The documentary is scheduled to premiere later this year on HBO Asia’s on-air, online and on-demand platforms.

“The World” is an HBO Asia original documentary that delves deeper into the traditions and culture on which the coming-of-age series is based. Filmed entirely in Taiwan, the hour-long Mandarin documentary explores some of the unique shamanistic practices that call Taiwan home and takes the audience on a journey through the rituals and beliefs surrounding the Ghost Month.

The Ghost Month is the pinnacle of the annual spiritual calendar in Taiwan – when the gates of hell are said to open, and spirits enter the world of the living. Weaving through the festivities, “The World” follows different characters to explore how a distinct blend of Taoist, Buddhist, Chinese Folklore and indigenous belief systems continue to flourish in modern Taiwan.

One of the characters in the documentary is award-winning Taiwanese actress and singer, Nana Lee who starred in “The Teenage Psychic”. Lee grew up surrounded by temple culture and beliefs. With her family having suffered the loss of a loved one, Lee visits her hometown of Nantou and reconnects with her past. Spanning worlds old and new, and having a direct link to the original “The Teenage Psychic” series, Lee’s unique perspective offers a personal account of how traditions of life and death survive in Taiwan today.

Throughout the documentary, followers and devotees share thoughts on why these practices are still relevant and a part of everyday life, while leading academics explain how and why spiritual belief remains so deeply-rooted into the modern fabric of the island.

In “Mile 22”, the new action-packed thriller from Peter Berg that opens in Thailand today, Mark Wahlberg stars as Jimmy Silva, the leader of an elite paramilitary team charged with transporting foreign intelligence asset Li Noor (“The Raid’s” Iko Uwais, here in his first major Hollywood role), from the relative safety of a US Embassy in Southeast Asia to an airfield for extraction – a distance of 22 miles (35 kilometres) – from the city centre.

Silva’s mission, of course, proves hardly a walk in the park. With Noor holding the key to encrypted information needed to prevent an imminent terrorist attack in exchange for safe transport to a refuge in the US, Silva’s team (featuring Ronda Rousey and “The Walking Dead’s” Lauren Cohan), must fight their way, mile by mile, through a dangerous urban landscape as local forces close in, determined to preven this escape.

“Mile 22” marks the fourth collaboration between Berg and Wahlberg (a fifth film, “Wonderland”, is currently in pre-production). Their first pairing came in 2013 with the critically acclaimed “Lone Survivor”, featuring Wahlberg as Marcus Luttrell in the true-story of an ill-fated US Navy SEAL mission in Afghanistan. Their follow-up, 2016’s “Deepwater Horizon”, cast Wahlberg as Mike Williams, the last man to escape the infamous BP oil rig, followed by “Patriots Day” (also released in 2016), a gripping account of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and it’s aftermath. While the new movie marks a departure from the duo’s previous focus on true-life stories, the action-packed thriller is nevertheless infused by the real-world culture of special ops forces, with an overall aesthetic from Berg that eschews CGI spectacle for the grit of close-quarters combat.

Berg recently sat down with the media in Los Angeles where he discussed the making of the film and his ongoing creative partnership with Mark Wahlberg, as “Mile 22” readied for its global premiere.

What is it about working with Mark Wahlberg that keeps you coming back for more?

I think he’s just a very talented actor – that’s a given. But he’s also like a brother. We get along very well. We have similar tastes in life. We like the same sports, we like the same wine, we have kids the same age. Our work ethics are similar. And so there’s a great affection and trust, which makes for a fun work environment. And I believe it should be fun to go to work every day. I work a lot. And I’ve been on film sets where there’s a lot of divisiveness and contention, creative heat and all that stuff. That can work for some people, but for me that’s a bunch of bullshit. I like to have fun. This is what I choose to do with my life and I plan on doing it for a long time… I want it to be good work, I want to have fun doing it, and that’s Mark too.

What’s your collaboration like on set?

