|
The Year 2003 has definitely brought its fair
share of sorrow, fear, helplessness and resignation in Hong Kong.
What people had hoped for a bright start to the year came to be
rather fruitless, tragic and sad.
The Chinese New Year was particularly early this
year, and thus, a number of films catering for this holiday period
turned out to be duds - through and through. Sammi Cheng proved
again that her box-office appeal has waned, and if this slide continues,
she'll be lucky if she finds someone backing her. What was more
of interest to the Hong Kong media was the fact that Sammi had broke
up with her long-time boyfriend Andy Hui Chi-On (they had been together
for more than a decade). Apparently Sammi was swept off her feet
by Louis Koo, her co-star in Love For All Seasons, which was released
during the lunar new year.
The hungry media couldn't find much to say or
write as Sammi used her invisibility cloak to stay away from the
limelight. It was said she was ill, tired, upset, whatever. She
didn't appear at any awards ceremonies. In the end, who cares?
The Lunar New Year also saw the release of My
Lucky Star and Cat and Mouse, the former starring Tony Leung Chiu
Wai (who continues to make romantic comedies that doesn't suit him)
with Miriam Yeung, and the latter starring Andy Lau and Cecilia
Cheung, another one of those romantic period dramas, which sounds
promising on paper, but doesn't really work on-screen.
After the New Year, we see a few movies of average
quality, and some that do not worth mentioning. Even up to the half
year mark, there has not been one big budget local movie. Not one.
The film industry going downhill?
Then came March, which heralded the beginning
of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Hong
Kong. It certainly took everyone by surprise, and when dozens of
people started getting infected, along with numerous hospital staff
being incapacitated, Hong Kong started to show its fear. The damage
done to the the already fragile economy cannot be measured, and
when people boycotted cinemas, theatres, restaurants etc. you knew
a serious problem was at hand. At least manufacturers of face masks
made a killing. Finally SARS was overcome, but after 2000 local
people were infected and 300 had died from the disease. It would
seem that SARS will still be on people's minds for the forseeable
future.
Then came one of the biggest upsets of the year
- the death of Hong Kong pop icon Leslie Cheung on April 1st. I
saw it on the news, so I knew it wasn't a horrible April Fools Joke,
but many questioned the authenticity of the death when it was released
onto the net. Sadly, it was the truth. Leslie had committed suicide
after leaping off a hotel balcony. Tens of thousands mourned and
Hong Kong had lost one of its greatest performers.
The Hong Kong Film Awards paid tribute to Leslie
in a subdued ceremony which saw many stars with their pretty faces
covered up by face masks. Most of the awards were handed out to
Infernal Affairs and Hero, and Tony Leung grabbed his fourth Best
Actor statuette, which proves the point that Tony Leung is best
at serious drama roles.
When the World Heath Organisation took Hong Kong
off its list of SARS infected countries, the film industry (and
Hollywood) must have sighed a huge relief. At last, people's lives
were back to normal, and they were going back to the cinemas, in
droves. During the three month SARS endemic, Hollywood must have
lost a lot of box-office revenue due to people avoiding the cinemas
and paying for pirated copies of films instead. They must have thanked
their lucky stars that SARS didn't hit during the lucrative summer
big-budget film period.
Which takes us to Hong Kong's summer big budget
film called The Twins Effect, maybe so-called because it stars the
Twins. This Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Blade hybrid is pretty much
catered for the teen demographic, but the reason I took an interest
in it was because of a man called Jackie Chan. He was in it, and
the fights were choreographed by Donnie Yen, who we don't see much
off nowadays. The Twins Effect is full of CGI, wirework, kung fu
and pretty boys and girls showing off. It is by no means a masterpiece,
but it does its job well. Youngsters were thrilled, adults were
less than impressed. However, you do wonder if scriptwriters are
running out of ideas as they just seem to be plagiarising others.
It is unfortunate that The Twins Effect turned out to be merely
satisfactory, but it did make a lot of money at the box office,
due to the aggressive marketing.
