The number of new Hong Kong movies continued to
decline in 2003, but the same cannot be said of the quality
of the territory’s productions. In what was a difficult
year for Hong Kong as a whole, many local filmmakers
worked to raise the standard of their movies. The huge
success of Infernal Affairs at the end of 2002 had seen
audiences respond positively to higher production and
scriptwriting standards, and that film’s makers were among
those who led the way in 2003.
The year’s largest box office draws, crime thrillers Infernal
Affairs II and III, rounded out a trilogy and drew strong ticket
sales in autumn and at Christmas. The ambitious second
installment took viewers back to a more colourful prequel
stage. It fleshed out characters introduced in the first film
and introduced other key players. Infernal Affairs III, which
outperformed part two in terms of ticket sales, brought
back part one’s lead actors by using lengthy flashbacks. It
added more intrigue with some mysterious new characters.
Another standout achievement was Johnnie To and Wai Kafai’s
Running On Karma. In a radical departure from their
high season comedy successes, the co-directors crafted
an unlikely mainstream hit based around karma. Packaging
a difficult topic along with police action, the supernatural,
martial arts and a marketing-friendly muscle suit for its
leading man, Running On Karma treated audiences to intelligent
and challenging viewing.
These commercial and critical highlights came in the second
half of 2003. The outlook was far less rosy earlier in
the year. Chinese New Year had an unexciting line-up, with
Vincent Kok’s feng shui themed My Lucky Star being the
most interesting of the crop. Not long afterwards, the
spread of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in
February and March severely hampered the movie industry
ahead of Easter. Many Hongkongers took to avoiding
public places, cinemas included, and film release dates
were delayed. As new mainstream films gradually returned
to the schedules, comedies Honesty and Why Me Sweetie?!
appealed to students, whose schools were suspended, as
well as to regular punters who were wooed back with free
ticket coupons. By the time Truth or Dare: 6 th Floor Rear
Flat turned up in late May, people were queuing up at ticket
windows again. Come June The Twins Effect led the halfyear’s
box office figures.
Co-productions between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese
filmmakers become a clear industry trend in 2004. This
development gave a much-needed boost to the industry,
especially after SARS troubles subsided. The Closer
Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) signed by the
mainland and Hong Kong governments gave local filmmakers
access to China’s cinemagoers. The enthusiasm for coproductions
outdid even the talk of broader Pan-Asian
filmmaking of previous years. But Hong Kong companies
looking across the border must play safe and meet mainland
restrictions. Along with avoiding nudity, and stories
where the bad guy wins, filmmakers must also leave out
supernatural elements like ghosts. Scripts must be
approved before shooting can begin. Some filmmakers
have already risen to the challenge by preparing dual versions
for mainland and Hong Kong release. Others have
played safe in both territories. Soi Cheang’s The Death
Curse was a standout film that carefully trod the latter
route, becoming the first Hong Kong horror flick to gain
simultaneous cinema release in the mainland as a result.
Perhaps responding to both the SARS crisis and Hong
Kong’s ongoing economic woes, a number of 2003’s films
investigated the process of moving on. Most accomplished
was Derek Yee’s uplifting Lost in Time, in which a young
woman (Cecilia Cheung) loses her fiancé, takes over his minibus job, and clings to the past by speaking to his
phone answering service. After the woman befriends a fellow
minibus driver, played by Lau Ching-wan, she moves on
with her life. Yee’s film succeeded in pitching its protagonists
as everyday Hongkongers working hard on the
streets, and the characterisation struck a chord with
moviegoers.
Carol Lai visited similar themes in The Floating Landscape,
an attractive production set in Qingdao, in northern China.
The film saw a Hong Kong girl, played by Karena Lam,
heading to the town to find a scene drawn by her dead
boyfriend. She too has dialogue with the past - rewriting
entries from her man’s diary - and finds support from a
kind stranger. Aubrey Lam’s Hidden Track also provided an
upbeat story of a girl moving on from the past, though the
story lacked the strength of Yee and Lai’s films.
Another impressive dramatic work was Johnnie To and Wai
Ka-fai’s charming Turn Left Turn Right - a colourful adaptation
of a popular storybook by Taiwanese author Jimmy
Liao. It’s about two would-be lovers unable to cross paths
a second time. Elsewhere Joe Ma moved away from comedy
with The Sound of Colors, also based on Liao’s work. It
was a pleasing story of a romance between blind girl
Miriam Yeung and matchmaker Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Other
films of note were Stephen Shin’s The Source of Love, a
low-key Christian movie presenting interesting characters
caught in a troubled family setting; Herman Yau’s inspiring
Give Them a Chance, about a real-life dance troupe’s rise
to success; and Raymond To’s gorgeous Miss Du Shiniang,
for which the director transferred his 1996 stage production
Miss To Sup-neung to the silver screen with theatre
styles intact.
As for comedy, Pang Ho Cheung returned with his Men
Suddenly in Black. Equipped with a sharp script loosely
based on Chor Yuen’s Wise Wives and Foolish Husbands,
Pang enlivened the old formula of sneaky cheating men
with some delightfully modern twists and turns. Roughedged
actor Ronald Cheng made a splash mid-year in
Dragon Loaded, a madcap nonsense comedy about an
unlikely cop. Barbara Wong’s Truth or Dare: 6 th Floor Rear
Flat entertained with often crude comedy set in a flatshare,
which clicked well with university-age viewers. Sandra Ng
followed up her Golden Chicken role of a prostitute in a
sequel, Golden Chicken 2. Like its superior predecessor
Golden Chicken 2 mirrored Hong Kong society in the
woman’s exploits, basing the story in her youth, in 2003
and in the future.