As someone who grew up acting, I try to be very cognisant of character. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, and often times it’s somewhere in between. People ask why we keep working together. Well, Mark for me falls into a sweet spot where I can trust him to either figure out things that I’m not seeing as far as character goes – whether it’s Marcus Latrell or Mike Williams or Silva, the character he’s playing in this. He’s very vigilant about coming to me and making sure that I’m paying attention. If I’ve taken my eye off it because I’m focused on some action or some improv or whatever else gets my attention, Mark is very good at saying, “Maybe you should look at this…” Also he’s very selfless, because he’ll do that with other characters. He’ll come up to me and say, “He should say this… He should do this…” For me that’s a partnership. These films may not be as rich in character as other filmmakers’ and more action-heavy, but one of the things that I value about Mark is he’ll constantly be like, “Character, character, character…” That creates a balance that works for me aesthetically.

Why did the two of you want to make this film, and why the break from true stories?

Having done three true-stories, we wanted to do something [different] for many different reasons. We both saw “The Raid” and the sequel to it and felt that Iko Uwais is so unique and so talented, and brings so much art to these combat films, that it would be really fun for us to work with him. And it was like, ‘Okay this could be perfect.’ We wanted to do something fictional. I had an idea for this tight little action film…We figured if we could get him, we’d do it, and we were lucky to get him.

What was it like working with Iko Uwais?

One of the things that I found really interesting was that Iko came with some of his guys from Indonesia. And he had to work with some pretty accomplished American stunt guys who are like, “We have our way of doing things”. And here comes Iko. Everyone was sort of sniffing each other out at first and my hope was that that these guys would see that there’s something that they could learn [from him]. I wasn’t sure that it would go that way. I’ve seen films where stunt guys, who were pretty aggro, macho guys, can bump heads. But Iko disarmed them all so quickly. Because he’s such a hardworking, original-thinking artist with this stuff, they were just like, “Go…” They let Iko take the lead. And it was a beautiful thing to watch. These tough fighters agreeing that this guy really does know what he’s doing, and that they wanted to learn from him.

Did anyone ever get hurt?

We actually take safety very, very seriously. We have an extraordinary crew; these guys were all well trained. We joke around. But we don’t play around with safety. So, no, fortunately nobody was hurt.

The film’s opening sequence features a clip of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, amongst others, pulled from the latest headlines.

What’s the underlying idea behind the sequence?

This is a work of fiction. But it’s about the CIA’s Ground Branch (part of the agency’s Special Activities Division, responsible for covert operations) which really exists. They really are “the third option”. So we talked to a company that does opening credits, and I’m like, “Let’s do something that feels like it’s got one hand in reality”. That credit sequence was me saying “Can we do something that feels current? That makes people go, “Wait a minute. Was the Ground Branch behind this? Suddenly Trump and North Korea are sitting down shaking hands? Maybe something else was going on.”

What was it like shooting in Bogota?

We were a bit sceptical, particularly our production guys, about how feasible shooting big action sequences, shooting anything really in Colombia was. A good friend of mine, Eric Newman who produced “Narcos” for Netflix, had been very positive about his experience, but it was on smaller scale. For this we were talking about gun fights and explosions right in downtown Bogota. So we went down there and met with President Santos who was relieved that it wasn’t a film about cocaine. But then quickly we had to be like, “But we are going to blow up everything in your city”. I think they saw that we were responsible and professional. And we truly had a wonderful time. The Colombians couldn’t have been nicer.

Were you happy, on the whole, with the move from non-fiction to fiction or was there something missing for you?

There were things I missed. It’s addictive when you do something almost journalistic. When we’re making a movie like “Friday Night Lights” or “Lone Survivor” or “Deepwater Horizon” and you get to go like a journalist and meet these people and uncover these stories and realise, “Oh my god you did this..?” That’s an addictive feeling. And so I miss that. I got to do some of that by interviewing ex-Ground Branch and some current CIA for this movie. But when you do those real movies, you have to show the film to all the families of people who died. Their parents, their children, their brothers. And that’s heavy. It’s intense and can be very emotionally draining. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t less of that stress, talking to Iko about doing some great fights and blowing stuff up. So, I don’t miss that right now. I think I’ll go back to that again, in my career. But it was nice to just make an action movie.

 The winner of more than 50 international awards including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010, “The Secret” is one of the most talked-about movies from Argentina and was also the second-highest grossing Argentinean film, in history.

