Ocean Flame is the third, steamiest and most violent film adaptation of Wang Shuo’s novel, Yi Ban Shi Huo Yan, Yi Ban Shi Hai Shui. It premiered and was warmly received at Cannes as an Un Certain Regard selection. Monica Mok stars as the young innocent Lichuan who falls for amoral pimp Wang Yao but refuses to be dominated. She tells bc about the experience.

Ocean Flame was selected for the Cannes and Toronto international film festivals, how do you feel about that?
Extremely honoured, of course - it’s my first major film.

The film is targeted at Western audiences, are you disappointed it will not be shown in Mainland China due to censorship issues?
The only reason this film can’t be shown in China is because of the rating system, so people in China cannot enjoy this piece of artwork. I don’t agree that the film is particularly targeted at Western audiences, because it is actually targeted globally – at all human beings – as we are talking about basic issues of humanity. It’s about everyone’s love story, everyone will be able to feel it, not just Westerners.

But the way it is directed makes the film very different from what we are used to in mainstream Chinese movies.
Don’t you think we need something new? We do need to see some new concepts in our film market, because currently it is expanding globally. I do understand that not everyone would enjoy this kind of alternative movie – it’s always the minority that appreciates art films, but I really do wish audiences would give us a little bit of support and tolerance. We haven’t done it perfectly but at least we have tried – for me personally it’s a nice switch to make it big and international. Just like Maggie Cheung, she is a well-known actress throughout the world, but I truly believe at the start of her career she just wanted to make good films regardless of which market they were for.

Do you like this adaptation of the novel?
Mmm… yes, very spicy, lots of chemistry occurs in the film. It’s very different from a normal Mainland Chinese movie. We do need something new – you know, how when Jiang Wen filmed The Sun Also Rises, lots of people didn’t really understand the meaning and the symbolism he put into the film. For Liu Fendou, I really like his work and I appreciate his bravery and the hard work he has put into the film, adventuring somewhere other directors have never been. I give him a thumbs up!

The violent scenes in the film seem realistic, was that hard for you during the shooting?
The shooting was extremely hard, because the director wanted everything to be real, or at least to seem real. We couldn’t act out emotion, we could only react out of emotion. When someone punches you, you react, that’s real. But if no one punches you yet you create the look [of being hit], that’s fake. That’s exactly what the director wanted me to show in the film – a natural reaction. That’s why I hated him so much during the shooting, haha. But of course I like him a lot, I appreciate his talent.

Have your relationships with Liao Fan and the director changed because of the abuse scenes?
Liao and I knew each other, but we were not too familiar prior to the film. I always thought Liao Fan was very gentlemanly and shy! He is not as daring as he is in the film. He is a great actor because he carried himself through this character – a very difficult task. And the director… I didn’t really know him that much before the film, but during the process, at times I seriously hated him because he put me through so many difficult circumstances and situations. But I also have to thank him today because of all the methods he used to bring out what he wanted, what he demanded the character should be. He gave me a whole new movie-making experience.

You said that you have really fallen in love with Liao Fan, is that true?
I think I love him more and more now… haha. Well, not that love but friendly love. At the time perhaps I transferred my love of the character to my personal life, but now, no. I am an actress and I should have the ability to pull myself out of the film afterwards. When you share so many special and edgy moments with a person, you unavoidably build up a special relationship with him. We don’t really have to talk too much, but I just know we have a link.

You were very brave to strip in front of the camera, it must have been a great challenge.
I think, yes, Chinese people have a very traditional way of thinking and maybe for a girl to be naked in a film is quite daring. For me, of course it was a little hard in the beginning, but I do see the necessity of it, because if the sex wasn’t so hot and attractive, how would the bad guy be attracted to her? The story of good girl fallen in love with bad guy is not something new, but to make the story seem real and believable, those sex scenes and nudity are needed. It’s hard but not the hardest. When shooting those scenes, everyone was so professional – even though most of the film crew were guys, no one peeked at your secret parts. Everyone respected me so well, it wasn’t that hard.

