Chiefly known for his dazzling work with Hong Kong's cinematographer Wong Kar-Wei, Christopher Doyle worked on Away With Words, his directing debut, in between lensing assignments on films as diverse as Gus Van Sant's Psycho remake and Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights.

Set in Doyle's adopted home city, Hong Kong, the story focuses on the story of Asano (Tadanobu Asano), a Japanese man who is cursed by an ultravivid mnemonic memory.

This means he cannot forget a single word he hears, an affliction which drives his mind to a state of gridlock.

To find peace of mind, he runs away to sea and jumps ship in Hong Kong, where a seedy dive bar gives him the solace he's been searching for. The bar's owner (Kevin Sherlock) is a flamboyant, scatter-brained lush, and the film uses the gap between these very different men to explore the timeless themes of memory and communication.

The film had a wide range of inspirations, Doyle told Moving Pictures: "Words, the sea, beer, my part of Hong Kong, the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo... I've always been interested in the taste and texture of words - and beer. A number of my favourite writers, including Borges, have written stories about people whose lives are incredibly synchronous with words. The Russian psychologist Luria did a lifetime of research on a man who remembered everything by placing objects, as equivalents of the words he hears, on the 'roads' of his mind. This was the basic metaphor for the predicament of my main character."

Unlike the less structured type of shoots he's known for, Doyle shot from a script by Brit critic Tony Rayns, and, in spite of rumoured ructions, stuck quite rigidly to it. "I wanted this experience to be as unlike the Wong Kar-wai way of doing things as possible," says Doyle. "Since the schedule was very tight and I was also photographing the film, I wanted a solid base to contain the confusion most shoots become."

Advance promos of the movie show that Doyle has lost none of his flair for the unusual: one reel features a club performer who sings with a mouth full of beer, another showcases a 78-yearold white female rapper ("A real vaudeville trooper," says Doyle).

And the move to directing? "I did notice that as director I didn't give myself as cameraman enough time to prepare or do my thing," he says. "But after 30 or so films, a set is a very familiar space. Like a kitchen for most, I guess. So throwing things together and letting the actors take us somewhere wasn't so hard:' Richard James Havis