“The Secret” is a riveting crime thriller, legal drama, love story, rolled into one. The story centres on a rape-and-murder case which is re-visited 25 years after it was committed. Legal Counsel Benjamin Esposito is obsessed by the case not being solved and decides to write a fictional book about it, for which he visits his boss, Judge Irene Mendez Hastings. It revives old events, feelings and memories. It also brings to a close to the murder case, in a shock ending.

The 2009 Argentinean film was re-made, as a Hollywood thriller in 2015, directed by Billy Ray and starring Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The film event is supported by the Embassy of Argentina, who will serve drinks and snacks, after the screening. The ambassador of Argentina Alicia Sonschein will introduce the film.

Films are screened in the RCB Forum on the second floor.

Book your seat at rcbfilmclub@gmail.com

An RCB Boat-Service will leave Saphan Thaksin Pier, at 3.30 pm.

The 2016 smash hit, “Your Name” did much to revive Thai interest in Japanese animation and now acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda is back, thrilling local moviegoers with “Mirai”, a story that will resonate loudly with anyone, child or adult, who has a younger sibling.

Hosoda popped over to Bangkok last week to promote the film with its distributor M Pictures and the Japan Foundation arranged a public talk with him.

“Mirai” is Hosoda’s fifth movie in 12 years and follows on the heels of other successes, namely “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, “Summer Wars”, Wolf Children” and “The Boy and the Beast”.

He won three awards for animation from the Japanese Academy for “The Girl”, “Summer Wars” and “Wolf Children” and “Mirai” was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival this year.

“Mirai” is a story of four-year-old Kun-chan, who is waiting for his mother to return home from the hospital. At first, he is delighted when she comes back with his new sister Mirai but his happiness doesn’t last long. With his parents busy taking care of the baby, Kun-chan shows his displeasure at the lack of attention being given to him and indulges in nasty and sometimes irritating behaviour, even hitting his sister with his bullet train model.

The little boy then has a series of strange experiences whenever his parents berate him. There, in his garden, he meets a mysterious prince who turns out to be the human personification of the family dog Yekko and a teenage girl from the future who is a grown up version of his sister Mirai. He even travels back to the post World War II period and meets his great-grandfather and encounters a little girl of his age who turns out to be his scary mother. The adventures meld with his daily life and help him become comfortable with his environment.

“I got this idea from my own son. When his younger sister was born and we took her home, I saw his strange and untrusting look in his eyes. I was interested in how such a young child perceives the world around him,” says the director.

“Adults don’t have time to see the whole world like children; we tend to just focus on everyday matters. As parents, our duty is to take care of children and teach them but in fact, we are the ones who learn from our kids,” Hosoda continues, adding that he also injected his personal experience into the story.

As in his previous films, director has made family relationships at the centre of the story.

But while to him this appears perfectly natural, he appears surprised when the Thai media note that this phenomenon is common in Japanese animations and want to know why.

“I have never been asked that before though it is an interesting observation. However, it is not my intention to focus on the family matters in my films. It just happens. Take this film: the main character is a young boy and showing his character development automatically means focusing on his life and his family,” he explains.

The topic of family in his and other animations, he adds, is probably a reflection of the drastic changes in the Japanese family unit.

“Families in Japan are undergoing so many changes. For example, the Internet has made people isolate themselves from other members of the family and that lessens the relationship between family members. We are in a transition period and we don’t know where we are or how life should be. And that affects the way the children are raised,” he says.

Even though the main character is a young boy, the director stresses that the movie is suitable for people of all ages.

“Many people might write it off as a kid’s film but it isn’t. But I know what it’s like. When I was at university, I hesitated about going to see the Gibhli film “My Neighbour Totoro” because the main character is a four-year-old girl,” he says.

Hosoda often uses real locations in his films because he says it helps to give more dimensions to the characters. In “Mirai”, the key location is Yokohama and the scene where Kun-chan travels back to the post-war years and meets his great-grandfather is fascinating.

The director says the idea came from his wife’s grandfather who lives in the industrial area of Yokohama. It is not a tourist area but it does have plenty of historical memories. “But the audience doesn’t have to know all the background history,” he smiles.