Action movies drew varied results over the year. Jackie
Chan appeared in Hong Kong’s most expensive movie to
date, The Medallion, but the film lacked local flavour and
audiences gave it a cold reception. Instead, top box office
honours in the action department went to The Twins Effect
- a highly entertaining spectacle pitting pop pair Twins
(Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung) against vampires bent
on world domination. Other action-related standouts were
Wong Jing and Marco Mak’s Colour of the Truth, Johnnie
To’s PTU and Benny Chan’s Heroic Duo. Although marketing
suggested it was an Infernal Affairs knock-off, Colour of
the Truth turned out to be a stylish crime actioner featuring
a host of strong performances. PTU had a tight scenario
set in a single night and Heroic Duo went for larger
scale action, showing off vertigo-inducing set pieces
alongside psychological thriller elements. Veteran director
Lau Kar-leung went retro with his old school martial arts
flick Drunken Monkey. Produced by Shaw Brothers, the
kung fu film offered a refreshing change of pace for a few
curious and nostalgic viewers. Martial arts also figured into
Daniel Lee’s Star Runner - a tournament film starring
Taiwanese and Korean leads.
Horror entries lacked the energy of previous years, with two prominent movies stressing thriller elements. Soi
Cheang saw his biggest commercial success to date with
The Death Curse, an enjoyable haunted house movie with
Twins the top-billed stars. More a mystery piece than allout
horror, Cheang’s movie capitalised on a stunning set
and a gradual build-up of suspense. Another horror-like
thriller was Billy Chung’s Shiver, in which a woman, played
by Athena Chu, becomes tormented by terrifying visions. As
in The Death Curse, a strong sense of unease develops as
viewers start to find out more than they expect. Andrew
Lau offered more conventional horror in The Park, a teen
terror flick let down by some unexciting 3-D segments.
Julian Lee also released Night Corridor, an arty horrordrama
with actor/co-producer Daniel Wu, who played a
photographer returning to find trouble in Hong Kong.
Lower-profile digital video filmmakers dished up two more
Troublesome Night installments during the year, bringing
the long-running series to part 19.
Adult-oriented fare got a lift late in 2003 with Dante Lam
and Chan Hing-ka’s Naked Ambition, a movie which showed
the rise of porn publishing entrepreneurs. Featuring spirited
performances from leads Louis Koo and Eason Chan,
the film was loosely based on the exploits of a real character
and played up the sex industry sleaze. At a time when
mainstream producers continue to shy away from Category
III films, Naked Ambition’s arrival in cinemas was unexpected.
Director Sam Leong meanwhile directed an elegant
blend of erotica and art house stylings in the Hong Kong-
Japan co-production Perfect Education 3, although the
movie went straight to video.
Andy Lau remained the top draw. Lau put in a strong showing
in a range of roles, from Infernal Affairs III to Chinese
New Year films, as well as making cameo appearances.
Lau’s Infernal Affairs co-star Tony Leung Chiu-wai also had
a good 2003, scoring parts in a Chinese New Year hit and
two Christmas films. Lau Ching-wan continued to maintain a
high profile with pleasing roles in romantic comedy Good
Times, Bed Times and Lost in Time. Anthony Wong continued
to impress in a variety of roles, not least in Colour of
the Truth, and Francis Ng had a good run with Infernal
Affairs II, Heroic Duo and Shiver. Chung Kim-fai returned for
a impressive lead role in The Source of Love, Eric Tsang
continued to make interesting character choices, Kent
Cheng revived his old Fat Cat character for Happy Go
Lucky, Simon Yam shone in PTU and Tony Leung Ka-fai
showed off his talent for comedy in Men Suddenly in Black
and The Spy Dad. As for new talent, Ronald Cheng showed
the most promise with My Lucky Star and Dragon Loaded,
both of which captured his bawdy brand of comedy.
Cecilia Cheung’s profile continued to rise in a variety of
films, from the quickie comedy Honesty to more the
demanding dramas Running On Karma and Lost in Time.
Cheung’s performance in Lost in Time became a major selling
point of the film, and there was speculation that she’d
win some awards. Sammi Cheng continued to be popular in
her two romantic comedies and Carina Lau put in a strong
performance in Infernal Affairs II. Miriam Yeung remained a
bright light in comedies with her Love Undercover 2: Love
Mission role, but also diversified into more serious fare
with The Sound of Colors. Athena Chu meanwhile put in a
stunning performance for Shiver, but the film’s poor box
office showing meant too few witnessed her achievement.
The Twins singing duo (Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung)
remained a major draw in 2003, as highlighted by The
Twins Effect, though the pair’s fortunes were mixed when
they appeared separately. Choi was a lead actress in highprofile
films Diva - Ah Hey and Good Times, Bed Times
while Chung appeared in relatively smaller productions The
Spy Dad, Colour of the Truth and Happy Go Lucky.
Sadly, 2003 saw the loss of two of Hong Kong’s most
respected stars: Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. News of
Cheung’s suicide in April hit many Hong Kong people hard.
Already rattled by SARS fears, Cheung’s death cast a shadow
over entertainment-related events for months. Mui succumbed
to cancer at the end of December, just months
after she had announced her illness to the public. A performer
to the end, Mui summoned the strength to perform
what became an eight-night farewell concert series in
November.
After making it through the difficulties of 2003, the Hong
Kong film industry’s mood was generally upbeat at the
start of 2004. Production companies were busy working
on more mainland co-productions and the scale of these
movies is high. It will be interesting to see how Hong
Kong’s filmmakers adapt to the challenges and opportunities
of working on these projects over the coming year.
Tim Youngs