Taiwanese megastar Shu Qi (舒淇) said that she used her troubled childhood growing up with an alcoholic father as the basis for her directorial debut which premieres at the Venice Film Festival yesterday.
Shu, one of the best-known actresses in Chinese-language cinema, spent 10 years writing Nuhai (女孩) about a toxic low-income family in Taiwanese capital Taipei, set in the late 1980s.
Following a shy and fearful girl called Hsiao-lee (小麗), it touches on themes such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and inter-generational trauma in a deeply personal tale for the star of a string of acclaimed movies.
Photo: AFP
"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," Shu, who left home aged 15, said ahead of the premiere.
"They’re healing, but reflecting on the past, those scars still feel present," the 49-year-old added.
After starting on a script a decade ago, she finished it in a flurry of activity in 2023 after being inspired by her experience as a jury member at the Venice festival that year.
"At the beginning of the writing process, I started from the prototype of myself as the main character," she added, while saying the end result probably reflects about "30 percent" of her own life.
The film centers on the relationship of Hsiao-lee (Bai Xiao-ying, 白小櫻) with her menacing and frequently violent parents.
Her father, played by fellow Taiwanese actor Roy Chiu (邱澤), 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,’" said Shu, who is a regular at European film festivals and is a member of Hollywood’s Academy.
Her parents still live together and — taking another theme from the film — Shu said she has often asked her mother why she does not 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?"
Shu left home as a teenager and headed to Hong Kong, still her home now, where she began modeling before moving on to erotic films such as Sex and Zen II and award-winning Viva Erotica in 1996.
In 2001, Shu starred as Vicky in acclaimed Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (侯孝賢) Millennium Mambo (千禧曼波), which many of Shu’s millions of fans consider her defining role.
She said being a director has made her realize how much she owes to the filmmakers she has worked with over her 30-year career.
"Their guidance enabled me to become a director, make this film, and bring it to Venice," said Shu, whose real name is Lin Li-hui (林立慧).
"I truly came to understand something: as an actor, you may not realize it, but all actors owe their success to their directors."
Nuhai is one of 21 films competing for Venice’s top award, the Golden Lion, which is to be handed out tomorrow.
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