Bringing real locations into animation is tough even though advanced techniques help make it real as possible. The working process starts by shooting photographs and video. In this case, introducing images of the city after the war was even more difficult as there is little evidence left and the public is not allowed in certain areas. The solution, Hosoda says, lay in interviewing local officials.

When asked about the most important tool an animation director should have, he says: “Just paper, pencil and pen. Seriously, making an animation costs a lot of money so you must create things that a movie with actors can’t. Most of the time, it isn’t just entertaining the audience but conveying a message. For me the most important thing is having a new and vivid idea and communicating it to the audience in a simple but powerful way.”

Although his films are well received in the box office and have won awards, he doesn’t consider himself a success. “I am still on the journey; it’s tough, tiring and has its own problems. But making animation is now part of my life and I know that I have to cope with those problems.”

The process from start to finish of an animation often takes years and the director says that the hardest part is keeping the story idea alive and interesting until the end.

“When we get an idea to develop the plot, we think it works. But as time passes, our feeling of excitement about the idea changes and we start thinking it’s not working. So the best ideas are those that excite throughout the project,” he says.

The director adds that he has loved drawing since he was young and became fascinated with the animation as a child, “Art was my way of healing when I had problems,” he muses.

“Children draw and paint to communicate what is in their minds. I was like that too. I was a quiet boy and had many unsuccessful experiences but I was always proud of my drawing. “I got plenty of inspiration from animation when I was young so, as an animation director, I really want to create animations that inspire |others.”

 It consists of 16 episodes and the first screening tonight.

The drama that tells the story of a man who believes life’s only value is money. He meets a woman who’s on the edge of her life. After a dramatic first meeting, they find and learn the true meaning of love.

Lee Seo Jin portrays the wealthy and arrogant Han Ji Hoon while Uee portrays his much younger wife Kang Hye Soo, a struggling single mom working as an assistant to a chef. She raises her daughter while paying off her late husband’s debt. Ji Hoon finds himself seeking a contract marriage to save his mother, who is dying of cirrhosis of the liver. The woman who will sign the contract marriage will donate a part of her liver to save Ji Hoon’s mother. In return, Ji Hoon will pay an exorbitant amount of money. Hye Soo eventually agrees to the contract marriage after learning she has an inoperable brain tumour. In return, Ji Hoon will pay enough money to provide for her daughter until she reaches adulthood.

The series also stars Kim Yong-geon, Park Jung-soo, Lee Hwi-hyang, Kim Young-pil, Kim Kwang-kyu, Kim Yoo-ri, Jung Kyung-soon, Lee Hyun-geol, Pyo Ye-jin, Ahn Ji-hoon and Kim So-jin.

The two selected episodes are Thailand’s very own Penek Ratanaruang’s “Pob” and “A Mother’s Love” from Indonesian director Joko Anwar.

In “Pob”, Penek  puts his distinct spin on the greed parable with the story of an ambitious photo-journalist who, while visiting his sick mother in the hospital, manages to attract the attention of an elderly spirit with unusual intent. Anwar’s episode tells the tale of an impoverished maid and her son, who, after being locked out of their home by their landlord, are forced to live in the house they are cleaning. When strange noises start coming from the attic, they find more than they bargained for.

This is the first time an Asian TV series has been officially selected since the inception of Primetime programme at TIFF since 2015. The Primetime programme channels the best international television fit for the silver screen, focusing on powerful, smallscreen storytelling that pushes the boundaries of original scripted series and episodic programming.

“Folklore” is an HBO Asia Original series, produced with the support of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and created by awardwinning Singaporean film maker Eric Khoo.

The series is scheduled to premiere later this year on HBO Asia’s onair, online and ondemand platforms.

The TIFF will be held during September 616.

“A case of sexual assault was filed yesterday (21/8) in our office by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, involving Kevin Spacey, and is under review,” Greg Risling with the prosecutors’ office told AFP Wednesday.

A separate investigation was opened back in April for a complaint about an alleged assault in 1992 involving a man.

Risling did not specify details about this new complaint, or the status of the previous one.

