Cannes

Some of director Dao Yinan's responses:

When asked about character building:

"Yes relationship is very tricky. They are under a lot of pressure so the characters feel alone. I didn't want it (the film) to be conveyed in words but in actions and these delicate feelings (of the characters) are expressed in actions not words so that it would match the style of the film."

When asked about why he chose the cast:

"In fact when I chose them, I didn't base it off of appearance. For a gangster you don't need one look like a gangster. It's the temperament that they have so they can become the character and learn. 

So in fact, acting can change their experience and there are a lot of actors who can play with different directors in different types of films, so when I come to casting I'm very open."

When asked about the use of the dialect in the film (The characters in the film used the Huhan dialect, but none of the actors were Huhan and they didn't speak it well apparently):

"In fact, right at the beginning we wanted to shoot it in cantan dialect, but we needed lakes close to a city, so we didn't do cantan and then we could've done a different accent, but in the end we did it in a Huhan province  which had the most lakes and a city. Then he actors needed the local dialect and learned it locally.

It's important to speak the dialect in the town and also to understand the characters."