Reviews

Two superstars Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan starred in the costume productions "Confucius" (2010) and "Little Big Soldier" (2010) respectively. These two superstars who once swept the Hong Kong Cinema and later entered the Hollywood are still continuing participating in Chinese Cinema shows that the popularity of the Mainland China film market is indeed infinitely attractive. Chow Yun-Fat resigned from his friend John Woo's two episodes of "Red Cliff" (2008) due to contract issues. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai played the role of Zhou Yu on the top of "loyalty", and then Chow Yun-Fat starred in "Confucius" directed by Hu Mei, playing the role of Confucius, the teacher of all ages.

Here, I do not intend to comment on the history of the film and the concept of Confucius, nor will I compare the film with the classic film "Confucius" (1940) by master film director Fei Mu, in these large-scale discussions. On the contrary, the film started with the trailer, and went to the publicity and theater release to meet "Avatar" (2009). The remarks of the director and actors and the competition for the theater where "Avatar" was originally released have aroused the dissatisfaction of Mainland audiences, and some audiences even called on the internet "stop watching" "Confucius" action. On the other hand, a number of people who defend "Confucius" have made remarks to clarify and praise "Confucius", which can be seen the lack of film promotion strategies in the Mainland, and promote "Confucius" in the same way as the general costume production, but when faced with a topical film such as "Avatar" that shook the world, it did not examine the general situation of the audience's expectation gap between "Confucius" and "Avatar". After the director released remarks that despised "Avatar", the film company did not take remedial action, allowing audiences to continue to create unfavorable discussions of "Confucius" online. Chow Yun-Fat, as an actor who played the "dignified" role of Confucius, was lighthearted and humorous in his promotional activities, all of which had an indirect negative impact on the film.

In addition, the quality of film critics and film writers in the Mainland varies, as well as ethical issues, all of which have affected the healthy development of the Mainland film industry. We have seen in newspapers and magazines a lot of film texts that we don't know are promotions, reviews or advertisements, some well-known and quality film critics did not clarify their identity as employees of the film distribution company, but wrote articles to defend "Confucius". This lack of declaration of interests and transparency has also occurred in Hong Kong and other regions. When audiences and readers know about it, they have irreparable effects on the fair image of film critics.

What's interesting is that "Little Big Soldier" is also based on the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and Warring States period (475-221 BC) as the background of "Confucius". "Confucius" firstly tells about Confucius' experience in politics and teaching. Director Hu Mei's focus is on how Confucius faced the royal family's power struggle and dealt with it. It's a bit like some ancient costume TV dramas in the Mainland that describe the struggle of the palace. Perhaps this is the director's best technique. With the war scenes, it's no wonder that Mainland audiences describe this film as "Martial Arts Confucius". On the contrary, "Little Big Soldier" starts from the little soldier played by Jackie Chan who is greedy for life and fear of death, a small person in a big era. On the battlefield, he encountered the belligerent eldest prince played by Wang Leehom, the little soldier brought the eldest prince, who was mistaken for an enemy general, back to his country to receive a reward of five acres of land. On the way, he met the second prince (played by Steve Yoo Seung-Jun) who was intent on assassinating the eldest prince, in the process, the little soldier and the eldest prince influenced each other in the life and death struggle. The film interprets the idea of anti-war in the spirit of modern humanity. Director Ding Sheng told this simple and slightly "naïve" story. The eldest prince experienced the pain caused by the war to the people in the little soldier, but the little soldier also experienced it when the eldest prince is a man who doesn't disgrace his country, it's reminiscent of the Japanese novel and comic "Mohist Attack", Jacob Cheung Chi-Leung once adapted it into the movie "Battle of the Warriors" (2006), but the spirit of humanity is displayed in "Little Big Soldier".

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

At the beginning of 2010, Chinese New Year films had a resurgence. After the box office results of Mandarin Entertainment Limited's "All's Well, End's Well 2009", Raymond Wong Pak-Ming once again took out the "trick" of his New Year's film and launched "All's Well, End's Well 2010" with the original cast. At the same time, Shaw Brothers, who fought again in the film industry, joined hands with TVB to start the filming of "72 Tenants of Prosperity" with Eric Tsang Chi-Wai, and adapted Shaw Brothers' classic film "The House of 72 Tenants" (1973) with TVB stars. Two films under the banner of Chinese New Year films, a lot of sparks have been aroused in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

As for "All's Well, End's Well 2010" and "72 Tenants of Prosperity", which are the most Hong Kong style Chinese New Year Films, there are many stars, a big concept running through, full of improvisations, etc. Back then, the Chinese New Year films were spurned by the audience because of rough production and nonsensical plots. Improvised performances with an attitude of "nonsense" cannot satisfy the constantly demanding audience; in addition, there are many producers who make jokes and pile up comedy scenes indiscriminately, and use the mode of small-budget production to attract audiences with the charm of actors. The films of "negative teaching materials" teach the audience how to distinguish the quality of the film, at the same time, the audience witnesses the big scenes and excellent special effects of the Hollywood production, and has a "greedy" mentality towards the movie. Looking at the stars, this makes the "hurried" type of Chinese New Year films disappear instantly.

There were a few years in the Chinese New Year period, and films that played the banner of the Chinese New Year were not welcomed by the audience. On the contrary, some high-quality films, even if the subject matter was not suitable for the Chinese New Year, had a good box office. Derek Yee Tung-Sing's "Protégé" (2007) is one of them. In 2009, "All's Well, End's Well 2009" stood out. Some people in the industry believe that the audience has been missing the Chinese New Year films for a long time. In addition, the social atmosphere has improved, the audience laughed at the movie theater during the Chinese New Year, and the need to forget their worries increased. The objective environment for the Chinese New Year films. Looking back at the two Chinese New Year films, the overall score of "72 Tenants of Prosperity" is obviously better than that of "All's Well, End's Well 2010". It can be seen that Eric Tsang is still quite sensitive to the preferences and tastes of Hong Kong society and the audience. With the addition of two young directors, Chung Shu-Kai and Patrick Kong Pak-Leung, they can give new impetus and propositions in the adaptation, and make the extremely old-fashioned two generations of grievances and neighbors harmonious that are all interesting. Of course, the directors used the actors' images and scandals on the stage and behind the scenes to make a big show. Among them, in "72 Tenants of Prosperity", Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau and Wong Cho-Lam, who played his son, sang in the hospital for a period of time, and Wong Cho-Lam showed his singing skills to the superstar and singer Jacky Cheung and his imitation ability.

As for "All's Well, End's Well 2010", it uses Raymond Wong's usual costume comedy formula. Ronald Cheng Chung-Kei and Sandra Ng Kwan-Yue both use their on the spot reactions and perform at will. As for Louis Koo Tin-Lok, he also performs with a "going out" mentality, which depends on the individual performance of the actors. It is obvious that "All's Well, End's Well 2010" is not as "like a duck to water" as "All's Well, End's Well 2009" in this regard. However, what is interesting is that both films joke about Donnie Yen Ji-Dan's one-to-ten match in "Ip Man" (2008), which is believed to be purely coincidental.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Mainland Chinese director Feng Xiaogang collaborated with Hong Kong star Andy Lau Tak-Wah for the first time in "A World Without Thieves" (2004). Before the film was released, it was considered by Chinese media as a step forward for Feng Xiaogang's films and a road of no return to bid farewell to "serious" films.

