A Shaw Thing
Much has been made of John Woo being director Chang Cheh’s apprentice at the Shaw Brothers film studio. When interviewed for Huang Xiao-Hong’s 2010 biography about him, he said: “I met Chang Cheh through my good friend Chiu Kang-Chien. I was trembling with fear and went to meet him with the feeling of admiration for the master, so I was so nervous that I didn’t know how to talk to him. Chang Cheh is really a master. He has a kind of majesty when he stands out. But when we talked, I found that he was actually very cheerful and not at all fussy about details. In fact, we didn’t need to say too much. When he heard that I was a member of the Chinese Student Weekly and the University Life Film Club, he was very happy. When he saw my enthusiasm and knowledge of movies, he said OK very straightforwardly. There was no need for us to pour tea or perform other formalities. He just left.”
In this Chinese book, John Woo cleared the air on something: “Although Chang Cheh often lost his temper on the set, he respected each of us. He didn’t care how old you were or what your background was. As long as we worked together, he would trust and respect you. When I was Mr. Chang’s second assistant director, he often asked me to help him with some editing work, and every time he asked me to do it, I did my best. So Mr. Chang trusted me very much. Every time he ate on the set, he always asked me to sit next to him and eat with him. David Chiang and his brothers always laughed at me secretly when they saw me.”
From Chang Cheh, John not only learned how to make movies, but more importantly, how to be a good person. There is one thing that particularly impressed John: Chang was a big director, so he had a driver to pick him up. Once, when the driver was closing the car door for Chang, he accidentally pinched Chang’s hand. The driver was unaware, and Chang Cheh’s hand was already bleeding. Chang did not yell, but just said to the driver as if nothing had happened: “My hand is stuck in the car door.” The driver was very nervous, and hurriedly opened the car door and tried to stop the bleeding for Chang, who did not look unhappy from beginning to end, and did not blame anyone.
John Woo observed: “Sometimes when I was walking with him on the street, I saw that he had a hard time carrying his briefcase, so I wanted to help him, but he insisted on doing it himself. Sometimes when it rained, I wanted to hold an umbrella for him, but he wouldn’t let me. He is definitely not the kind of director who expects his juniors to serve him attentively. I admire his style and have been learning from him. What makes me happiest is that I have really learned his humble attitude towards others. Being kind and respectful to everyone is the principle of life that I have learned from Mr. Chang.”
On June 23, 2002, John flew to Hong Kong from Europe. Reporters waiting for him at the airport had told him the sad news of Chang’s death. John was stunned. On July 7, 2002, the central lobby of a funeral parlor in Hung Hom was packed with people. Dozens of reporters surrounded John and asked him to tell them how he felt about his master’s death. John, who came to see his master off for the last time, recalled many past events. Time suddenly went back to thirty years ago when the master’s words were: “Don’t think about being an actor anymore.”
John had no idea that he would become Hong Kong’s then-youngest film director at the age of 26. To put this into perspective, Jackie Chan and Wong Jing were 25 when they did made their debuts. Anyway, John Woo said: “Although I worked with Mr. Chang in making movies, I never dared to dream that I could become a director one day. Because at that time, it was impossible to be a director without more than ten or twenty years of experience as an assistant director. I thought that at most I could be an editor, photographer or a minor supporting actor, and I would be satisfied.”
John remembered: “It just so happened that Mr. Chang had a movie called Young People at that time, and he needed a third male lead to play the role of a rebellious youth. I thought that I had played rebellious youths and villains when I was in school, so I had some acting skills. In addition, David Chiang and others strongly encouraged me. Everyone knew that Chang Cheh liked me, and some people had already joked that I was Chang Cheh’s fifth adopted son. I thought that the master would definitely not object, but who knew…”
David Chiang and Ti Lung arranged a photographer and rented a studio to prepare for John Woo’s audition. They planned to shoot a short scene for Chang Cheh to review, hoping to convince their master to let John Woo be the actor. But on the day of the audition, Chang Cheh found out about it and immediately stopped them. David Chiang said: “John’s acting is very good, why…?”
Chang Cheh smiled and said: “John Woo is more suitable to be a director.”
Get Joseph Kuby’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
John recalled: “My master’s encouragement changed my life. I listened to Mr. Chang’s words very much. Because of what he said, I decided to work hard in the direction of directing. Later, I became a director and made my first movie - The Passenger - which finally proved that I have the ability to be a director.”
