John Woo Develops Historical Drama ‘Dean Lung’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comMarta Balaga “Hard Boiled” director John Woo is developing a historical drama about Chinese American Dean Lung — the valet of Oakland’s first mayor Horace Walpole Carpentier — whose donation helped found Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
The film has the working title “Dean Lung.”The university still refers to the letter Lung sent to Columbia president Seth Low in 1901. “I send you here with a deposit check for $12,000 as a contribution to the fund for Chinese learning in your university,” it said.
Later, in order to honor him, Carpentier provided additional donations.“I hope I can make it before I retire. I really want to do it,” Woo told Variety at Fantasia Film Festival in Montréal, where he picked up his Career Achievement Award. “He was this man’s servant and there were conflicts at the beginning, but later, they started to learn from each other.
When he retired, he donated all his savings to the university. His picture still hangs on the wall.”Woo described the film — whose script is being written, with financing being sought — as “serious drama, but not too serious.”“It’s a very human story,” he said, also underlining its universal appeal.“These days, there are so many misunderstandings between the people in the West and the people in the East.
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