In fact, Feng Xiaogang as a blockbuster film director, his films are actually quite "meaningful" to Hong Kong audiences, especially his last film "Cell Phone" (2003), which describes the defensive battle of the relationship between men and women. The sharp dialogue is rich in entertainment, and it also exposes the problems of male and female couples in Chinese society. However, Feng Xiaogang has always been under a lot of pressure from public opinion, believing that he led Chinese films to leave a rigid rule that since the founding of the country, films have served society and art, even if it's an international production directed by Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, it must dress up as a face that promotes the quintessence of the country, Zhang Yimou mentioned in many interviews that Chinese films have never had the concept of commercial films. Their generation's understanding of films was only within the scope of "clear rules and regulations" such as politics and art, until the market opened up and was affected by Hong Kong Cinema, began to have a serious exploration of commercial films.

When the major directors had not yet grasped the elements of commercial films, Feng Xiaogang with his keen sense, developed a commercial film road that was different from Hong Kong Cinema, and achieved the throne of the best-selling director. However, at the same time, he also has to bear the pressure from the industry and public opinion, and his cooperation with Hong Kong actors and film companies makes people feel that he has no return to pure business. However, "A World Without Thieves" makes people look different. The protagonist Wang Bo, played by Andy Lau, finally lost his life for his lover Wang Li, who was pregnant with his child. Wong Bo's behavior was recognized by the police security Han. In the end, Han told Wang Li that when their child was born, she should tell the child what kind of person his father was, and it was absolutely "not ashamed". The touching story has educational significance, and domestic critics also gave positive comments to the film, "turning over" for Feng Xiaogang.

Even so, "A World Without Thieves" still has a lot of roughness in Feng Xiaogang's films, such as the incongruity between the train scene shot in studio setting and the picture outside the window. The opening scene of the film, which resembles a foreign car advertisement, does not match the style of the film. However, Feng Xiaogang still maintains his strengths in storytelling. The characters' distinctive personalities and wonderful dialogues make the film stable and solid. Coupled with the humanistic handling, the audience suffers greatly. In one part of the film, when Wang Bo, played by Andy Lau, stole money from Uncle Bill, played by Ge You, from his pickpocket group. This originally belonged to orphan migrant worker Sha Gen, played by Wang Baoqiang. Wang Li, played by Rene Liu Ruo-Ying insists on returning the money to Sha Gen. Wang Bo thinks that Sha Gen have no right to think that "there are no thieves in the world". The loss of this money is a lesson in life for him. Wang Bo's point of view is actually it has been recognized by many audiences, especially the general public who have encountered fraud and theft. They will think why Sha Gen receives such a "preferential".

As for Wang Li's temporary kindness, she wanted to accumulate blessings for the child in her belly, and she didn't want her child to have the same "thief nature" as herself, to be a normal person, like Sha Gen. Wong Li represents another point of view. People who grow up in difficult years will inevitably have more or less evil deeds, always thinking that the next generation can have a better life. Under the moral barrier, people will make up for their sins by accumulating virtue, building bridges and roads for the masses, virtuous after becoming wealthy, etc., which is a very Chinese atonement. Wang Li's temporary kindness is also based on this, and it's also recognized by people. The police security Han played by Zhang Hanyu, to a certain extent, represents a positive and official role. He watched the desperate couple fight with a group of big thieves for Sha Gen who met by chance. What finally solved his doubts was Wang Li's statement of atonement, which he felt was "reasonable". Compared with Wang Bo's cynicism, which needs to be tempered, Wang Li's accumulation of virtue seems more attractive. She has done many "big cases" and can basically "go ashore" (retire), for the sake of her children. And doing a good deed is more praised and recognized by the people, including director Feng Xiaogang.

This "reasonable" actually bears the burden of history. In order to survive and live, the Chinese have gone through countless battles and hardships in the past 100 years. It has become a rare miracle to be a normal human being. Public security Han faced with this pair of male and female robbers who had "reformed" for a while, based on sympathy and recognition of their kindness for the sake of accumulating virtue, and fought fiercely with the thieves in order to protect Sha Gen. Public security Han wanted to "let them go", but because they had a "criminal record", he decided to "handle them according to the law". Standing on the high moral platform, public security Han made a "correct" judgement.

But the director standing behind public security Han asked Wang Bo to lose his life, make sacrifices for his crime, and create a touching scene. This extends to the people who are burdened with historical crimes, to make contributions to the next generation. In Feng Xiaogang's eyes, it turns out that sacrifices are required. Does this extend to our country as well? In any case, Feng Xiaogang, a high-level referee hidden behind, was recognized by many audiences. In terms of dramatic effect and Feng Xiaogang's moral orientation, Wang Bo "must die".

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

In 2007, Hong Kong International Film Festival organized a "Focus Filmmaker: Herman Yau", which reviewed a number of Herman Yau Lai-To's old and new films, among which "Whispers and Moans" (2007) even had a world premiere, which was a great event. Herman Yau is an anomaly among Hong Kong film directors, with his proficient skills and experience, he has made many low-cost topical films, such as "The Eight Immortals Restaurant: The Untold Story" (1993), "Ebola Syndrome" (1996), etc., and "Troublesome Night" (1997) series of horro films, he can be regarded as a "B-movie" master in Hong Kong, but on the other hand, he has a strong appeal and stance on social current affairs and phenomena, and has made several films with a very social and clear stance, including "From the Queen to the Chief Executive" (2001), "Give Them a Chance" (2003), etc. Secondly, he's a fan of rock music, he has made MVs for Anthony Wong Chau Sang's rock songs and documentary "Rock Chinese Music Force" (1994).

The film "Whispers and Moans" can be summed up as his social and sincere film. It's adapted from Yeung Yee-Shan's book "Whispers and Moans". It tells the story of a group of sex workers and female pimps in ten days. Obviously, the social worker Elsie played by Yan Ng Yat-Yin in the film is the incarnation of the original author and screenwriter Yeung Yee-Shan. She fights for the dignity and rights of these sex workers, argues with the experienced female pimp Jenny played by Yu On-On. It's also supported by Coco, who was transferred from a sex worker to female pimp and played by Athena Chu Yan, which all showed the attitude and position of the director and Yeung Yee-Shan towards sex workers. Herman Yau also stated that he hoped that this film would win the favor of sex workers some respect.

In fact, films like Herman Yau with strong social appeals are sincere, and they are also a clear stream of Hong Kong Cinema. Compared with "From the Queen to the Chief Executive", the handling of "Whispers and Moans" has improved. This may also be a sex worker, compared with the "From the Queen to the Chief Executive" in terms of fun, it's not so sad and indignant. Herman Yau has a more flexible way of dealing with this group of people who are discriminated against by society.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

After Ann Hui On-Wah finished her most expensive production from the film "The Postmodern Life of My Aunt" (2006), she returned from Shanghai to Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong to shoot this small production of "The Way We Are" (2008) with a high-definition video camera. It can be seen that her strong adaptability is admirable. This time, Ann Hui went to Tin Shui Wai, where family tragedies have often occur, and filmed the scene. This place is described by the media as a city of sadness. Mrs. Cheung, played by Paw Hee-Ching, and her dependent son Cheung Ka-On, played by Leung Chun-Lung, came to show the peaceful and comfortable side of the residents of Tin Shui Wai. Mrs. Cheung's family is happy, after her husband died and her son lived in Tian Shui Wai, the audience learned from her mother's mouth that she once brought her two younger brothers to study, and they both had successful careers, but her sister and her son still lived in a corner that was forgotten by society, live humbly. In the film, when Mrs. Cheung went to the hospital to visit her mother, her mother said that it was very difficult to be a human being, and she just said, "How difficult is it?"

