Taiwanese actress Shu Qi’s directorial debut feature film “Girl” is competing for the Golden Lion award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. The film premiered in Venice on September 4th, where Shu Qi revealed in an interview with Agence France-Presse that the inspiration behind the film came from her difficult childhood growing up with an alcoholic father.
The 82nd Venice Film Festival is taking place from August 27th to September 6th. Transitioning from acting to directing, Shu Qi’s first self-written and self-directed film “Girl” is in competition for the festival’s main prize, the Golden Lion for Best Film. On September 3rd, Shu Qi made a striking appearance on the streets of Venice, dressed in a casual tank top and wide-leg pants, carrying a Bottega Veneta woven bag and dragging an Odyssey Intrecciato suitcase, exuding a bright and relaxed yet chic aura as if walking on a runway.
Before the premiere of “Girl” in Venice, Shu Qi sat down for an interview with Agence France-Presse on September 4th. She explained, “The reason I made this film is mainly related to my childhood experiences, the scars from which still remain to this day.” She further added, reflecting on her decision to run away from home at the age of 15, “These scars are healing, but looking back, the pain of these scars still lingers.”
At the age of 49, Shu Qi spent 10 years writing the script for “Girl,” set in late 1980s Taipei, depicting the story of a troubled low-income family, touching on themes of domestic violence, alcoholism, and intergenerational trauma.
The creation of “Girl” dates back over a decade. At that time, acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-hsien suggested that Shu Qi explore directing. Subsequently, Shu Qi went through a long and challenging process of scriptwriting, revising multiple times. It wasn’t until 2023 when she served as a jury member at the Venice Film Festival, watching one masterpiece after another, that she was suddenly struck by an impulse: if she didn’t complete the script now, it might never happen.
After the jury duty ended, Shu Qi decided to stay in Italy, spending 13 days at a hotel in Milan. With a renewed determination, she finally mustered the courage to complete the script that had been intermittently written over the course of 10 years.
Shu Qi revealed that in the early stages of scripting “Girl,” she modeled the protagonist after herself, but only about 30% of the final product reflects her own life experiences.
The film centers around the shy and timid girl Lin Xiaoli (played by Bai Xiaoying), focusing on her relationship with her threatening and abusive parents. Lin Xiaoli’s father (played by Qiu Ze) is a disgruntled technician who often comes home drunk at night, unleashing his anger on his wife and daughter.
Shu Qi openly admitted, “After filming the movie, I told my father, who is still struggling with alcoholism, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve brought your story to the big screen.'”