[Screensphere] Unravelling ‘Tape’: Bizhan Tong and Stephen Belber talk their Hong Kong update to the 2001 cult classic

In 2001, Richard Linklater directed Tape, a chamber thriller adapted from Stephen Belber’s play of the same name, which put two men and an allegation of sexual misconduct under the microscope in a motel room. One has sought to set a trap for the other – to expose a crime that has gone long unacknowledged – right on the eve of the premiere of the man’s directorial debut. But when the woman in question enters the picture, the men find that she has other ideas. Featuring electric performances from Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman, Tape is an underseen gem that provokes deep thought. UK-Hong Kong director and producer Bizhan Tong has been thinking about it deeply for some time, now seeing fit to remake Tape afresh for a modern, post-#MeToo audience and enlisting the original screenwriter’s collaboration in rewiring it.