who gives freedom and restores the lives of broken people caught up in the wrong things. In The Promise, Kunlun dies for the Princess, so I was curious; did other Chinese myths play into your story, or did you find yourself drawing on a multitude of global ideas?

CK: I think it’s sort of global ideas, because sometimes love needs bloodshed; you need someone to sacrifice their life in order to save others, just like what the General does at the end of the film because he’s the one who never really believed in love. Love is something really big… love is something that should not only cover the people who love you, but also cover the people that hate you. That’s love. I think there is love in this film, which is quite unique because not a lot of films made in China are talking about love.

PJH: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.� (John 15:13) Mr. Chen, I appreciate the chance to talk about where you’re coming from, and about the depth of spirituality that you’ve put into The Promise.

CK: Thanks a lot, thank you.