Her mother described her as a fool and only understands work and life attitude. Ann Hui used old photos of female factory workers in the 1960s and 1970s to compare this character with the efforts and contributions of that generation of Hong Kong people. The core value of that generation of Hong Kong people is also Ann Hui, her own portrayal of Hong Kong and her film career. It's Clifton Ko Chi-Sum and Vincent Chui, two generations of filmmakers who play Mrs. Cheung's younger brother and brother-in-law. Ann Hui has directly and indirectly supported them, but Ann Hui is still making films in earnest and sticking to the director's post without any ambiguity.

The film begins with Mrs. Cheung and her son, their daily life, and ends with the two and their newly acquainted colleague Chan Lai-Wun, a character full of tragic, who is infected by the two broad minds and enjoys a moment of family warmth on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. Finally, Ann Hui ends with Wu Yingyin's song "The Bright Moon Sends My Love Across a Thousand Miles" and old photos of citizens celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Victoria Park, citing Tin Shui Wai and Hong Kong people, the name of the film "The Way We Are".

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

"Triangle" (2007) co-directed by three famous directors of Hong Kong Cinema, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam Ling-Tung and Johnnie To Kei-Fung, the production concept is that Tsui Hark was in charge of directing the first paragraph, followed by Ringo Lam, and finally buried by Johnnie To at the end, each director filmed about 30 minutes, and the same cast of actors performed, turning it into a feature film of about 90 minutes.

Three good friends and directors who worked together in Cinema City in the 1980s, each with their own style. In the first paragraph of Tsui Hark, Lee Bo-Sam played by Simon Yam Tat-Wah, Fai played by Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Mok Chung-Yuan played by Sun Honglei, and Lam Ka-Tung played Wen and Ling played by Kelly Lin Hsi-Lei, show their relationship. This paragraph can become the ending paragraph. Tsui Hark asked Ringo Lam to go to the relay. However, Ringo Lam also succeeded in taking over, and in a twist, the relationship between the characters was pushed to madness. Lee Bo-Sam knew about Wen and Ling's adultery, and also knew that Fai betrayed him and Mok Chung-Yuan. And Mok Chung-Yuan also showed irrational madness because of money.

In the end, Johnnie To drove them into the remote fish steak in the poor alley, and together with the gangster who had looked for Fai earlier, there was a Johnnie To-style melee. At the same time, it also responded to Ringo Lam's film "Victim" (1999), which pushed the relationship between husband and wife to extinction, and regained the love between husband and wife due to the coincidence and impermanence of world events.

The three major directors can work together to make this film. It can be seen that everyone cherishes each other, but they do not work together to make a work with a consensus and direction. Instead, they test each other's ability and skill in the way of "solitaire". Tsui Hark is the highest generation, opened a complex concept and layout, and asked Ringo Lam and Johnnie To to try to relay. Under the three-person battle, the film became separated but not broken, stylish but not harmonious, and became the odd film in Hong Kong Cinema.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

To count the phoenix in the Hong Kong film industry, I believe Wong Jing is definitely one of the stalwarts. From the 1980s to the decline of the film industry, he still maintained a strong vitality and continued to make movies. In the past, he was one of the few producers and directors, who are still attractive to investors and bosses, have produced many small and medium-budget films in order to keep the film circle operating, and regard them as mainly gangster films, ranging from "Colour of the Truth" (2003), "Colour of the Loyalty" (2005) to "To Live and Die in Mongkok" (2009), he kept responding to other similar Hong Kong-films. This time, "To Live and Die in Mongkok" selected Nick Cheung Ka-Fai, who won multiple Best Actor Awards last year, as well as Best Actress Paw Hee-Ching, Best Supporting Actor and Actress Liu Kai-Chi and Chan Lai-Wun. This "golden" combination, bringing together the cast of "The Way We Are" (2008) and "Beast Stalker" (2008).

"To Live and Die in Mongkok" remind people of many gangster films named after the region in the 1980s and 1990s. This time Wong Jing wrote the role of Nick Cheung as a schizophrenic, which is obviously from "Fight Club" (1999) starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Fai (played by Nick Cheung), who became kind after being imprisoned, and himself 30 years ago, in order to fight for the upper position, at that time to eliminate traitors for the gang, behead more than 20 people, two characters with completely different personalities. Shortly before the opening of the film, the mystery of Chan Lai-Wun's visit to the prison has been exposed. Since "Fight Club", this kind of treatment is no longer new. Wong Jing exposed the "mystery" so quickly, which is also a smart way. However, Wong Jing has often tried to highlight these ideas and scenes that he thinks will attract the audience or the boss. The arrangement can easily make the audience feel that it is nothing more than this. From the cold reaction of the box office and the comments during the release of the film, it can be seen that the four acting actors are put together, and some roles are designed for them. The title of the film with local awareness and the gimmick handling of the schizophrenic gang are all calculated by Wong Jing's production, but the surprising part of this film is not these appearance skills, but the film inadvertently reveal his views on society, gangsters, the film industry, etc. Rewriting "Fight Club" into "To Live and Die in Mongkok" reminds me of Wong Jing's classic "God of Gamblers" (1989), and turning the brothers in "Rain Man" (1988) into a mentor and apprentice suffering from short-term amnesia is really amazing. Unfortunately, "To Live and Die in Mongkok" is not so wonderfully rewritten, but in dealing with the gang struggle and Nick Cheung's legendary hero and schizophrenia, the wandering in realism and comic treatment is in the right direction to a certain extent, how much of this should be attributed to another director Chung Siu-Hung is unknown.

The performance of the four acting actors basically met the needs of the film, but they were not outstanding, especially the relatively slow moving Chan Lai-Wun, asking her to play the well-known political figure, social worker Sister Han (Chan Yuen-Han), was not an appropriate candidate. On the contrary, Paw Hee-Ching and Liu Kai-Chi, who are used to acting in Wong Jing's films, fully understand Wong Jing's needs and cooperation, in addition to stealing the scene, other actors also have a role to play, such as two Mainland actresses Monica Mok Siu-Kei and Natalie Meng Yao; and Nick Cheung and Tang Tak-Po, who plays young Fai in fantasy (playing the young actor of the gangster in Lawrence Ah Mon's "Besieged City" (2008)), as well as the cooperation between Leung Chun-Lung and Wai Ka-Hung, all cooperated with them appropriately and produced chemical effects, in particular Tang Tak-Po, who is "like a shadow", has a good performance. In addition, in recent films, Wong Jing has always acted in rhetoric, and his role in "To Live and Die in Mongkok" has even more ulterior motives. There is a less obvious overtone to the situation of Hong Kong Cinema and the differences among filmmakers.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Jiang Wen went from actor to director, following the wave of the fifth generation of New Chinese Cinema, starring Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" (1987), Tian Zhuangzhuang's "The Last Eunuch" (1990) and directed his first film "In the Heat of the Sun" in 1993, a blockbuster, followed him while acting and directing. After more than 20 years, he has become one of the most important figures in Chinese Cinema and is internationally renowned.

"The Sun Also Rises" is his masterpiece after "Devils on the Doorstep" in 1998. It has a lot of demand, and the Mainland China media are eager to report and discuss it. The film features Mainland and Hong Kong actors, including Joan Chen Chong and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, in which Jiang Wen played the leading role of Jaycee Chan (son of Jackie Chan). In the production special, we saw Jiang Wen exercise Jaycee Chan very seriously and asked him to play a boy who grew up in a rural China, and the effect of the film came out, Jaycee Chan's performance was more ideal than expected, and several of his rivalry scenes with Zhou Yun, who played his mother, were full of explosiveness and passion. On the contrary, the performances of good actors Joan Chan and Anthony Wong were a bit disappointing, especially Anthony Wong's performance was a bit out of tune with the film, Joan Chan's charming female doctor was also a bit over the top.

