Four: Eric Khoo
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| Barbet, Eric & Pierre, Cannes, 2017, photo courtesy of Eric Khoo |
“The dead shot.”
Pierre’s closest friend in Singapore was Eric Khoo. Eric’s second feature 12 Storeys was selected for Un Certain Regard in 1997, in large part because of Pierre’s enthusiasm, making him the first Singaporean filmmaker to be selected for Cannes, paving the way for many more. Thus began a long and enduring friendship between the two. Eric became a conduit for Rissient to meet filmmakers in Singapore, and Rissient remained passionately supportive of Eric’s films. When I first decided to have these conversations I emailed Eric, and received the following:
“Pierre Rissient adored cinema and he was all about PASSION PASSION PASSION. I loved watching him eat and hearing his delicious voice - I LOVE the guy! Without him I may not be directing anymore - he taught me about the dead shot and he’ll always be my Yoda.”
It took several more emails and a month or two before we were able to sit down, face to face, over happy hour drinks in Holland Village, Singapore, to have a conversation about Rissient.
Eric Khoo: The last time I saw him was when I was on a jury in Cannes last year and we had a meal together and he introduced me to Barbet Schroeder, and I thought I was going to see him again. Because, this guy was always unwell, but he always came back, I don’t know how he did it…
Ben Slater: Do you remember how you first met?
EK: Through Philip Cheah. Mee Pok Man (1996) was launched here (in Singapore), and then festivals started writing to us, and it went to Berlin and Venice, and over 30 festivals, and I was really happy because it put Singapore in the spotlight. I think Pierre had heard about it and was interested to see my sophomore film. A lot of these (film festival) scouts go to Australia, he discovered Jane Campion there, and it was on one of those trips to Australia that he stopped off here to see what was happening. I was at post-production stage on 12 Storeys, mixing the sound. He said, “I really like what I’m seeing, when it’s finished can you send me a copy?” Which I did, on VHS. And he tells me he’s going to leave it at the front door of Gilles Jacob, who was artistic director of Cannes at that time, and (he says) “I’ll let you know when you call me tomorrow.” So the next day I called him and he said, “Your film is in Cannes.”
BS: And this became a friendship.
EK: I would see him everywhere. At festivals, in Paris, whenever he’s in town. He was really part of my life. He’s always there, chasing me. Asking me about my films. Pierre opened so many doors for me, and it was just through his love for cinema. If he liked the product he would champion it. I remember in Telluride when I was there with him, every day he would wear the Be With Me T-shirt. He was always looking out for smaller films. And he wanted to meet filmmakers. I introduced him to everyone (in Singapore). I even introduced him to Jack Neo (Singapore’ most successful director of local comedies). He was always happy and eager to meet filmmakers. He would ask me to send him VCDs, DVDs, of their work so I used to send to him. He lived for it.
BS: He would help guide filmmakers into Cannes.
EK: He had his way of doing things. He would say to the directors of Cannes, “Hey Thierry (Frémaux), you have to watch this.” He would call me up and say "We have to fight for the best slot (in the festival).” Thierry had a lot of respect for him. Before Pierre passed away, it was the day before Cannes and he was still running around trying to find a distributor for Burning. And then he went. That’s the best way to go. He didn’t suffer.
BS: But he’d suffered before that.
EK: You know, whenever you’d see him, whether he’s on crutches or wheelchair, he loved travelling, he loved cinema. He loved to eat. If you don’t want (the food), he’ll take it from you, and if you don’t finish the drink, he’ll drink from you. What a guy! And he would always ask me, “How is Philip Cheah? And how is Wenjie?” He was very sweet.
BS: Did he ever read scripts for your films?
EK: (Shakes head emphatically) He’d wait and he’d watch it, and then at the rough cut stage he’d say “Try this, try that.” For him it’s the baby and we have to nurture it. And we have to give it life. Good life.
BS: How involved did he get?
EK: The only film he helped me to edit was Be With Me. We had made it with the digital camera, and the tapes were so cheap - I shot a lot of footage. And at the editing stage there were so many different permutations of how I could edit the film. But I still felt something was amiss. There were three stories, and one was her (Theresa Chan’s) life and they were going simultaneously, and it didn’t quite work, and some of the stories went backwards. The editor didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to do, my writer didn’t know. So, I called Pierre, and I said, “I’ve just done this film and it’s a unique film.” So, he says “Send it to me.” He was staying with Clint (Eastwood) at the time in LA, so he called me up at midnight, and said “I just watched it. You have something so special with this film, but I cannot talk to you (on the phone), you have to come to Paris and I will sit down with you.”
So we went to Paris with all the rushes. We had a cut on VHS and we watched it, and we’d look at the sections and he’d say, “Why don’t we try something, let’s look at the rushes.” This was in my nephew’s apartment, with just a VHS machine, it was low-fi. We’d write down the time-codes. Pierre would come in the morning, at 8:30, I would go and buy some food and cook it – I cooked Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup) - and then Benjamin Illos was there as well. And we just tried this and that for three mornings, and then when I came back to Singapore, I strung it all together and it worked a lot better. But there were things he wanted to remove and I said, “No way.” One was the ghost mother (a bereaved character sees his deceased wife), he thought the Western audience would have a problem. But he taught me a lot just sitting there. He’d say, “That’s a dead shot.” And it made a lot of sense. He was able to give me the right amount of suggestions that made it a much better edit. It was all about the pacing.
BS: Where did he learn this?
EK: Watching cinema.
BS: He had a reputation for being difficult.
EK: Be With Me was the opening night film in the Directors Fortnight, so before we premiered he calls me up and says, “Eric, do you realise that before Be With Me plays, they are going to programme a 20 minute African film (A Bras Le Corps, made in Abidjan), and tonight at a certain time they are going to show a (restored) Ozu film, so that means you’re going to have people walking out of your cinema to watch the Ozu film.” And I said, “What can I do?” And he said, “You tell them they can’t do that.” And I’m like, “How can I do that?”, so he tells Olivier Père (the Artistic Director of Directors Fortnight at the time) to tell his boss not to play that (short) film. So, we are at the venue, and the film was going to play in the next ten minutes. And Pierre was screaming. And it was scary. When he gets mad, he explodes. But it was all about the work, he was so passionate. In the end the (short) film played, and I can’t remember anyone walking out. Actually, when I think back, I can’t fault him, he just wanted the best for the film.
BS: He must have been furious at the screening.
EK: He didn’t go to the screening! He didn’t even go to the party. The following day he had calmed down and then he congratulated me. He was so happy with the reviews.
BS: Did he ask for any credit for advising on the editing?
EK: Never. I always had him under ‘special thanks’. When he liked something he just wanted to push it, he didn’t care if he’s part of it or not.
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| Eric's last meal with Pierre, 2017, photo by Eric Khoo |
(For Part Four go here)
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