A hard-drinking, salty Aussie seems an unlikely figure to be one of the greatest cinematographers working in the movies today, but that's exactly what Christopher Doyle is. He's also one of the most respected and perhaps the most eclectic.
Born in Sidney in 1952, he left his home country in the late 1970s, moving to Hong Kong first and then Taipei,where he studied Mandarin and picked up the Chinese name Du Kefeng (杜可风) – Du after the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, and Kefeng, meaning ‘like the wind.’
After years of roaming, which he spent constantly hitting the road and working,among other things, as an oil driller in India, a cow herder in Israel and a doctor of Chinese medicine in Thailand, he first picked up the camera in 1978 for the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Taiwan. His first real breakthrough, however, came in 1983, when Edward Yang asked him to shoot his feature debut That Day, On the Beach, for which Doyle won the best cinematography prize at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. It was only then that Doyle went to France to study cinematography, only to return to Asia - Hong Kong this time - where he soon became a pivotal figure in Asian cinema.
His style, aesthetically ethereal and atmospheric, has helped define the beautiful formalism of directors like Chen Kaige, Stanley Kwan and, perhaps most famously, Wong Kar-Wai, with whom Doyle stroke a lasting professional relationship that started with Days of Being Wild in 1991 and culminated with 2046 in 2004, spanning masterpieces like Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love.
Besides his dazzling camera work for the Hong Kong auteur, Doyle has also made a mark into more mainstream Hollywood fare as well as with international independent directors like Jon Favreau and Gus Vant Sant, Night Shyamalan, and Jim Jarmusch, winning a number of accolades along the way.
He has published several books on his personal and professional approach to the moving image and visual context, and will be discussing translating fiction into film for the lit fest. We caught up with him for a very snappy interview.
You're currently working on a new book. Could you tell us about it?
It's been a few years since my last book so this one is fighting to get out . As with most of my previous works, it is a " rumination " on the process that brings a film or a collage or a meal or a love to life . It's called Why I am not a Painter, which is the title of a poem by Frank O'Hara about how the encounter with others stimulates ideas , and how chance pushes you into places you wouldn't go alone.
What makes a good cinematographer?
The men or women who care.
Do you follow a specific artistic process when working on cinematography?
I have a beer for breakfast and feed off others all day!
The space, the people, the climate, the energy of all parties involved are what makes a film . I heave to have more energy than most - I have to understand the money, the temperaments, the rhythm and the intent of what we are trying to share. My artistic process is about leadership and compassion. It's about creating trust and energy.
How do you think digital media are shaping the way we approach cinema and art today? And how are they affecting your work?
Ask the kids who are on cell phones all day. They are the ones who see things digitally , they have a special visual experience . I only have my experience and I try to give it whatever form it needs. The medium is not important . The intent is what counts.
You first collaborated with Wong Kar Wai over two decades ago and went on to work on six features together. Do you have a ‘favorite’ film from that cooperation?
My best film is my next film. Why would one continue any other way.
How do you think your artistic vision helps to tell a story?
Art is what artists make.... you don't try to "make art." You work hard and passionately to become and artist, to live " artistically." That means to live "truly," to live with "wonder," to always be ready for the unexpected , to trust chance, to take energy, objects and people and give themform, to let the light take shape, to let the colours shout.
Can you describe the process of bringing a conceptual idea for a certain kind of shot into reality?
Not really. It's intuitive… The process is the work. It's the "looking for something" that creates what some call style... there is no answer,there are only questions...the trick is to ask good questions.
Do you see a personal common thread in the films you've worked on?
Chinese women.
Your thoughts on Asian and Chinese cinema today. Do you think China’s financial superpower is affecting its film industry?
China is affecting Africa and the wine industry more than cinema.
What are you currently working on?
Answering your questions, getting on with the next film and book and love and talk and collage and all the stuff that matters.
// Shanghai: March 14, 7pm, RMB75, Glamour Bar.
Beijing: Sunday, March 16, 5-6pm, Capital M.
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