The two-time Academy Award-winner has seen allegations against him pile up on the heels of the #MeToo movement, which began with the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Spacey also has open investigations in London, where he directed The Old Vic Theater between 2004 and 2015, and in Nantucket, an island resort near Boston.

The first report that was made public was that of actor Anthony Rapp, 46, who claimed that the actor sexually abused him at age 14, back in 1986.

Spacey apologized to Rapp, claiming not to remember the incident, but remained silent as accusations against him mushroomed.

One actor anonymously told the Vulture portal that Spacey tried to rape him in 1984, when he was 14 years old.

And eight members of the production team of his popular Netflix series “House of Cards” who also denounced “predatory” behavior by Spacey.

After first accusations of abuse against him, Spacey was fired in November from the political series. Then he was dumped from his scenes in Ridley Scott’s latest film, “All the Money in the World,” where was replaced by Christopher Plummer.

Taiwan has long showcased its culture and way of life to Thai film fans through a range of movies covering just about every genre. This year, though, it has decided to spread its wings and is bringing some of its most telling documentaries to town for the inaugural “Taiwan Documentary Film Festival in Bangkok 2018” running from next Thursday to September 2 at SF World Cinema CentralWorld.

The festival draws on the success of the documentary film project, a collaborative effort of SF and the Documentary Club, and will feature eight documentaries screened with Thai and English subtitles.

Among them is “Small Talk”, a touching film in which the director Huang Hui-chen attempts to reveal and reconcile a painful past shared between herself and her mother Anu, a lesbian Taoist priestess. Released in 2016, it had its international premiere at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section, and took home the Teddy Award for Best Documentary film.

Another highlight is “Le Moulin”,  which won the Best Documentary prize at the Golden Horse Film Festival 2016. It focuses on Taiwan’s first modern art group, Le Moulin Poetry Society, who emerged in the 1930s after 40 years of Japanese colonial rule with their poetic protest against the colonial power’s cultural superiority. Regarding the Surrealists as their absolute role models, Le Moulin poets composed poetry in an uncompromising and sophisticated style to confront the turbulent era in which they lived.

“Time Splits in the River” is a story about four artists who decide to invite their parents to play the parts of dissidents in 1980s Taiwan. To get prepared for the performance, the artists show the actors footage from that time, initiating the discussion of arts and politics. Although none of them were involved in the event, they are still caught up in the story as well as their own past.

“Sunflower Occupation” will fascinate anyone with an interest in EastAsian politics. It’s the work of nine documentary makers who joined forces to produce a 10-part anthology of the student-led Sunflower Movement. In 2014, while protesting against the Crossstrait Service Trade Agreement that was hastily approved, a group of protestors stormed into the Taiwanese parliament and occupied it for 24 days. Why and how did it happen? What changes did the young generation go through?

After they stormed through the side door of the Legislative Yuan, it was like the door to a bottomless black hole was thrown open. The most eternal and fundamental questions are: What is democracy? What is the government? What is violence? What is the future? What is the happiness we seek? Who are “we”?

The film has received plenty of critical acclaim, with the Hollywood Reporter describing it as “a useful primer on the pluses and pitfalls of political activism in a spin-saturated world”.

In Taiwan, a dead body used for medical dissection is called “a silent teacher”. “The Silent Teacher” therefore tells the story of Mrs Lin whose body is about to be dissected.

Also showing are “The Immortal’s Play” about the life of a Chinese opera actress; “The Mountain”, which focuses on a man who fights for his rights during the Imperialism period; and “Stranger in the Mountain”, which looks at the remaining descendants of the Kuomintang of China.

A complete listing of the films and the times of the screenings can be found at http://www.SFCinemaCity.com

Taiwanese Teasers

– “Taiwan Documentary Film Festival in Bangkok 2018” runs from August 30 to September 2, SF World Cinema CentralWorld.

– Tickets cost Bt160 for a Deluxe Seat and Bt180 for a Premium Seat.

– For more information, call SF Call Centre at (02) 268 8888.

Boyle, a longtime fan who included Craig’s Bond in the opening ceremony he directed for the 2012 London Olympics, was reportedly just beginning the casting process for the movie, slated for release at the end of next year.

“Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25,” the site said, referencing the producers and star of the long-running British spy movie franchise.