The film still maintains Jiang Wen's Chinese "magic" style. The plot is full of absurdity and magic. There are many brilliant strokes, and the political chaos during the Cultural Revolution is used "magic" to reflect the fallacy of history. And Jiang Wen's own unscrupulous wildness and feelings, if the audience can accept it, the observability of the film will definitely increase. The film's final party in the desert is reminiscent of Eastern European films of the 1960s.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

In 2009, Herman Yau Lai-To was the most active director. In addition to the blockbuster film "Turning Point", co-produced by Shaw Brothers and TVB, there were also "The First 7th Night", "Rebellion" and "Split Second Murders", this comedy that caused small disputes. When "Split Second Murders" was released in October 2009, Universe Films' boss Daneil Lam Shiu-Ming and the directors Pang brothers bombarded Herman Yau for robbing idea and actors, claiming that the actors used in "Seven 2 One" and "Split Second Murders" are nearly 80% similar. Among them, Chrissie Chau Sau-Na, a popular model who became a hot topic in 2009, as well as popular female models and singers, such as William Chan Wai-Ting, Wylie Chiu Shek-Chi, Stephanie Cheng Yung, etc. The Pang brothers' "Seven 2 One" was filmed first, but it was released by "Split Second Murders", which made the audience think it was the same movie, which made the "Seven 2 One" released in November lose the opportunity, and the promotion of the film helped in disguise "Split Second Murders". They even scolded Herman Yau for being immoral, for "doing a bad market", etc. However, the box office performance of the two films was quite poor, and the two film companies, Mei Ah Entertainment and Universe Films, actually started filming under hard work, so they shouldn't be so angry and scolded each other.

Although the two films used similar actors and were produced in low budget films made from short stories. "Split Second Murders" maintains Herman Yau's consistent social concern and dark humor style, and the production is relatively rough, but the content has many memorable points. Billy Luk Wing Kuen, the central character Luk of the film, takes the one-day experience of a frustrated cartoonist as the main axis, and derives a fictional story of insurance broker Kay Tse On-Kay, her sister Stephanie Cheng Yung, brother-in-law Cheng Sze-Kwan (C Kwan) and husband Andy Hui Chi-On through the play in the play, and then Kay Tse and C Kwan once again played different roles in the play, playing a game of disorganized roles. Obviously, Herman Yau wanted to use "Split Second Murders" to respond to many news events that attracted public attention. Through Chet Lam's Angel of Death and a series of deaths related to Billy Luk, another ending appeared. He chose not to be with the gangster Au-Yeung Jin's (MC Jin) publishing house made a compromise and changed everyone's fate. To a certain extent, this was also Herman Yau's aspiration.

As for the Pang Brothers' "Seven 2 One", they maintain their level in production, and the production quality is much "glossier" than "Split Second Murders". It seems to be a high-quality sketch movie. In the convenience store where Chrissie Chau works at the opening, William Chan entangled with a man wearing a mask, and he was stabbed in the back, the story is flashed back, and different characters and stories are derived. The seven stories seem to be unrelated, but they finally "get together". The film can't help but think of an old work by Michael Haneke, "71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance" (1994), a story of a bank robbery that connects multiple characters. Of course, the Pang brothers are more brisk and business friendly. In the interlacing, flashbacks and flashbacks of the seven stories, a lot of thought was spent on the arrangement, and the audience also needs to follow the structure of the film to find the context. But the film does not derive a certain level from such a structure. After watching the content, the audience was not moved by Elanne Kwong Yeuk-Lam's accidental death at the end; nor did they realize the ingeniousness of fate from this structure, but only felt that the director had played a game, and the positive ones felt that the director put all his heart into it, while the negative ones felt quite boring. This film has another ending like "Split Second Murders", that is, William Chan who is a collector, made a decision to allow Chau Pak-Ho to pay the money at the end of the month, so that the whole tragedy did not happen. On the topic of dealing with fate is not as profound as "Split Second Murders".

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

It's claimed to be a film of Johnnie To Kei-Fung's pure personal play. It took four years from the start to the completion. It's a bit like the production mode of "PTU" (2003). A group of actors and production staff intermittently shoot this film while shooting other films. Therefore, the film also starred by his favorite actors Simon Yam Tat Wah, Lam Ka-Tung, Kelly Lin His-Lei, as well as director Law Wing-Cheong who has followed Johnnie To for many years.

The director borrowed the stories of four characters who are engaged in pickpockets (nickname manjeuk, the Chinese name of the film) and a mysterious woman to reshape the urban appearance of old and new street scenes in Hong Kong, seeing that Johnnie To intends to put the romance of French films into the film. In the interview, he mentioned that he wanted to make a musical, but due to the production budget, he had to turn it into a lyrical movie, and the ending of the fight between Simon Yam's four and other gang Lo Hoi-Pang in the rain was made into a romantic imitation musical. He also made it clear that he was influenced by the French musical "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964).

"Sparrow" is completely different from to crime and gangster films, and it's also not too close to the romantic light comedy of his and Wai Ka-Fai period. It's written about the brotherhood of four people such as Simon Yam and Lam Ka-Tung, and there is still Johnnie To's unique feelings, especially the scenes of four people riding bicycles and catching a bird, all of which are reminiscent of his other films, such as "PTU" Simon Yam and Raymond Wong Ho-Yin go upstairs to catch thieves and "Throw Down" (2004) Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Aaron Kwok Fu-Shing and Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi work together to grab a balloon, and so on.

And the scene of Simon Yam riding a bicycle on the old street with a camera to take pictures, full of urban romance with European colors, it seems that Johnnie To is interested in learning from and paying tribute to French Cinema. Johnnie To's skill in handling individual scenes has not diminished, and they all show his spirit in handling scenes. Unfortunately, the film structure is loose, the story is simple and unconvincing. It also lacks the surreal, imaginative charm of musicals.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Chim Sui-Man, who stepped into the film performance on the stage, was hailed as a master-level acting star by the film industry. Following Karena Lam Kar-Yan's worship of him as her teacher, Charlene Choi Tsoek-Jin also worshipped him and co-starred in the film "Simply Actors" (2007), which rarely talks about acting skills. The film tells the story of Chan Man-Long, a police officer who loves acting, played by Chim Siu-Man. He was sent by his boss to an acting school to learn acting skills. At the school, he met Dani Dan, a porn star played by Charlene Choi, and the two cherished each other. On the other hand, there is an emotional crisis between Chan Man-Long and his long-term girlfriend Judy (played by Michelle Ye Xuan).

Regardless of the film's discussion of acting skills, just from the emotional scenes of Chim Siu-Man, Michelle Ye and Charlene Choi, It's inseparable from screenwriter Chan Hing-Ka's "The Yuppie Fantasia" (1989) style, and it even seems familiar. However, this time he added the element of talking about acting. In one of the scenes, Chan Man-Long, played by Chim Siu-Man, asked Judy, play by Michelle Ye, for a "showdown". Judy gracefully proposed to break up, and Chan Man-Long saw through her acting. Michelle Ye performs two completely different versions at the same time, which is very like Woody Allen, and it's also the most appropriate place to describe the acting skills in the whole film.