When the film went up on the big screen for the first time, how did you feel?
The first time I watched this film was in Cannes, at the premiere. I was a little bit worried because everything is enlarged; even my nipple is the size of my head! Sorry, I know it sounds disgusting but it is real! I was a bit nervous, but after the film, the credits rolled, we stood up, the lights went on and everyone’s clapping lasted so long. That erased all my worries, so I thought everything was worth it.

A lot of people compare you with Tang Wei (Lust, Caution). How do you react to that?
I don’t think we are comparable. It’s just like comparing a cup of coffee with a pack of tissues. It’s totally different. If I was filmed in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, then maybe it would be comparable. We are both daring in films, we are devoted to this industry that we love. We are professionals and we did not let our personalities get in the way of pursuing our careers – that’s probably what we have in common. Otherwise, workwise, we are not comparable.

Did Hai Yitian assist your character development?
Even in our story, they had already formed a group. I was an outsider trying to break into their group. During the shooting of Ocean Flame, I didn’t have any involvement and interaction with the rest of the crew. And I was always isolated, because that was how my character was supposed to be. When Joan Chen filmed The Last Emperor, there was a very emotional scene to be filmed, but for some reason she couldn’t focus and couldn’t bring out the emotion. Then the director demanded no one talk to her – he isolated her. After some time he handed her a bunch of flowers and then she broke out in tears hysterically. There are always methods a director can use to bring out the emotion needed of the actors. I guess isolation is one of these methods. I was very lonely, did not talk much, but that was a good experience.

So you had a very traumatic experience as well?
At the time yes, but I should be able to pull myself out of it. Now I should really thank Liu Fendou.

How did you build up or prepare the love-hate relationship between Lichuan and Wang Yao with Lian Fan?
Sometimes we dressed up in costume and went to the set, forgot ourselves and rehearsed many times. The director would tell us not to speak, but to speak with our eyes. I think that’s when you are really communicating. We don’t speak a word. So that’s when your heart starts talking. That’s how our relationship was built.

The three characters are tragic and pathetic in their own ways. Which do you think is the most sympathetic?
Zheng Zhong. I think I sympathize with him the most, because he has lost his love and friendship. He gets nothing after all. Lichuan received love and so did Wang. When I watched that movie for the first time, I felt very heavy. You question ‘Why would this happen?’ ‘Why are humans like this?’ Of course it is expressed in an extreme way because the novel had been made into a film twice before. If we re-tell the story in an old fashioned way, who would want to see the film? So it had to be drastically different from what was made in the past.

Lichuan is a stubborn and innocent girl who pays with her life for loving Wang Yao. Since you became Lichuan for eight months (the length of the production), how do you feel about her and yourself?
I still couldn’t get out of the character after the shooting. During the post-production period I still had to look at the film again and re-shoot it, so there was still a link between Lichuan and me. The stubborn part of Lichuan comes from some of my own characteristics whose existence I didn’t even realize. I told a lot of people that I didn’t know I was that stubborn. But she has to be that strong. If her stubbornness wasn’t so intense, she wouldn’t get to this ending. So I need to thank the director that he gave me so much stimulation to bring that much of my character out. But I won’t support what she did in the film. Her personality decides her fate. My background in real life is very different from that of Lichuan, so I really had to forget who I am and what I am doing to become her. But originally I was totally different from her. To me, an ordinary boyfriend is fine, I don’t need Wang Yao. But, who knows? Maybe I haven’t met my Wang Yao yet!

Monica Mok
(Mo Xiaoqi, Mo Qi, Wang Meng Meng)
Hometown: Beijing
Date of Birth: 6 September
Marital Status: Single
Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, English
Height: 170 cm
Awards:
Champion, Miss Chinese International Pageant, Sydney (1999)
Filmography:
Ai Qing Zai Xian (2000)
Koma (2004)
Shanghai Red (2005)
We Have Nowhere to Place Youth (2006)
Ocean Flame (2008)