The last time I spoke to Elliott, I was filming in Sichuan, a province in the Southwest of China. He had appeared in a dream one night. Early next morning I climbed up to the summit of Mount Emei, which is an important Buddhist mountain. The enchanting early sunrise and the cloud sea around me made me call him to share the moment. He told me he felt very sick. I replied that I hoped he would get better soon and that I loved him very much.
Of all the composers I have met, he was without any doubt the most sympathetic and the finest human being. Since the very first moment in 1982 until last moment I talked to him, I can’t recall any negativity within him.
He was the ‘Mozart’ of our time and I will always miss him with all my heart. This poem is for you Elliott:
Time past and time future
what might have been and what has been
point to one end, which is always present
— T.S. Eliot