TAIWANESE megastar Shu Qi told AFP that she drew on her troubled childhood with an alcoholic father for her directorial debut, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last Thursday.
Shu, one of the best-known actresses in Chinese-language cinema, spent 10 years writing “Nuhai” (“Girl”), a story about a poverty-blighted family in Taipei in the late 1980s.
Following a shy and fearful girl called Hsiao-lee, it explores themes such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and intergenerational trauma in a deeply personal tale for the star of numerous acclaimed movies.
“The primary reason I was driven to make this film is tied to my childhood experiences, which left scars that remain with me to this day,” said Shu, who left home at 15, speaking to AFP ahead of the premiere.
“They’re healing, but reflecting on the past, those scars still feel present,” added the 49-year-old, who appeared on the Venice red carpet in a black cigarette skirt and tailored jacket.
After beginning work on the script a decade ago, Shu finished it in a burst of activity in 2023, inspired by her experience as a jury member at the Venice festival that year.
“I started from the prototype of myself as the main character,” she said, while noting that the final result probably reflects only “30 per cent” of her own life.
The film centres on the relationship of Hsiao-lee (Bai Xiao-Ying) with her menacing and often violent parents.
Her father, played by fellow Taiwanese actor Roy Chiu, is a frustrated mechanic who staggers home at night after heavy drinking sessions and takes his anger out on his wife and daughters.
“After shooting the film, I told my father, who is still an alcoholic, ‘Sorry, I put your story on the screen’,” confided Shu, a regular at European film festivals and a member of Hollywood’s Academy.
Her parents still live together and — echoing another theme from the film — Shu said she has often asked her mother why she doesn’t divorce.
“They are still arguing, shouting,” she added. “It’s a repetitive circle, and I didn’t know why they’re still living together. Maybe because they like to hate each other?” – AFP