Returning to the selling-point of the film - acting, Chim Siu-Man used his academy background to perform his acting skills, and there are many popular version of orthodox college courses. And Chim Siu-Man's performance of an actor without acting skills is reminiscent of "The King of Comedy". In the same way, the two films have to return their acting skills to real life at the end. The expert theatre janitor played by Anthony Wong Chau-Sang took Chan Man-Long to the street to see the reality, the "acting skills" of ordinary people, the interpretation of "Simply Actors" is much clearer than "The King of Comedy", which is also related to the participation of Chim Siu-Man, Anthony Wong and others, which is just a response in the dialogue between Chim Siu-Man and Anthony Wong in the production special, it's mentioned that the theoretical basis cannot be ignored in acting.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Soi Cheang Pou-Soi started with "Big Head Monster" (2001), and the following "New Blood" (2002) all showed his unique and weird tone, even in "Love Battlefield" (2004) is also different in style from other similar films. Since he cooperated with producer Sam Leong Tak-Sam and Japan's Art Port Inc., the strong stylization of "Dog Bite Dog" (2006) has become more prominent. The selfless and cruel description of human beasts has gradually formed his film style, this time adapted from Hashimoto Izo's eponymous name the comic "Shamo" is quite appropriate. The protagonist of the original comic, Ryo Narushima (played by Shawn Yue Man-Lok) is an underage boy who killed his parents with his own hands. In prison, he meets a karate master and trains him to become an adult weapon. After being released from prison, he embarks on the road of boxing.

Soi Cheang changed the background of the comic closer to reality and turned it into cartoon. In the era of the desolate future, the characters are generally retained, but the plot has been revised a lot, especially the scene where Natsumi Narushima (played by Pei Weiying) is mentally ill and kills her parents, become very clear. The prostitute Megumi played by Annie Liu Sum-Yau is only a small role in the comic, but the film makes her the protagonist's girlfriend. It can be seen that Soi Cheang encountered a lot of difficulties in the adaptation, including the scenes of practice and fighting. This is related to Soi Cheang's lack of understanding of fighting. The original author Hashimoto Izo has a considerable understanding of fighting and has a unique set of views, which are shown in the comic. The texture of fighting is full, so it has fascinated many comic fans.

However, the excessive stylization of the film makes this texture disappear, and the scene of practice is just an understatement. How hard the performance of several actors who are not from martial arts experience does not make up for their lack of actual combat sense of interpretation. Even the final scene where Ryo Narushima fights against Sugawara Naoto (played by Masato) is far inferior to similar scenes in other Hong Kong Cinema.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Sylvia Chang Ai-Chia has gone from actor to director, from Taiwan to Hong Kong, this filmmaker who travels between Hong Kong and Taiwan, her films are not many, but she has always attracted attention. This time, her apprentice Rene Liu Ruo-Ying once again co-starred in Louis Koo Tin Lok's "Run, Papa, Run" (2008), which was adapted from Benny Li Ghunen's novel "Underworld Dad". It described the story of how the underworld boss Lee Tin-Yun played by Louis Koo was a father, and changed him in order to conceal the identity of the underworld in front of his daughter, but in the end he still could not change the arrangement of fate.

This time, Sylvia Chang was obviously influenced by Nakashima Tetsuya's "Memories of Matsuko" (2006) and Tsai Ming-Liang's "The Wayward Cloud" (2005), in which the encounter between Louis Koo and Rene Liu, the comic-like surreal treatment, and Rene Liu's singing scene, how a female lawyer from a good family fell in love with a gangster bewitched boy, with fast and slow, with a dreamy and almost magical eye-covering method, the story that is difficult to rationalize is gently passed, the audience has no time to question this love at first sight, pregnant after the love of marriage, the daughter was born, and it was how Louis Koo faced the confusion of being a father.

In an interview with Rene Liu, when she talked about how she played the role of Mabel Chan and a relationship with Lee Tin-Yun played by Louis Koo, even the recognized acting idol actress also expressed a moment's hesitation, and her feelings about those in the film. The surreal handling is also difficult to put into practice, indicating that there are several scenes that need to be demonstrated and performed by Sylvia Chang in person. It can be seen here that Rene Liu is a serious actor who needs reasonable role and plot. In addition, other supporting roles in the film are quite thoughtful in casting, including mother Nora Miao Ho-Sau and gangster brother Mok Siu-Chung are all stars of the past, which recalls the Hong Kong and Taiwan Cinema in the 1970s and 1980s when Sylvia Chang became famous.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

John Woo Yu-Sen returned to the super production of Chinese Cinema and spent tens of millions of US dollars to produce "Red Cliff" (2008). John Woo said that it's to fulfill his "Three Kingdoms Dream". The film was shot in two episodes, "Red Cliff" is the first episode. When the film was released in Mainland China, many netizens criticized the character of "Red Cliff" for not conforming to history and the classic original novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"; on the contrary, it's widely praised in Hong Kong, and even more film critics praised John Woo for such a huge co-production film, still retains his style and the "nonsensical" plot of Hong Kong Cinema. The film received such strong and different reactions, which shows that John Woo's adaptation of the theme of "Three Kingdoms" has many personal taste and interests.

In addition, after the film was released, the famous Mainland screenwriter Lu Wei, who had participated in the screenwriting work of the film, publicly stated that John Woo's adaptation lacked "cultural quality", which made this strong contrast between Mainland and Hong Kong audiences due to cultural differences. The production of film is huge, in addition to Mainland and other Chinese-speaking regions, it also needs to take into account the markets in South Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe. When John Woo explained why Cao Cao wanted to attack the Red Cliff where Zhou Yu was stationed, he used Cao Cao to fight for Zhou Yu's wife Xiao Qiao. To a certain extent, it's easier for foreign audiences to understand and more romantic (John Woo style).

Many superstars played the characters of the Three Kingdoms, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Zhou Yu was considered a "be entrusted with a mission at a critical moment" (originally played by Chow Yun-Fat, but failed due to contract issues), and the performance was also rushed. You can see some scenes, and Tony Leung obviously failed to master how to play Zhou Yu. Zhuge Liang, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, has a lot of funny dialogues and scenes, making this god-like hero return to the mortal world. This may be the director's painstaking management. Cao Cao played by Zhang Fengyi is the most accepted by the general audience. He also plays Cao Cao, a role full of scheming and deceit, to the benefit. Sun Quan played by Chang Chen is the biggest surprise. He perfectly interprets Sun Quan's depressed mentality and ambition.

As for the war scenes in the film, John Woo handled it with great momentum. He filmed several classic "Three Kingdoms" scenes, such as burning a serial ship, Zhuge Liang borrowing the east wind, etc., to the desired effect, which made many "Three Kingdoms" fans feel certain satisfy. In addition to the battle scenes of these big battles, the narrative rhythm and plot layout are quite weak, even a bit fragmented, which affects the overall performance of the film, not to mention breakthroughs.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

The 2007 Hong Kong produced film started the big production, and brought together two great directors, Peter Chan Ho-Sun and Derek Yee Tung-Sing, who are recognized as the best producer and director in the industry. This is already a guarantee of the quality of the film. Released on the Chinese New Year's schedule, a film that has absolutely no elements of the Chinese New Year film has become the highest-grossing Hong Kong film in this schedule, winning a sigh of relief for Hong Kong Cinema. The Chinese New Year film, which used to be a big blockbuster, is a formula that can sell as long as the stars perform and the plot is nonsense. It needs to be put into an ancient database. As long as the film has a certain quality and appeal, the audience will buy tickets. As for a group of filmmakers who still hold the halo of success in the 1980s and continue to make their so-called Chinese New Year films, they will only be cast aside by the audience.

