Q&A by John Richard originally published on his excellent Wasted Life site (DeadLink)

Robert Tai is without question one of the most influential kung fu movie directors working in the industry, having directed the action on such classics as '5 Deadly Venoms', 'Thundering Mantis' and 'Incredible Kung Fu Mission' before going onto direct his own spectacular movies.

This interview was conducted via email with my housemate Terry (very kindly) translating the questions into Chinese and one of Robert Tai's friends translating the answers back into English. As a result something may be lost in the translation but I've posted the answers as they came back, aside from a couple of instances where I have annotated. A big thanks to Terry for the translation and also to Toby Russell for providing the contact and facilitating the whole thing.

How long did you spend at the Fu Shing opera school and what was it like growing up there ?

I've been at Fu Shing Opera for 8 years. If I have not passed such tough childhood in the Fushing opera school, there were not the stamina in my adolescence, which make my successful career afterward.

How did you get your first parts in movies ?

In 1965, director Huang-fu came to Taiwan for his kung fu film in which his action choreographer was Mr Han Yin-Jay who was my teacher's classmate. Mr Han needed many stuntmen for this movie, so that we participated in this production. Hence, my first part in the movie was a stuntman.

Who were your favourite movie stars back then ?

Mr Chang Yi is my favourite movie star because he is my elder brother in the school

Who would you say has been the biggest influence on your career ?

It is incontestable that Chang Cheh has been the biggest influence on my career

How did you make the move from stuntman to action choreographer at Shaw Brothers ?

Before I went to Shaw Brothers, I worked as a stuntman as well as an assistant of the action choreographer. The action choreographer, who was a Taiwaner, left Shaw Brothers after the production of the film 'Shaolin Temple', so that I could take charge of the position as an action choreographer in the next production

How much control did you have over the fight arrangements in the films you made with Chang Cheh and starring Kuo Chui, Lo Mang, Lu Feng, Chang Sheng, Sun Chien ?

I took charge of all scenes of the fighting arrangements in [those] films

One of my favourite fight scenes is the end fight of 'Thundering Mantis' (aka 'Crazy Mantis'), which you choreographed. Was that scripted to be so brutal or was that devised on the set ?

The mantis is an extremely brutal insect, the idea that I designed all the action sets, especially your favourite scene is from the mantis' natural world. There is no immediate concept of the action sets from the description in the script.

What drove you to start experimenting with wires in your films ?

Since the film 'Dead Gate', I used the wire in order to stick the props in the frame, and in the 'Dead Gate', I used the wire technique for controlling the darts. Afterwards, in the 'Venoms', I started to use the wire technique on the actors.

You seem to make a lot of films about Ninjas, what is it that attracted you to the genre ?

In 1975, I've bought the Chinese translation of the Japanese samurai, since then, I was highly attracted by the Ninjas culture, and I went to rent the Japanese samurai video of which I felt extremely disappointed. Therefore, I decided to make my own style Ninjas films.

Where did the idea for the 'water spider assault team' in 'Ninja The Final Duel' come from ?

The idea is from the signification of the Japanese language

Alexander Lo Rei appeared frequently in your films, what qualities made him good in the starring roles ?

He is my disciple, it's out of question that he is the first choice for the leading actor in my film

You recently made 'Trinity Goes East', which is hopefully going to be released this year, what can fans expect from this film ?

As usual, they will get surprise in the 'Trinity Goes East'

What was it like to work with John Liu again and can he still kick like he used to ?

Brilliant. As his age, what he have done was excellent

Do you still practice martial arts ?

I didn't practice martial arts since several years. But I take care of my health condition very much.

Do you have any projects in the pipeline ?

Yes, I am preparing a musical kung-fu movie

What do you think of Hollywood's attempt to copy the Chinese style of filmmaking in recent years ? (films like 'The Matrix' and 'Charlies Angels')

Very good. Finally, Chinese kung fu films are highly esteemed by the occidental world. This type of film could project only in the C class cinema in the old days, now the kung fu films can go to the A class cinema. However, the occidental actors are still the main stream, I hope one day, the oriental actors will also be the popular ones [as] the occidental ones.

[note - occidental means western, I had to look that up in a dictionary]

Out of all your films, of which one are you most proud ?

[note - I think this translated to 'what is your best film ?']

I think you should answer this question. In my opinion as a director, the next one will always be the best.

Did you ever think that your films would still be finding new audiences 20 years (and more) after they were made ?

Of course my films still have attraction to the young generation, because I believe that I am the godfather of the kung fu movie director. No one can imitate my idea, I assure that even though 100 year after the production, the audiences will be attracted by my unique and initial ideas

Thanks very much to Robert Tai for taking the time to answer these questions.

John Richards
April 2004