John Woo was grateful to Chang Cheh. But after his master passed away, he regretted it and could not let go of the two things he had done to Chang. John recalled: “I did something that made Mr. Chang very sad and heartbroken. Before I left him, he trusted me very much and gave me all the important work, whether it was post-production, reports from assistant directors, or production from other co-directors. I conveyed to Mr. Chang whatever the different partners had to say. And I also conveyed to Mr. Chang when he saw some problems in the rough films. Gradually, I felt like an ugly middleman. If this continued, I would be embarrassed to those directors. So I thought about leaving.”
John remembered: “I wanted to leave, but I didn’t dare to say it out loud, because I respected Mr. Chang very much and was afraid that he would be unhappy if he heard it. So I wrote a letter overnight, stuffed it through his door, and left that night. In the letter, I said, Director Chhang, I am very grateful to you. I have learned a lot from you, but now I have grown up and it is time for me to be independent. Since there are development opportunities outside, I will leave you temporarily and go out to try my luck.”
Later, John heard from his fellow disciples that his master was very sad when he learned that he had left overnight. He stayed up all night and kept making phone calls, waking up the company boss, his godson David Chiang, and all the directors who had worked with John Woo, in order to find out the news of his missing disciple. John said: “Later, I realized I had gotten into trouble, so I called Mr. Chang and explained to him that I had left because someone really wanted me to be a director. He was relieved after hearing my explanation, and encouraged me to do a good job. I know he even wrote a letter to Chow Man-Wai to introduce my strengths. From this incident, I know that Mr. Chang really treats me well.”
Chow Man-Wai being Raymond Chow of the Golden Harvest film company. Chang Cheh wrote a book titled A Review of Thirty Years of Hong Kong Films where he wrote about what Chow told him in person: John’s contribution as an assistant director to Michael Hui on Games Gamblers Play was great. To understand this context, the film was released in October 1974 - when John was directing his first film for Golden Harvest: Countdown to Kung Fu. Back to what John said in the Chinese book: “The second thing I did to make Mr. Chang sad was that I didn’t make it back in time to see him for the last time. I heard in Europe that he was seriously ill, so I rushed back the next day, thinking about going to see him as soon as I got off the plane, but it turned out that he had passed away the day before. I also heard from friends that he was still thinking about me before he died and said he hoped to see me again.”
Back to happier times: “What I remember most during my time at Shaw Brothers was the time I worked and played with David Chiang. It just so happened that our English names were both John, and we both happened to have lonely personalities. We also had a lot in common in terms of our thoughts, so we admired each other. David Chiang is my idol. I admire him because I think he is a very romantic person who values friendship and loyalty.”
When John joined Shaw Brothers as a small script supervisor, David Chiang was already a popular star. John had no right to live in the Shaw Brothers dormitory, but David gave his dormitory room to him. John is nostalgic: “Also, I was extremely poor at that time. Whenever I had no money, I would go to him. He always put the money in a bamboo tube. When he saw me, he would pour out all the money in it for me without saying a word.”
David remembered: “John Woo gave me a very fashionable impression. He had long hair, often smoked French cigarettes, and liked to drink. We thought he had returned from studying in France, but it turned out not to be the case. He just liked to smoke French cigarettes, drink French wine, and watch French movies. So we gave him a nickname, calling him French Flyer.”
David recalled: “John Woo and I are competing in coolness. He is the type of person who believes in silence, while I don’t know how to talk, so I just don’t talk to avoid offending others. We are both young people who like to have fun and drink, so we naturally became friends. If you asked me what I admired about him back then, I couldn’t tell you. Now I know that I admire his directing skills.”
Back to John: “My wife and I met because of Chang Cheh. She came to Hong Kong from Taiwan and joined the screenwriting team of Chang Cheh’s Changgong Company to learn screenwriting.”
It turns out that John had always regarded Chang Cheh as his father’s brother. When he needed a name for his newly born son, Chang was the first person who he thought of to ask: “I said I really hope my son understands what righteousness means, and asked Mr. Chang to give him a name that means righteousness. He thought about it and said “Yifang” should be used, which means righteousness and direction. Then he wrote a calligraphy for me: Teach my son righteousness.”