It was not immediately clear whether Boyle’s exit would delay the production, with filming at Pinewood Studios, west of London, expected to begin in December.

There was no announcement on Boyle’s replacement, but the producers were said to be interested in admired Scottish director David Mackenzie (“Hell or High Water”) and Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”) before the “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire” director was hired.

The film is due for release on October 25 next year in Britain, with Universal handling the international distribution. MGM and EON Productions plan to release it in the US two weeks later.

Unclear future

Boyle, 61, who won an Academy Award in 2009 for “Slumdog Millionaire,” was due to partner again with screenwriter John Hodge on the new movie.

The pair worked together on two “Trainspotting” movies, in 1996 and 2017, and “The Beach,” starring Leonardo di Caprio.

Boyle, who also directed 2015’s “Steve Jobs” and “28 Days Later” in 2002, had previously said he was working on “a great idea” for a James Bond script but was unsure if it would be made.

Craig is set to make his fifth appearance as the legendary British spy in the 25th, as yet untitled film in the storied 007 franchise.

“What this means for the future of the Bond movies is unclear — obviously Wilson and Broccoli will move to find a new director,” said James White, a film writer for British entertainment magazine Empire.

“And we’d imagine that Hodge’s script will either be dropped or re-written (unless the producers decide it makes more sense to try and keep it), but the bigger question is whether Daniel Craig will stay aboard.”

The movie is expected to be Craig’s last time playing the spy, having previously starred in “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Skyfall” and “Spectre.”

‘My name’s Elba’

The internet has been buzzing for months — if not years — about the possibility of British actor Idris Elba taking over.

The son of West African immigrants fueled speculation earlier in August that he could be named the first black James Bond, with a cryptic tweet.

“My name’s Elba, Idris Elba,” he tweeted, echoing the super spy’s famous catchline, “The name is Bond, James Bond.”

Elba, 45, made his name in gritty US television drugs drama “The Wire” and won a Golden Globe for his role as a murder detective in “Luther,” before moving to the big screen.

He has starred in blockbusters such as “Thor,” “Pacific Rim” and “Star Trek”, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for playing the title role in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

Fresh rumors emerged two weeks ago amid reports that Broccoli said it was now “time” for a black actor to take the role.

Boyle’s departure was a rare shock in Hollywood, where big departures on prestige studio projects are often preceded by months of speculation and rumor.

“Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig thought ‘Bond 25’ should be good, and Danny Boyle thought that ‘Bond 25’ should be bad,” said IndieWire senior film critic David Ehrlich.

“They were never going to see eye-to-eye on this.”

Director Jon M. Chu was sweating buckets and it’s not entirely because of the humid weather.

Chu, who has worked on big budget Hollywood sequels like G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Now You See Me 2, said Crazy Rich Asians presented a whole new set of challenges for him.

“Sometimes dressing people up for a wedding takes a lot more effort than filming ninjas on a mountain,” Chu shared briefly on the set of Crazy Rich Asians, before rushing back to finish another scene.

Members of the media were observing the filming of an emotionally-charged moment featuring Rachel (Constance Wu, TV’s Fresh Off The Boat) screaming into the night. In the scene with her were Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh and veteran actress Lisa Lu.

Some context: The ladies were all dressed to the nines for a high society wedding. At a later interview, Wu did not want to talk about how she prepared for that screaming scene.

“It’s just actor stuff. If I have to tell you, it would be like I’m telling you how to fix a car, it’s just boring,” Wu, 36, said with a laugh. Mind you, she had to do that scene over and over again just to get it right.

The truth is, there is nothing boring about what her character Rachel goes through in Crazy Rich Asians.

Rachel steps into a whole new world when she visited her boyfriend’s crazy rich family in Singapore. Photo: Warner Bros

For the love of money

Rachel is an Asian-American economics professor living in New York with her charming boyfriend Nicholas Young (Henry Golding). One day, Nicholas invites her back to his country, Singapore, to attend his best friend’s wedding.

It is only then that she finds out that her boyfriend is from a wealthy and well-connected family. Just how wealthy is this guy? Think crazy rich.