But before that, the industry came up with a gem:
Johnnie To's PTU, which outclassed everything that preceded it.
It was well written, acted and directed. Not much on the action
scale, but definitely a good movie. The comedies during the same
period such as Why Me, Sweetie?, Honesty, and Feel 100% 2003 were
understandably crap, to say the least. Hong Kong's comedies has
a history of being crap, so modern ones can join the club.
When we enter summer, we expect big blockbuster
movies that pound our senses, make our eyes round with their special
effects, and give us that special feeling of seeing truly spectacular
large scale movies. Well, that's Hollywood, and apart from a handful
of good films, the others were awful (stand up, Matrix Reloaded).
Hong Kong's summer is again full of comedies such as Love Undercover
2, the sequel to last summer's Love Undercover, a surprise hit that
didn't surprise me at all.
Ekin Cheng continues to make average films (when
was the last time he had a hit?) such as My Dream Girl, which I
suppose is a Hong Kong version of Korea's My Sassy Girl. I haven't
seen it so I can't compare. I have seen Heroic Duo, which was fairly
average, but much better than the awful Running Out of Time 2.
Good Times, Bed Times was another comedy starring
Lau Ching Wan and Louis Koo, and was a much improvement over their
last partnership. At least this was funny in places, and Sammi Cheng
had a hit on her hands at last. Media reports said that she and
Andy Hui were together again. Well, do we really care? Magazines
think so.
Daniel Wu had a film out called Night Corridor
which critics loved but audiences hated. It didn't do well at the
box office, which proves the point that the average cinema-goer
only cares for brainless blockbusters. That is the reason why Ronald
Cheng's Dragon Loaded 2003 made a ton of money at the box office.
The silly comedy and easy going story were loved by the Hong Kong
populace. I found it okay, not great, but the local taste is often
weird.
September came and with it a number of highly
regarded films, which I haven't had time to see yet. Men Suddenly
In Black, Turn Left - Turn Right, and Fu Bo were all interesting
emotional films, and not silly blockbusters. The only other good
film was Running On Karma, a strange, yet powerful emotional film
that made you think. Everyone made a big deal about Andy Lau wearing
a muscle bodysuit, but he gave a marvellous performance. Those who
dismissed the film because they had thought the film to be a comedy
are fools. These are the films Hong Kong need more, not the shitty
comedies that feature talentless teen idols.
Infernal Affairs 2 came out in October with much
hype and publicity, and despite rampant piracy, it did well at the
box office, netting a huge profit over the first couple of weeks.
Even without Andy Lau and Tony Leung in the lead roles, audiences
didn't mind as they soaked in the world of Infernal Affairs. The
third part was released just before Xmas, and stars a host of top
actors. It made even more money than part two, but still didn't
quite match the spectacular third part of Lord of the Rings, which
dominated the box office. In a bid to make extra cash, the filmmakers
did a Stephen Chow and released a Director's Cut just before the
New Year. In my opinion, this was not a good decision. People have
paid good money to see a film, and less than a month has gone a
Director's Cut has been released. I'd be really pissed if I had
already seen it beforehand.
The period leading up to Christmas has always
seen movies being released to impress the schoolkids on holiday.
A bunch of no-brainers like Miss Du Shi Niang, Star Runners, Master
Q are an example of this, but there are sometimes a couple of gems
in there like Lost In Time, Infernal Affairs 3 and Golden Chicken
2.
Like last year, most of 2003 were full of complete
turkeys, but like last year, there were always a few films that
stood out from the rest. These films may not have been original,
but at least they had a decent script and some damn excellent acting
and direction. More of these next year, please.
And when we thought we would see off 2003 with
optimism and hope, the news of Hong Kong pop diva Anita Mui dying
of cancer was a blow to the entertainment industry. Ms Mui was an
icon of the industry, someone who was full of style, personality,
love and smiles, and who had dominated the pop scene with her wicked
performances, had finally left us after her revealing of the deadly
disease a few months back. I can just imagine that the three of
them: Roman Law, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, are all dancing, singing
and performing away up there somewhere. Here's to 2004.
|
