Don’t tell local tourism officials, but Oscar-winning Hollywood director Edward Berger thinks Macao is “a hard place to stay.”
The acclaimed filmmaker spent several weeks in the SAR last year with Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, making the gambling movie Ballad of a Small Player. He doesn’t seem to have noticed the SAR’s strenuous efforts to promote itself as a cultural destination.
Instead, Macao “is all about money” he told UK entertainment website The List.
[See more: ‘The Ballad of a Small Player’: Oscar winner Edward Berger talks exclusively to Macao News]
He also sees the city as a metaphor for late-stage capitalism, saying that his movie was about “The decline of capitalism and trying to be insatiably hungry. You just eat whatever you can, but you’ll never be satisfied. And that’s Macao; that’s our world.”
Such forthright indictments from a high-profile figure will come as a disappointment to Macao’s tourism sector, which has long tried to ditch the city’s gambling reputation in favour of a softer image centred around cultural heritage and family-friendly entertainment.
Ballad of a Small Player goes on theatrical release tomorrow and is available on Netflix from 29 October. The Los Angeles Times described the film as a “gambling stinker,” while the New York Post said it was “no sure bet.”