Based on the book by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians is said to be inspired by real families and wealthy personalities in Asia. Kwan goes into specific details on what the rich do when they have too much money. From buying a hotel just to get rid of a snobby manager to hiring the Vienna Boys’ Choir for a wedding, nothing is off-limits for the ultra-wealthy characters in the book.

However, Kwan won’t divulge who these actual crazy rich Asians are.

“Nicholas is from this old money family. Wealth is passed through generations. He is very acutely aware that he is the heir to the riches that his family holds,” Golding, 31, said about his character.

It’s one thing to be rich but to be dating someone who is not from the same exclusive social circle? Oh, the madness.

Michelle Yeoh plays a domineering mother in Crazy Rich Asians. Photo: Warner Bros

Financial security

Yeoh, 56, steps in as Eleanor, Nicholas’ mother and respected (think feared) matriach of the Young family. Eleanor makes it clear that she does not approve of Rachel. To be fair, she’s just like most mothers with an only child who is set to inherit the family fortunes; tiger mum becomes (over)protective.

So, Eleanor hatches a plan to sabotage the relationship between Rachel and Nicholas.

“Eleanor would do anything for her son. She would die for him. And the thing is, she’s not afraid to tell him all that,” Yeoh laughed while explaining her character’s motivation.

But that’s not the craziest thing about Crazy Rich Asians. The fact that Hollywood is making a contemporary romantic comedy featuring Asians in leading roles is something unheard of.

Wu noted: “We’ve never had a studio movie with an all-Asian cast that was not a period piece.”

Rich in diversity

The last high-profile Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast was The Joy Luck Club released in 1993. Wu lamented that Asians don’t often get to be seen in a Hollywood film with a modern setting.

“Like, why don’t we see Asians using cellphones? It’s a way to include Asians in the current conversation by showing them in a contemporary context. We are here. Our stories matter and that to me is really groundbreaking,” she said.

Other Hollywood cast members in Crazy Rich Asians include Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8), Gemma Chan (Transformers: The Last Knight) and Sonoya Mizuno (La La Land).

From this region, expect to see the likes of Ronny Chieng, Pierre Png, Carmen Soo, Tan Keng Hua and Fiona Xie on screen. Hollywood newbie Golding described filming for Crazy Rich Asians as “insane” (his pun, not ours). Producer Nina Jacobson said they were looking for someone like Cary Grant to play Nicholas.

“There’s a sense of class and elegance to Nicholas. At the same time, he’s also down to earth. It was hard to find all those things.”

“Henry did amazingly well on his screen test and he had all those qualities that we were looking for,” Jacobson explained why the studio went with a newcomer.

While Golding has made Malaysia proud, his casting also stirred some controversy. There were those who noted how Golding was not “Asian enough” for the role seeing that he is part European.

Instead of dwelling on the backlash, Golding said he is proud to represent a part of South-East Asia that is mostly unknown to his Western counterparts.

“We have such a melting pot of identities in South-East Asia and that is something to be proud of. It’s really important that we make this film. We’re breaking boundaries and that is the most important takeaway,” he said.

A wedding of epic proportions is the high society event of the year in Crazy Rich Asians. Photo: Warner Bros

Value for money

Despite its very specific setting, Jacobson believes Crazy Rich Asians has stories that will resonate globally.

“We have a great universal story for anyone who has been rejected by their in-laws or people who have their foot in two different cultures,” she said.

She also identified with Rachel as someone who is fascinated by a strange yet familiar new world.

“When I first read the book, I couldn’t put it down. The expectations on Nick from his family was relatable. The story felt fresh and new. It took me to somewhere that I wanted to go,” Jacobson said.

Will Nicholas’ love for Rachel triumph over his family money?

Yeoh said you can’t live on love alone: “When you’re in love, you say you don’t need money or you don’t need anything (else). When love cools down and reality sets in, then what? Love is not bread and butter. You have to be sensible.”

Yeoh saw Crazy Rich Asians as more than just a story about unimaginable wealth.

“It’s also about the responsibilities of a family. Many people depend on them (Nicholas’ family) for their livelihood. It’s not just about them getting rich, it’s also about the community.

“It’s good to have money but it’s what you do with it that really counts,” she concluded.

And that token of wisdom is priceless.