In the early stages of his career, Eddie Peng attended the Cannes Film Festival as part of the publicity campaign for Jump Ashin!, a biographical gymnastic film directed by Lin Yu-Hsien, back in 2011. The actor and singer, who hails from Taiwan, made a vow to put in enough effort to earn a place on the red carpet once again.
Following on from this he returned to the Croisette as the leading actor of Love After Love, a historical drama by renowned Hong Kong-based filmmaker, Ann Hui. Then last May, Peng was celebrated as the central figure in the film Black Dog, which not only won the Un Certain Regard award at the festival, but also the Palm Dog Grand Jury prize.
“Returning to Cannes with Black Dog was like realising a dream,” Peng reflects. “It was an unexpected, thrilling journey, not just for me but also for Xin, my now favourite actress, who was awarded the Palm Dog. The distance to Cannes from Mekong is lengthy – it requires hours of flying. Winning the award afterwards… it’s quite the experience. What more can I say? We’re truly fortunate.”
Black Dog tells an engaging story of an ex-prisoner going back to his childhood home in a village situated in the Gobi Desert. The role played by Peng, Lang, is of a laconic former biker stuntman who faces the challenge of ridding the northwestern town of stray dogs in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The local public sees the irritable title mongrel, suspected of having rabies, as their chief concern. After several unsuccessful attempts at capturing the dog, the stern temporary dog catcher ends up forming a bond with the untrained animal, leading to a solid friendship that remains a touching aspect within the tumultuous frontier town.
This stands as a challenging role for the ex-pop star Peng, considering the lack of dialogue, intense physical demands and the need for motorbike stunts.
Peng emphasises that when he takes on a role, he becomes fully immersed in understanding who that character is. He believes that everyone carries some darkness within them, and it is these complexities that he embraces when transforming into a character. Sometimes, circumstances force us to act in ways or say things we wouldn’t otherwise, he notes. Trapped at home during the pandemic, he had plenty of introspection time to develop his character, even to make it fit with the culture of Gansu, a place he had never visited.
Guan Hu, director of Black Dog, seeped in fame during the early ’90s as part of the Sixth Generation, a stark contrast to the grandeur of historical films produced by luminaries like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaiga from the Fifth Generation. Graduating to epic stories like The Eight Hundred, a war film that grossed $415 million and took eight years to create, Hu still has a soft spot for eccentric characters, humble villages, and animals. Hu maintains that there’s a primal, animalistic side to all humans that surfaces.
Hu’s unconventional comedy Cow, based around the survival of the title creature during the Sino-Japanese war, marked the start of his absurdist streak. In The Eight Hundred, a white horse serves as a beacon for soldiers; an ostrich has a cameo in the crime drama, Mr Six. Black Dog embodies the untamed wilderness, resonating with the feral nature of its title creature. The film spotlights animals in an unfiltered light and Peng observes that his co-stars, including leading lady, Xin, and a pack of dogs, can sometimes be challenging to interact with.
The performer noted, “Every day we had anywhere between 200 to 400 dogs on the filming venue. Besides, there were about 40 to 50 instructors present. We had gone as far as setting up a large training centre to prepare both the dogs and the trainers. With all this initial preparation, further effort was put into building a bond with the dogs. Each day before filming, I would spend some hours with Xin, particularly, to build trust.
My memory is filled with numerous retakes. We spent 20 days on one single continuous shot. This scene made it to the start of the film. The anticipation for the perfect day, proper sunlight, and Xin’s readiness was intense. After those 20 days, I was beyond acting, I was absorbed in the moment, cheering Xin on.”
The non-human cast was matched – in terms of intensity at least – by the austere surrounding. The opening sequences of the movie shows a bus overturning due to the violent winds symbolic of the world’s sixth-largest desert. The inhabitants of the Gobi desert were untouched by this spectacle. One spellbinding, panoramic scene displays people and animals observing a solar eclipse against the vast backdrop of the Qilian mountains.
He said, “To recreate a set matching this would have been an impossibility. The Gobi landscape provided a breathtaking yet desolate view. The experience felt pioneering. The location immersed us deep into the plot. The bad network left no choice but to disconnect from the social world and keep the attention on the work at hand, thus forging ahead with the movie creation.”
Peng is a household name in Asia, having spent two decades in the industry. He was scouted by a talent agent during a family trip to Tapei in 2002, after growing up in Canada. He initially took up roles in live-action anime adaptations and teen love stories. He demonstrated his abilities as an action lead in the Oscar shortlisted film, To the Fore, a sports drama revolving around cycling, and as an undercover detective in Operation Mekong.
“In my early years, I was engrossed in numerous student romance roles,” he claims. “However, I decided that I wanted a change of pace. Upon discovering an opportunity to explore action roles, I seized it. I took up martial arts, MMA, and began gym workouts, dramatically transforming my body. Currently, I’ve collaborated with Ann Hui and Guan Hu, truly engrossing work.”
Observing the jubilant nature of dogs and their sudden transitions to deep slumber, he wonders about the human way of life in contrast.
Being a part of ‘Black Dog’ provided him with the chance to collaborate with two esteemed Chinese directors, one being Jia Zhangke, a Cannes favourite. Zhangke, also famous for directing ‘Mountains May Depart’ and ‘Ash Is Purest White’, plays the character supervising the local dog capturing team in the film.
Peng was awestruck by the diligence of the directors. He found them exceptional, stating, “Working with two amazing directors was enlightening. All directors inherently possess acting skills. Observing him rehearsing in a corner truly persuaded me of his acting abilities and stirred my desire to work harder.”
Beneficial effects of the film were experienced offscreen too. As Peng and Xin, a greyhound cross, developed a close connection on set, Peng chose to provide a lifelong home to Xin and two other dogs from the production. Peng describes it as a highly educative experience.
Speaking proudly about leading an ordinary dog walker’s life, he mentions how his life transformed after adopting Xin and the two puppies from the film. “The daily routine now involves frequent walks, beaches, and hikes. The puppies, who are now three, were adopted during the film shooting three years back. Even the renowned black dog of the film is with us, now four years old.
The dogs have made significant impacts on my family dynamics, facilitating changes in the relationships. Initially fearful of dogs, my sister and mother now hold a different view. The dogs have brought a sense of humility in our lives. They shower us with boundless affection and immensely contribute to my learning. To them, even my brief absence feels like an eternity, making my return an event of celebration and pure bliss.”
The simple, genuine joy that dogs exhibit profoundly moves me, and their ability to fall asleep abruptly is curious. It prompts me to question our lives as humans, fraught with pretence. At work, I often find myself masquerading as a character unlike me. Conversely, dogs live a life of honest authenticity. When I spend time with them, concerns about the future evaporate, and I savour the present moment instead.
The movie Black Dog will be available in theatres from Friday, the 30th of August.