"Protégé" is about drug trafficking, which is reminiscent of "Will of Iron" (1991) directed by Derek Yee's elder brother John Chiang Tai-Wai. It's also sincere and thought-provoking. Whether it's Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk and Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau in "Will of Iron", or Zhang Jingchu and Louis Koo Tin-Lok in "Protégé", they all make the audience shudder.

However, when Derek Yee dealt with Andy Lau Tak-Wah, the drug dealer's role as Lin Quin, he added a layer of the so-called "supply and demand theory" that drug dealers justified, making an excuse for their crimes, and his love for his wife and daughters, making this role flesh and blood. As for the undercover Nick, played by Daniel Wu Yin-Cho, he discovered that the reason for the drug addicts' obsession with drugs was emptiness. In the end, after facing the suicide of Lin Quin and the death of Fan, the addict's lover played by Zhang Jingchu, he also unknowingly took a risk, a trap of emptiness, rescued by Fan's young daughter.

The director is very delicate in handling the process of drug production and drug trafficking. For example, Lin Quin explained why the shape and size of heroin bricks, which drug dealers call "dollars", are for convenience of carrying; and Lin Quin discussed international heroin market with Thai drug dealer, etc. This all shows that the director, screenwriters and production team have done a lot of data collection and research, and there is no lack of showing off, but the overall effect makes the film more textured. The only minor flaw is the drug addict played by Louis Koo. Although he plays very seriously, his sturdy physique makes it impossible to believe that he's an addict. On the contrary, Zhang Jingchu, who also plays an addict, is relatively realistic.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Yonfan, who is known as an aestheticist director. After "Color Blossoms" (2004) interprets Hong Kong's exotic colors with its "porn fans", he returned to Taiwan where he grew up as a teenager, and described the military village specially set up for soldiers and their families in the 1950s during the period of white terror, "Prince of Tears" adapted from a true story. The story describes a pair of sisters studying in a military village primary school, living a happy life with their handsome air force father and beautiful mother. However, when the father entered the enemy's territory in order to save his daughter in the Mainland, he was convicted of collaborating with the enemy, and the mother was also implicated, which exposed the fact that the sister was not born to the mother. This true story is the story of Chiao Chiao, an actress who has a cameo role in the film. Her mother has been unable to forgive her sister's "exhausted husband" because of this. When Yonfan learned about this story, he began to conceive "Prince of Tears".

The "Prince of Tears" comic that appeared in the film is actually a "prop" created by Yonfan, but this story similar to "The Little Prince" runs through the entire movie. The character "Prince of Tears" can basically refer to every character. That kind of romance and sadness, just as Yonfan said in the production special that he wanted the film to be more sorrowful than tragic, and "Prince of Tears" and two other Taiwanese directors Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "A City of Sadness" (1989) and Edward Yang Dechang's "A Brighter Summer Day" (1991), in which the background of the characters described in "A Brighter Summer Day" is closer to "Prince of Tears", and "A Brighter Summer Day" is a work full of tragic, on the other hand, Yonfan interprets the history of this dark period in Taiwan with a kind of nostalgia for his childhood. From the point of view of the two little sisters, from innocence and romance to the helplessness after being crushed, especially when Zhu Xuan, who plays the mother Ping, is going to marry Ding Keqiang (played by Wing Fan), who denounced their father Sun Hansheng (played by Chang Hsiao-Chuan), the eldest daughter felt extremely sad and talked to her mother. In the end, the mother made a helpless and appropriate decision as an ordinary woman for life and their future. The mother and daughter cried together.

In order to recreate the feeling of a military village in his youth, Yonfan recreated many details of his life back then, and he has many collective memories for that generation, and it is rare for him to face this history frankly; although he said that he encountered a lot of obstacles during the conception period. Some people think that he is uncovering the scars of Taiwan, but his method is different from Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. With his personal experience and his unique and keen sense of touch, he interprets the style of the military village in those days enriched the film and became the most textured film in Yonfan's films. Even at the beginning of the story, the teacher Qiu (played by Lin Yo-Wei), who has the director's self-discipline, is not as abrupt and deliberate as his previous films. As for the most inexplicable part of the general audience is the ending. The dead Sun Hansheng returns to the home of the military village to find Ping. The handling of the suspected illusion is to explain the mystery of the heterochromatic love between Ping and the general's wife Quyang Qianjun (played by Terri Kwan), and to show the intricate emotional relationship between the four protagonists.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Ann Hui On-Wah cooperated with Chow Yun-Fat again after more than ten years. It has become a major selling point of this literary film invested and produced in Mainland China. Of course, it's not have Ann Hui's reputation, and with the strong support of Mainland investors, this Ann Hui has been filmed since the film, the most expensive film probably won't come out.

According to Ann Hui in the production special, the "definition" of postmodernity is the collage of new and old things, whether it's culture, life, attitude, etc., and the auntie played by Siqin Gaowa, the protagonist of the film, a "progressive" person from the old society, living in contemporary Shanghai where China's economic, political and culture are rapidly turning, and she feels the constant impact of the people and things around her, which makes her physically and mentally tired. After encountering different liars, she finally returned to Anshan in the northeast China where she abandoned her husband and daughter that day, and lived a dull and still life for the rest of her life.

Li Qiang's script, Ann Hui described in the interview as "not one drop of water can leak out", she had to shoot according to the script. In the interpretation, she has rarely displayed the rare delicacy and expressiveness, which of course required the help of many creative actors, Siqin Gaowa, Chow Yun-Fat, Lisa Lu Yan, Shi Ke and Zhao Wei who made a cameo appearance in the last few scenes, all performed appropriately and wonderfully, and Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack made the film more elegant and refined.

Although the film's narrative progress in paragraphs lacks the tension that a drama should have, it fits the so-called "postmodern" fragmented collage style of the film. The film begins with the boy Kuan Kuan played by Guan Wenshuo going to his aunt's house in Shanghai on vacation, and ends with him going to his aunt's house in Anshan. It's a collage that echoes the beginning and end of traditional drama.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

After Gordon Chan Ka-Seung went through two funny comedies, "Undercover Hidden Dragon" (2006) (co-directed by Dante Lam Chiu Yin) and "Mr. 3 Minutes" (2006), as well as "A-1 Headline" (2004) co-directed with Chung Kai-Cheung, he finally felt proud and elated with "Painted Skin" in 2008. The film was released in Mainland China, in the first six days, there more than 100 million yuan at the box office, making Gordon Chan join Zhang Yimou, Peter Chan Ho-Sun and Feng Xiaogang to enter the 100 million yuan director club in Mainland China, and Hong Kong directors added another seat. Although the film performed well at the box office in Mainland China, the film was not actually made very well. This may be related to the adaptation of classical Chinese novel "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" and the appeal of horror themes, plus the charm of the two actresses Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei. It's related to the promotion of big production style.

In order to "cooperate" with the approval requirements of Mainland China, the film turns the ghost in the original book into a demon. Therefore, Xiao Wei (played by Zhou Xun) is a fox demon with a human skin shell and thousands of years of practice, relying on eating human's hearts to maintain magic power. As for the character Wang Sheng played by Chen Kun also changed from a scholar to a general, in order to match the action elements of the film. Gordon Chan even recruited Donnie Yen Ji-Dan to play the former general Pang Yong with high martial arts, in order to make the film have horror, action, romance and other elements to meet the different requirements of the audience.

