Written by Helen Stenbeck
Photography by George Chan
Director: Hsiao Ya-Chuan
Starring: Bai Run-yin, Liu Kuan-ting, Akio Chen
Can you take a moment and recall your eleven-year-old self?
What was the thing you most desired?
And who taught you the values of wealth and emotional attachments?
For Liao Jie in Old Fox, it was accomplishing his late mother’s dream of owning a house and run a salon.
Set against the backdrop of 1989 Taiwan, Old Fox depicts a story of social class disparities and challenges in the fluctuating economic storm. The era was turbulent for Taiwan, a nation with the recent end of martial law, a sharp ascent in economic development and many governmental reforms. ‘台灣錢 淹腳目(Dai wan ji, yan ka mou) a Taiwanese proverb describing the era, describing how people’s feet were drowned in Taiwanese money. In the fast-changing society, opportunities offered many people the chance to become wealthy overnight, while speculative actions also resulted in the downfall of others.
Liao Jie (Bai Run-Yin), an eleven-year-old boy and his father Liao Tai-Lai (Liu Kuan-Ting), yearned to become homeowners by living frugally in a rental place own by Boss Xie (Akio Chen). To save as much as possible, they make their clothes, minimise the usage of utilities (gas and water), and work multiple jobs. Liao Jie’s understanding of wealth and life value overturns when he encounters the affluent Boss Xie, who is also known as a sly Old Fox. Liao Jie and his father soon become intertwined in the unpredictable scenarios of inequality of power and knowledge.
Old Fox revisits the concept of parental-child relationships just like dir Hsiao’s previous works. However, Old Fox explores more than the mere human relations. It delves into the concepts around the unchangeable societal inequality, unwritten rules of human interactions and power struggles. Old Fox extends the narratives of those concepts through the eyes of the eleven-year-old child, and how one establishes their value in life from their parents and the people they met in different circumstances.
Few filmmakers had chosen subjects that involve children or animals. Presenting aspects through the lens of children and animals could often be misrepresented or mistaken or sometimes overshadow by the adult’s POV. In Old Fox, Hsiao focuses on the child’s experience of moralistic values, presenting the struggles of inequality and offers an opportunity to see how a child learns and perceives emotional and monetary values.
Hsiao: “Years ago, when my child was about ten or eleven, they asked me ‘What is justice?’. I was baffled as to how I could answer that question. I thought about how my mother had taught me many life lessons and values. Just like Liao Tai-Lai in Old Fox, she was the soft and kind person who considered the feelings of other people. I wanted to pass on those life lessons to my children, but I know that I must convey the messages in a different way for them to understand. This generation had become much more difficult and ruthless. The world still has much kindness yet also selfishness, the key to all depends on how you make decisions.”
Collaborating with his long-term cameraman Lin Tse-chung, Hsiao and Lin set out to use a unique technique to obliquely portray the essential concept of the narration; inequality and equality. The technique seen throughout the movie is the transparent mirror effect. This effect appears in two scenes to represent the inequality with the others and the reflection of self.
Hsiao: “Transparent mirror was a style I used to express the concept of inequality. When light travels from one side through to the other side of the glass, the darker side can see the opposite side but not the other way around. It’s symbol of power, the enemy that stays in the dark side knows you better therefore has an upper hand.”
The costume designers of Old Fox succeeded in reviving the late 80s onto the big screen. Whether it was the vibrant outfit and voluminous hairstyle of Lin Zhen Zhen, Boss Xie’s elegant Panama Hat and the formal three-piece suits, or Liao Jie’s non-conformed school uniform, the team paid utmost attention in presenting the disparity of wealth through the details of those outfits.
Old Fox’s ingenious art department transformed a regional Northeast suburb of New Taipei and took the audiences straight to the late 1980s of Taiwan. The team adapted both warm and cool colour palette to contrast of different scenarios and characters. While audiences can sense a warm and homely comfort with Liao Tai-Lai and Liao Jie’s scenes with earnest hues, the appearance of Boss Xie clearly accentuate with a glacial and elusive emotional lighting. Revitalising the Taiwan’s 80s era is a monumental achievement for the set design, creating details of the building, street vendors, restaurant and even tiny items such as Rubik’s cube that Liao Jie fondles, the school bags and the zeitgeist interior of the apartment.
Chris Hou, the music producer for Old Fox had ensured the contrast of rich brassy and soft smooth melodies represent the attributes of different characters. The music of the movie is mesmerizing, refined with hypnotic and poignant elements that harmonizes with the emotional motif. The music also played a significant part in equalise the status of the characters.
Hsiao: “When we first thought about making a movie about the late 80s, early 90s, our team considered using Mandarin pop music of that era to complement the visuals. But what I end up doing was adopting two songs that were the songs was from both Liao Tai-Lai and Boss Xie’s youth, to reminiscent their youth. In particular, the song ‘Whistling Bird’ was a song Boss Xie listened to as a child going through poverty. The song transforms Boss Xie back to when he was in his teens and evokes an illusion that he is suddenly at an equal stance as the eleven-year-old Liao Jie.”
The highlight of Old Fox is undoubtful the performance of Bai Run-Yin (Liao Jie) and Akio Chen (Boss Xie/Old Fox). When the script was first completed, Hsiao had in mind inviting Bai to play the character of Liao Jie. However, a rumour circulated that Bai, and his parents were considering his retirement from performance and concentrate on his studies. When Hsiao heard the news, he began auditioning many young actors across Taiwan. Unsuccessfully, the production did not find a young boy that matched the criteria of Liao Jie. Not wanting to feel regretful, Hsiao asked casting agent to approach Bai and his family to consider working on this film. Within half of hour of the meeting, both agreed that the role is perfect for Bai. Bai’s raw and captivating performance as Liao Jie, naturally evoked the struggle that the character faces in the film, about personal values and the desire of owning a home for himself and his father.
Many directors have long avoided working with scripts that include children and animals. However, Hsiao had applauded the performance of Bai Run-Yin as Liao Jie. Like what Boss Xie said in a scene, “You never disappointment me.” Bai did not disappointed Hsiao’s expectation and received much accolade from both the industry and audience. Playing the eleven-year-old Liao Jie, Hsiao commented that Bai posed himself almost like an adult, “It was easy to communicate with him. When working with children, sometimes we need to coax or trick the kid to perform certain scene. With Bai Run-Yin, it was like talking to an adult, he is very concise and clear about what is required in a specific scene. And he had delivered brilliantly.”
Akio Chen had been in the tv and film industry since the early 80s. Chen has mostly been cast as the delinquent figure. When playing the character Boss Xie/Old Fox, Chen fully immersed in the powerful role, with compelling emotions and the authenticity of speech. The dynamic between Chen and Bai was the perfect combination and the successful element of the film.
Old Fox sets out to accomplish Hsiao’s integrity of his faith in values of life. Whether it is about human relationships, wealth disparity or the inequality of social classes, Old Fox had obliquely conveyed perfect messages about how life is often enigmatic through the choices made by individuals.
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