After his undercover thriller Turning Point crowned the box office, Herman Yau released a third film this year in Split Second Murders, a dark comedy starring a group of young pop singers and models. He talks of the difference a split second can make, and the dilemmas local filmmakers face.

How did the collaboration with Li Man come about?
The original idea actually came from me, and then I talked to writer Li Man and she wrote the script. I think she has done a good job writing it. Her writing contains a more feminine point of view which in my films seldom appears, so it is quite different for me.

Where did the inspiration of Split Second Murders come from then?
In the last few years we have often seen in the news how a tree can fall down and kill someone, the curtain string can strangle a kid… In fact 90% of the incidents you see in the film are based on real events. But of course we cannot quote from the original newspaper. A lot of people like responding to tragedy or natural disaster by saying life is unpredictable or, as clichéd as it may sound, we need to treasure what we have blah blah blah.

And the main message of the film is how a story can completely twist in a split second…
A lot of time we make wrong decision in a split second, or cannot hold our anger for a second more. If we could hold for another second, as one line in the film says, the world would be a better place.

That is your life philosophy?
That is what I believe – like the last mid-autumn festival at Tai Long Wan. A few guys got into a fight over some trivial matter about noise and one was beaten to death. The other guys were so drunk they didn’t even know they killed someone and went home to sleep. They didn’t mean to kill anyone, I believe – now when you think of it, it is so stupid. If they could hold their breaths and take one step back, this kind of thing would not happen.

You seldom work with so many young actors at one time, right?
I think it is the first time, actually. It was quite fun for me and I was feeling much younger working with them. Many of them are great – Stephanie Cheng is much better than I expected her to be. And though Kay Tse and MC Jin hadn’t really acted before, I think they have shown their own characters in their performances.

You’ve released four films this year (The First 7th Night, Turning Point, Split Second Murders and Rebellion, which will open later this month) and Turning Point topped the box office for Hong Kong films this summer.
It is just a coincidence. But I do hope the climate of the film industry is getting better. Even if a film isn’t making lots of money, at least when the box office is better, investors will think it is easier to run the business and are happy to continue. The success of Turning Point doesn’t necessary mean the market is alive again but at least it is a sign – one more investor entering the market is always better than one more investor retreating.

But these films don’t look like the kind you really want to make. Is there anything coming up for you?
Well, at least the idea of Split Second Murders comes from me. Actually my next two films are mainstream commercial films – the Chinese New Year comedy All’s Well End’s Well, Too 2009 and a small-budget film on the early life of Ip Man.

What do you see in the near future for Hong Kong cinema?
I hope there are more authentic Hong Kong films – they have been vanishing in recent years. Everyone now either produces works catering to the market on the Mainland or Hollywood-like blockbusters. The unique feature of Hong Kong films is lost. But we fall into a dilemma – we want our films to be entertaining but at the same time we have to pass the censorship of the Chinese government. In fact, we know the films that didn’t pass the censors are very popular on the pirate market – the Mainland audiences love those Hong Kong films.

Split Second Murders opens on October 8