Alexi Tan

Film Still by Wing Shya

“Hookers, dancing girls, gangsters,” says Alexi Tan. “Shanghai in the ’30s was the wild, wild West!”

Photographer-turned-filmmaker Tan is currently in China doing post-production for Blood Brothers, his first feature film, which explores the bonds between three friends who flirt with the drugs, gangs, and glamour of 1930s Shanghai. “I guess this is my Chinese Western,” says Tan (who co-wrote and directed the film), and clearly he’s referring to the genre; “Western” is probably a relative term for Tan, who grew up in Manila and studied in London before moving to New York.

Photo by Flora Hanitijo

The young director’s first foray into shooting was as a fashion photographer; he spent more than a decade working in New York and shooting for magazines like i-D, Visionaire, and Interview, perfecting his visual style. He came to filmmaking by way of commercials and music videos, having taken film courses at NYU while waiting for the opportunity to make the jump from photography to film.

Tan’s star began to rise after legendary director John Woo and his longtime collaborator Terence Chang saw a short film that Tan directed for Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, and contacted him to express their interest in working together. Tan was excited, but cautious.

Tan’s first film is a John Woo-produced Chinese Western.

“At first I didn’t think much of it because I’d been burned by my experience in New York,” says Tan. “People tell you they want to work with you, but then it doesn’t amount to anything. But John and Terence are both really genuine guys.”

With Woo and Chang onboard, Tan was able to assemble a stable of China’s hotter talent: Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Shu Qi, Ye Liu, Sun Hong-lei, Lulu Li, and Tony Yang all make appearances in Blood Brothers, which is set to debut in Asia in August 2006. (Fortissimo Films—home to Wong Kar-wai and Tsai Ming-liang, among others—will be handling international distribution, with dates unavailable as of Theme’s press time.)

Doffing his hat to Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, Tan has a penchant for the moodier spectrum of emotions. He recalls how Woo and Chang had some words of advice upon reading an early draft of the script: “John, even though his films are very violent, always pursues hope. So when he saw my first script, his words to me were ‘too much tears, not enough happiness.’” Tan should have plenty of happiness to go around come August.