Gordon Chan recruited Abe Kwong Man-Wai from "Visible Secret" (2001) (directed by Ann Hui On-Wah) to write the screenplay for "Painted Skin". He used his usual style of describing human feelings through ghosts to write demons. Xiao Wei finally saved his beloved Wang Sheng and died because of her, played by Zhao Wei, the general's wife Pei Rong and Pang Yong didn't hesitate to sacrifice thousands of years of cultivation, and "Painted Skin" is a breakthrough in the pattern of the opposition between good and evil in the human world and demons. Although the film has a big production pattern, Gordon Chan lived up to his trust and succeeded in taking the position.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

In 2008, Ann Hui On-Wah won many awards for "The Way We Are", and Paw Hee-Ching successfully won the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress, although it was a belated honor for her acting career. But her performance in the film is truly impressive. The second part of the film, "Night and Fog" was released in mid-2009.(The Chinese names of the two films, "Day and Night in Tin Shui Wai" and "Night and Fog in Tin Shui Wai", are two completely different stories, but both take place in Tin Shui Wai, so they are regarded as two-part works) "The Way We Are" describes the life of an ordinary family in Tin Shui Wai, showing Hong Kong people's pursuit of "abundant life" with peace of mind, the high realm of dignity in simplicity, and the virtue of mutual help and love among neighbors, dating back to the 60s and 70s of the last century, Hong Kong people were content and the core value of running around in life. The high realm of the film and the realistic style of using the camera to capture the details of life are almost perfect performances in Ann Hui's films. In the second part, Ann Hui returned to the real-life drama format of adapting real cases, and tried to reconstruct this domestic violence incident that caused a sensation in Hong Kong based on the tragedy of Lee Sam (played by Simon Yam Tat-Wah) and Wong Hiu-Ling (played by Zhang Jingchu), the old husband and young wife. The film deliberately went through the process of police investigation and questioning, in the mouths of neighbor, friend of the shelter center, and others, they described the ins and outs of Lee Sam and Wong Hiu-Ling, the protagonists of the tragedy.

The film is reminiscent of Ann Hui's debut work "The Secret" (1979), but this time she pursued a near-surreal psychological description in a realistic style. The results are not outstanding, but it can be seen that Ann Hui does not want to be restricted by the real case, and hopes to express her views on these two tragic characters in a film that she thinks is more real. Perhaps, the realistic style of the film is not like the suspense drama of "The Secret", allowing Ann Hui to infer the appearance of the case that is close to "real" through dialectical descriptions from multiple angles like "Rashomon" (1950). Although Simon Yam played the "bad man" criticized by the media on that day. Ann Hui gave this character a more reasonable description in the film, which gave the audience a sympathetic and different view of this character; and Zhang Jingchu who plays Wong Hiu-Ling, as a new immigrant, is in a dilemma of hesitation and helplessness. Ann Hui's mental journey of chasing the role through memories, a section in the Sichuan countryside is the most touching, but the film does not explain how she and her husband met? What is she doing in Shenzhen? The blank of this point may be constrained by the character as a tragic character who is widely sympathized. Although the film uses a more dimensional treatment to show the tragedy, the helplessness of Zhang Jingchu's role is not fully expressed.

The film's critical attitude towards social workers, police and other institutional roles, Ann Hui's return to the era of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV dramas, the help given by the establishment to weak groups is actually insignificant, and they still rely on mutual help and themselves to solve their predicament, which is actually the same as the attitude of "The Way We Are", but the realm shown in "The Way We Are", "Night and Fog" is caught in the entanglement of political orientation and morality.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Lai Miu-Suet who became the director of the independent film "Glass Tears" (2001), is considered to be an example of an independent filmmaker who has joined the ranks of genre films. Although her directing career is not a blockbuster and a rising star, she still continues to work hard to make genre films with her own style. After "Glass Tears", she made "The Floating Landscape" (2003) for Filmko, starring Karena Lam Kar-Yan, Liu Ye and Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin. The box office result was average, but the film emerged in various film festivals.

The film "The Floating Landscape" is still shot in the form of an art film, but three famous star actors are used to perform, but this time Lai Miu-Suet directed "Naraka 19" (2007), it was a horror film, and invited Gillian Chung Yan-Tung, Vincy Chan Ka-Yan, Bonnie Xian Se-Li, Lee Man-Kwan, Shaun Tam Chun-Yin, Patrick Tam Yiu-Man to star, four young female singers and actresses played college students and played "Hell Games" on mobile phones in the academy. Eva played by Lee Man-Kwan, Violet played by Vincy Chan and Mandy played by Bonnie Xian died by suicide. When the police detective played by Shaun Tam was investigating three cases, he found that the game was related to two suicides ten years ago.

The film is a bit like the popular Hollywood horror film format, but Lai Miu-Suet adapted Cai Jun's novel of the same title, and used the paintings of the 19th century Italian painter Giuseppe Mazzolini (1806-1876) to show off the scene of hell. Although the production scale is not as good as "Re-cycle" (2006) by the Pang Brothers, its ghostly atmosphere is better than "Re-cycle", especially Lai Miu-Suet uses the screen function of the mobile phone to create a scene where reality and hell are intertwined.

However, the film lacks the effect of scaring scenes. This may be because she failed to master the scaring skills of horror films, or the film has lowered the level of shock in order to match the Mainland China market. The hell scenes in the film are all produced by the protagonist in a drowsiness. This kind of "suspicious ghost" is the most commonly used method to avoid anti-superstition in Mainland China.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

New director Roy Chow Hin-Yeung's "Murderer" (2009). This film is co-operated by Focus of Hollywood, Edko Films and Sil-Metropole. It's written by To Chi-Long, a favorite student of director Patrick Tam Kar-Ming, and starring Aaron Kwok Fu-Shing and Eddie Cheung Siu-Fai. It's a frightening and suspect film with a seemingly sophisticated layout. The production quality has reached a high level recognized by the audience. The sound effects, special effects, makeup, etc. Are all very exciting. The scene of jumping from the building at the beginning of the film has already grabbed the attention of the audience, attracting the audience to unconsciously enter the seemingly mysterious and strange plot. When Aaron Kwok discovered the truth, the director explained it in a rather bland way with dialogue and memory fragments. He seems to be afraid that the audience would not understand and accept it, but such an ending is really a bit frustrating. The pattern constructed by the whole film will make the audience think that there is an even more amazing secret hidden behind it. The game set up by an adopted son who suffers from "agelessness" has turned Aaron Kwok, a "self-proclaimed hero", into a "prisoner".

The plot of the film can be justified on the surface, but the scene of Aaron Kwok killing his friend Eddie Cheung by mistake seems logical, but there are actually many flaws in it. In addition, Chin Kar-Lok and others who belong to the B team of the regional crime unit do not trust Aaron Kwok, and the same team Eddie Cheung also had doubts about his superiors. According to the usual practice of the police force, Aaron Kwok should have taken a leave of absence to stop the investigation work. There is no reason to let him continue to participate in the case, which made him deeper and deeper. In the end, even his friend Eddie Cheung suffered misfortune, making Aaron Kwok a veritable "murderer". Although the film has over 10 million HK dollars at the Hong Kong box office, its reputation is quite poor. Some industry insiders believe that such a strong contrast is due to the wonderful editing of the film's trailer. It turned out that the Hollywood Company was responsible for the trailer of "Murderer", which had edited the trailer for "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), which made the audience who watched the trailer very excited. Coupled with the proper promotion and distribution, the film's box office was outstanding.

