Chinese star talks Wayne Wang's literary adaptation "Diary of a Mad Old Man," and why AI won't be replacing actors anytime soon
BUSAN -- "Diary of a Mad Old Man" opens with its stroke-stricken protagonist trying, and failing, to masturbate under his desk.
Half-paralyzed at nearly 70, the old man (Lily Franky) pours what's left of his strength into furiously lusting after his daughter-in-law. He sneaks glances at her in the shower, but his true obsession is her feet — specifically, getting to suck her toes.
That daughter-in-law is played by Fan Bingbing. And she says she had a blast with the role.
"For me, what matters most is that I really enjoyed myself on this film," Fan said at a press conference Wednesday at the Busan Cinema Center. "As an actor, I love taking on characters who are caught somewhere ambiguous. You don't come across that kind of danger very often."
Directed by Wayne Wang ("The Joy Luck Club," "Smoke"), the movie adapts Junichiro Tanizaki's 1961 novel of the same name. It is screening in Busan International Film Festival's A Window on Asian Cinema section following September's world premiere at Toronto.
By Fan's account, the reaction in Toronto was split: some praised its story and visuals, while others found it deeply uncomfortable. But the Chinese star sees value in a film that explores a kind of desire most people would rather overlook.
"His body is failing and his age has come as a shock, but his desire is still very much alive," Fan said through an interpreter. "We don't really think about the desires of people that age, our parents or our grandparents. We assume they want less and expect less. It made me wonder whether we've been ignoring very human desires."
Once among China's highest-paid stars, Fan disappeared from public view for months after a 2018 tax evasion scandal. She has since done much of her work abroad, from Malaysia's "Mother Bhumi" to "Green Night." She stopped by Busan in 2023 for the latter, a Chinese-language drama shot in Korea.
This year Fan is back with two titles. Other than "Diary," she stars in "She Said," a 21-minute short by Singaporean filmmaker Ivan Tan in the festival's Asian short film competition. In it, she plays a woman who confesses to her boyfriend that she once worked in a romance scam operation.
"Every new film opens a new window for me," she said. "Through it, I get to see how fresh and exciting filmmaking can be, and how many possibilities are still out there."
Fan had things to say when the subject turned to AI-generated content. AI clips have now practically overtaken social media, and in China they have found a thriving market in microdramas — short-form video series consisting of one- to two-minute episodes.
"There are a lot of AI short dramas in China. I don't dislike them, and I watch them now and then," she said. "But the problem is they all look the same. Whether you watch one or 10, the actors look so alike that I can't remember their faces."
"When we were young, we watched all kinds of films from around the world, and that's how we developed an eye for art," she said. "If young people today only watch these short dramas … I can't go into detail."
Her bet is that actors aren't going anywhere.
"Some directors are using AI to cut costs," she said. "But the emotion that comes through when a person acts, the way they deliver it and the experience they bring from their own life — AI can't replace that."
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
