There is something fascinating about a film that refuses to tell us how an older person is supposed to feel, behave, love or desire. A Diary of a Mad Old Man is exactly that kind of film. It looks at aging and physical decline without suggesting that either one should erase a person’s desire to live, feel, connect and experience pleasure.
As I wrote in my review, the film follows a man whose body may be failing him, but whose desires are very much alive. There is something both uncomfortable and deeply human about that contradiction. Society often treats aging as though reaching a certain age means desire should disappear with it. In some cultures, it can almost become taboo. Wayne Wang’s film challenges that idea without forcing an explanation or judgment onto its characters.
What makes the film even more fascinating is its quietness. So much is said without a single word. A look, a gesture, physical proximity or even a moment of silence can reveal more than pages of dialogue. It is a film that asks the audience to pay attention, think and understand what exists beneath what we see on screen.
It was a pleasure for MovieMovesMe to sit down with acclaimed filmmaker Wayne Wang during TIFF at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Wang kindly agreed to speak with me about adapting Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s work, finding the right actors, shooting in sequence, aging, physical desire, mortality and what he ultimately believes A Diary of a Mad Old Man is about.
What began as a conversation about filmmaking eventually became something much more personal. Wang spoke candidly about getting older, living “in the shadow of my own death,” his determination to keep going “as long as I can breathe,” and why making a genuine human connection remains so important in the world we live in today.
Here is my conversation with Wayne Wang.
MovieMovesMe: First of all, congratulations. This is a truly intelligent film. It’s the kind of film that makes you think. For you as a filmmaker, what was the first step in constructing the story and deciding how you wanted to approach the book?
Wayne Wang: Well, I like the book, and I like Tanizaki, but the book is very much about his medical health. There’s a lot in the biography that’s really about that. So we kind of had to create a story.
Although there are certain scenes that are very important, like kissing the feet and whatever. So what I did was, I found a friend of mine who also liked the story, and we created a script that would be used as a blueprint, that has more of a story about the family, about the whole development of their relationship and things like that.
And we only used it as a blueprint, and this was mostly inspired by the book, so it’s not just being faithful to the book.
MovieMovesMe: When you adapt a book into a screenplay, it can’t be easy deciding what should remain and what can be left out of the film. How did you know that you had the right screenplay and had kept the elements of the book that were important to you?
Wayne Wang: You can never be sure. I think I took all the important things about the book and things that I liked, and I made sure those scenes were in the right place and had the right kind of importance. And we created other things to support it. So that’s all I can do, really.
MovieMovesMe: With a film like this, getting the right actors is especially important. There are very subtle and intimate moments, including the scene involving the feet, where so much is communicated without saying a single word. How did you work with the actors to make those moments feel so natural?
Wayne Wang: Well, first of all, Bingbing Fan is a big star. I was initially kind of afraid of her because she’s very pretty and she has done big films. But she showed me some recent work, and she was very ordinary, so to speak.
And I could tell that she’s actually a very strong person, which I needed. I didn’t want a weak woman, or I didn’t want someone who’s too manipulative.
So once I had that, then we talked a lot about who her character is and the details of it. And we agreed on things.
When I shoot, I shoot in sequence. It’s not like other films where you shoot scenes completely out of sequence. I shoot day one, day two, day three. So the actors could be very authentic in the moment from day to day, and they can build on things, too.
And I use a lot of wider shots, like two different sets of wider shots, because the wider shots give the actors the freedom to be themselves again and to do things that I would like them to do.
MovieMovesMe: The performances require a certain level of confidence and bravery from the actors. But what also struck me is that the film is not simply about sickness. We sometimes have this idea, especially in certain cultures, that when someone reaches a certain age, they are no longer supposed to desire or wish for certain things. It almost becomes a taboo.
Your film shows that there is still life beyond sickness and disability, and that desire does not simply disappear because the body is getting older. How did you envision that aspect of the character and portray it in the film?
Wayne Wang: Yeah, I feel like I’m that person because I’m pretty old. And I’m a paranoid person, you know? I always think, “Oh, I’m getting a stroke.”
And actually, during pre-production, one of my producers got a stroke and died. Just suddenly.
So I really feel like I’m living every day in the shadow of my own death. But I still have a lot of life, you know? And I still have a lot of physical desires.
And so I use myself as an example to still keep going. You know, I’ll keep going as long as I can breathe.
MovieMovesMe: Finally, what do you think A Diary of a Mad Old Man is ultimately about? Is it about love, desire, what we leave behind, or perhaps the way we think about what will happen to us compared with what we have while we are still living?
Wayne Wang: I think you identified a lot of things that this film is about. I think they’re all important in this film.
But for me, on maybe a simpler level, the world is so screwed up right now. It’s really screwed up. Everybody hates everybody. Everybody is trying to be a bully. There’s really a kind of a World War III going on.
And pretty soon, AI is gonna destroy all of us. I’m sure of it. I’m not being cynical. I know a lot of, you know, tech friends.
So, for me, what’s also mostly important on a simpler level is two people who really don’t know each other. Somehow, through whatever their fate is, they get to know each other and they make a connection. A human connection.
And I think that’s really important at this time in the world, is that people respect each other. People love each other. People make connections with each other emotionally.
You know, that’s important to me.
MovieMovesMe: Thank you!
MovieMovesMe interviewed Wayne Wang during the Toronto International Film Festival at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.