During the promotion of the film, the protagonist Aaron Kwok once said that when he was shooting the film, he couldn't get away and there was a problem with his affection. Later, he was disappointed that the film was not nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor. Aaron Kwok's performance in this film is very conscientious, but his performance is actually a bit over the top. Although his performance can quite match the suspicious atmosphere of the film, it greatly reduces the credibility of the story. And Eddie Cheung's performance maintained a certain level, adding a lot of drama to the first half of the film. In addition, the film handles a lot of frightening scenes, and it does have a proper level of shooting, which is reminiscent of the Pang brothers and many Korean movies of the same type. In terms of sensual stimulation, they can satisfy audiences who are good at this.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Director Kwok Chi-Kin's second film, technically compared to "The Pye-Dog" (2007) has made obvious progress. The script and storytelling techniques are stronger and more forceful than the previous film. Of course, the film has not been able to get rid of the flooding elements such as police, gangsters and undercover agents, but this time Kwok Chi-Kin took the police force responsible for "to release snake" (to conduct a sting operation). The title of the department VICE is a bit new, but it describes the story of the former undercover Jan played by Shawn Yue Man-Lok, and a comment from Pan, a colleague of the Regional Crime Unit played by Shaun Tam Chun-Yin, "is more bewitching than a hooligan", the fall of a policeman.

The film is not much the length of this description of Jan's , but instead Kwok Chi-Kin deduces three story lines: the son of the female gangster Chong Mom (played by Susan Shaw Yam-Yam) is missing, and Jan is asked to track down the whereabouts of her enemy Four-eyed Tong played by Liu Kai-Chi; Jan's prostitute lover Lulu (played by Bonnie Xian Se-Li), her cousin in the Mainland China (played by Shi Xueyi) came to Hong Kong and had a chance encounter with the beggar killer played by Fan Siu-Wong, a scene of "Beauty and the Beast", Four-eyed Tong was assassinated by the beggar killer, Jan thought it was the murder of Chong Mom, but it turned out to be a conspiracy within the gang; in addition, another branch was a group of Indian and Pakistani outlaws who robbed the area, and finally met Jan, the beggar killer and Four-eyed Tong subordinate (played by Gill Mohindepaul Singh).

This multi-line confluence of plots is obviously a reference to Johnnie To Kei-Fung's films, but Kwok Chi-Kin failed to achieve Johnnie To's composure in terms of skill. Kwok Chi-Kin said in the production special that he named "The Moss" because he knew a police officer from VICE who happened to be call "Moss". He further pointed out that as long as there is water and light, moss can grow, and the tyranny of the vitality just represents the characters in the film, living in a harsh environment, still exert their motivation for survival. Perhaps this is also a portrayal of the Hong Kong film workers.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Tsui Hark has been dormant for three years since "Seven Swords" (2005). During this period, he directed one third of "Triangle" (2007) with two good friends and directors, Ringo Lam Ling-Tung and Johnnie To Kei-Fung. In 2008, he released two films, "Missing" and "All About Women", the interesting thing is that both films feature women as the protagonists. "Missing" is a suspenseful horror film starring Angelica Lee Sinje and Isabella Leong, and "All About Women" is a suspenseful thriller starring three famous actresses in Mainland China, Zhou Xun, Gwei Lun-Mei and Zhang Yuqi, the strong lineup of female stars.

"Missing" doesn't change the true nature of Tsui Hark's films, and takes the development of new technologies and shooting environments as the driving force for his creation. This time, in his self-report, Tsui Hark rarely narrates his film personally. The documentary of an ancient city in the deep sea of Ryukyu Island in the west of the archipelago gave Tsui Hark the idea of making this film. The film was shot with the latest high-definition camera, and a Japanese cinematographer Sakamoto Yoshitaka to take care of it. In the deep-sea cinematography part, because the actor Guo Xiaodong was unable to shoot in Taiwan, the scene where Guo Xiaodong and Angelica Lee met while diving was actually shot from two different seabeds, and then edited by adjusting the color temperature and luminosity in post-processing.

The interesting thing about the film is that when the story reaches two-thirds, Tsui Hark solves the mystery. It's another variation of "The Sixth Sense" (1999), but Tsui Hark isn't willing to end the film here. Perhaps in order to comply with the film censorship standards in Mainland China, he had to solve the mystery in advance. Following the last third of the film, it describes how Gao Jing (played by Angelica Lee) recovers her memory and misses her lover Dave Chen Guo-Dong (played by Guo Xiaodong), while Isabella Leong plays Dave Chen's sister Chen Xiao-Kai. When she finds out that her brother's death is related to Gao Jing, Isabella Leong's performance failed to deduce that complex and multi-layered psychological state. As for Angelica Lee's re-starring in a horror film, it can be said that she is familiar with it, and she has more room to play after the mystery is revealed. To a certain extent, the film satisfies the director's desire to pursue new technologies, but the film fails to achieve the expected effect of a horror film.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

In response to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jeffrey Lau Chun-Wai directed "The Fantastic Water Babes" (2010), because Gillian Chung Yan-Tung was involved in the private photo incident, the ban has not been officially lifted. The film needs to be postponed. However, Fong Lik-Sun, the male protagonist of this film, immediately took over another film "Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg" (2009) by Jeffrey Lau, the film is reminiscent of "counterfeit" "Transformers" (2007) in publicity. The computer technology effects produced in Hong Kong and Mainland China are still far from Hollywood. Although the technical department of this film has made great efforts, compared with the alien effect of Jeffrey Lau's previous film "A Chinese Tall Story" (2005), this time it is progress and thrift. The film's box office in the Mainland was good, but in Hong Kong was quite bleak, with only more than 1.2 million HK dollars. The actor Fong Lik-Sun also publicly expressed his disappointment.

In fact, Fong Lik-Sun also said in an interview that the film is not like a promotion offensive, it is a "counterfeit" "Transformers", but a funny "A. I. Artificial Intelligence" (2001), which tells the story of the robot K-1 played by Fong Lik-Sun, falling into the emotional world of human beings, he fell in love with the policewoman So-mui played by Sun Li. In the ending scene, he showed love to So-mui's ear and "disappeared", which is a typical romantic tragedy of Jeffrey Lau. Although Jeffrey Lau has been teasing romantic tragedies in different package since the beginning of "A Chinese Odyssey" (1995), his attitude towards love is already very familiar to many audiences, but he still enjoys it, which encourages him to be obsessed with and confident in this topic. Interestingly, Jeffrey Lau chooses different themes each time to package the film into an interesting work. This time, the robot K-1 lived in a small village and followed Tsui Dai-Chun played by Hu Jun to handle the case. His extraordinary ability attracted So-mui's heart and made Tsui Dai-Chun and Kong, played by Ronald Cheng Chung-Kei, who have a crush on So-mui, very jealous.

There is still no shortage of Jeffrey Lau's black humor and laughter in the film. Unfortunately, this has been a "trick" repeated by Jeffrey Lau over the past ten years. The packaging and the background of "counterfeit" "Transformers" are not "the cup of tea" for Hong Kong audiences. Perhaps Jeffrey Lau has to continue to develop his Mainland market to serve audiences who are still interested in his comedy style. This is not to belittle the tastes of Mainland audiences, but Jeffrey Lau's comedy style is already "outdated" to Hong Kong audiences, and since he's not raising the level of his comedy style, it's not surprising that audiences leave him. However, in the Mainland, his comedy style which represents Hong Kong films with an "imaginative style", is still attractive due to the huge market. If he continues to repeat, it will soon be abandoned by Mainland audiences who are familiar with Hong Kong Cinema, it is only time.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)