Oriental Daily interview with Michael Tao and Kenix Kwok: ‘Old couple’ reminisces about their past relationship

Here’s an awesome interview with one of my favorite onscreen couples from the 90s: Michael Tao and Kenix Kwok!

I actually knew about this interview for a few months already, as Michael had written about it on his Weibo a few months back (he had said he was meeting up with long-time partner Kenix for an interview with Oriental Daily). At that time though, Michael didn’t say anything about when the interview would be published (probably because he didn’t even know himself), so I pretty much would ‘stalk’ Oriental Daily’s website everyday to see if it was there (LOL…well, actually reading HK entertainment news is part of my daily routine anyway, so it’s not like it took too much additional effort). It wasn’t until last month when Michael wrote on his Weibo that the interview would be published in mid-June that I was finally able to get confirmation of the date.

Anyway, I truly truly enjoyed reading this interview! It was so great to see these 2 back together again (I was actually one of those ‘fans’ mentioned in the interview who reposted their reunion pic from Timmy’s wedding when I saw it on Weibo…hehehe) – I definitely miss them a lot! Reading this interview really makes me want to go back and re-watch the DIF trilogy all over again (for like the millionth time…LOL!).

If you’re a huge fan of DIF like I am, then this interview is a definite ‘must read’ for you!! :o)

Lastly….this interview proves that my memory isn’t as bad as I think it is (when I did my ‘classic onscreen couples’ post a few months back, I remembered thinking that Michael and Kenix had collaborated in 6 series at TVB, but for the life of me, I could only recall 5 – DIF trilogy, Shine On You, Love Bond – I had totally forgotten about Glittering Moments…). Well, since Michael and Kenix brought up their collaboration in Glittering Moments in the interview, now I know that I was right initially…haha!

.****.

Oriental Daily interview with Michael Tao and Kenix Kwok:  ‘Old couple’ reminisces about their past relationship

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

Michael Tao (陶大宇) and Kenix Kwok (郭可盈) are an onscreen ‘golden couple’ that has endured for 17 years , starting from their first collaboration in TVB’s popular trilogy Detective Investigation Files《刑事偵緝檔案》from 1995 to 1997. When ‘Ko Jit’ [Kenix’s character in DIF] bumped into ‘Dai Yung’ [Michael’s character] again a couple months ago at Timmy Hung’s (洪天明) wedding, the two of them excitedly took a picture together and uploaded it to Weibo, which triggered fans to fondly remember this ‘classic’ pairing. Recently, this ‘golden’ onscreen couple got together to talk about old times and even revealed that they back in the day, they were ‘one step away’ from developing a relationship in real life! Kenix also joked that Michael ‘lost out’ because he wasn’t proactive enough.

M = Michael Tao
K = Kenix Kwok

Reunited at wedding, their picture together is wildly circulated online

M: Seeing you again after so many years, you’re still very beautiful – I see a more mature beauty in you now! When we bumped into each other again at Timmy’s wedding, it was quite unexpected!

K: You haven’t changed a bit either – still able to laugh heartily without restraint! Actually, when I posted our photo on Weibo earlier, it was primarily because audiences requested it, then when fans started commenting and reposting, it spread like wildfire! Back when I filmed the Detective Investigation Files trilogy, I was still a newbie who didn’t know anything – that series was the turning point in my career!

M: Because you were a ‘blank page’, that’s why you were able to absorb so much! And that’s why you were able to play the character of ‘Ko Jit’ so naturally!

K: Actually, the first series of my career was Glittering Moments 《Catwalk俏佳人》, which was my first collaboration with you – I guess you could say I also gave you my ‘first time’ [filming series]! Right after that, we collaborated on the DIF trilogy – throughout most of the first installment, I was kind of dull and didn’t really know what I was doing. The second installment was actually filmed because the audiences requested it – after they watched the ending [to the first installment], a lot of audiences were upset and wrote letters to K-100 [TN: TVB’s former entertainment news program] complaining about it. For the second installment, the producer Poon Ka Tak (潘嘉德) specially designed the ending scene at the airport where, after I lose my memory, I decide to leave and then turn around and look at ‘Dai Yung’ one last time….after that last scene, a lot of audiences were very heartbroken!

M: The producer was very smart, as designing the ending that way meant that there would definitely be a third installment! But I remember that when we filmed the first few segments of the 3rd installment in Beijing, it was pretty miserable for you ….you had a bad case of diarrhea, plus the weather was also freezing – since you played 2 different characters, almost every scene required you to be in it. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t help you!

K: The only thing that would have helped at that time was anti-diarrhea medication! I remember one morning right before we were scheduled to film an exterior scene, I had a sudden bout of diarrhea and was in the bathroom for a long time. You even knocked on the door and asked if I was ill…but, I survived it.

M: The hardship was worth it -- even now, more than a decade later, whenever I go to Mainland China to perform or film series, a lot of audiences still remember the classic pairing of ‘Dai Yung’ and ‘Ko Jit’!


Rare for a classic couple to be so compatible

K: The two of us can definitely be considered a ‘classic couple’ – you are my ‘classic’ partner! Our ‘compatibility’ wasn’t just in terms of physical appearance – to be honest, there are many physically attractive people in the industry, but to find someone who matches so well on all levels, it’s definitely rare! Our pairing was very well-received. In the beginning, I had 2 different feelings toward you – one feeling was that you were a big brother who very patiently taught me a lot of things and the other was that you were truly a big star!

M: A big star? For real? I actually felt that I was a bit dull back then!

K: Dull? How so? At that time, you were already in the industry for awhile and had lots of experience. Out of all the male actors I’ve collaborated with, you’re the one that left the deepest impression on me. I pretty much ‘grew up’ with you!

M: I had gone through the ‘blank page’ phase as well, but I have to say, Kenix, that you’re very smart and also a quick learner – you also have strong perseverance and a personality that doesn’t accept failure easily. I remember you cried in front of me before – knowing that you don’t cry easily, for you to do that, it proves that you trust me!

K: Yes! I’m actually quite stubborn too! I remember I had cried that time because I was wrongfully accused of being late – I’m the type of person who will admit if I’m wrong. After that time, our relationship took a huge step forward.

M: A lot of people ask whether we had ‘sparks’ in real life, since we spent so much time together back then.

K: Logically, we should have! Hahaha! I still remember that both of us had rumors, which wasn’t surprising since we were playing a couple onscreen, plus neither of us were married yet back then. But in the end, no ‘sparks’. For me, it was primarily because I was too focused on work at the time and most of my time was spent studying the script – I barely even had time to redo my makeup, so of course I didn’t notice the handsome guy standing next to me! Lost opportunity! I’d venture to guess that you did have fanciful thoughts about me though, right?


Went out to watch a movie, no further advancement

M: You were so young and beautiful back then, I don’t dare say I didn’t have thoughts! Perhaps because both of us were so busy, neither of us took that one step forward – it could very well have just taken that one step!

K: Yes, it just lacked that little bit….but, I recollect that the two of us did go out and watch a movie together! Back when we were filming Glittering Moments, I remember we had gone out to watch Jurassic Park together. That time, I was the one who invited you….I’m curious why you agreed to go?

M: Well, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to me, so I went! Watching a movie together doesn’t mean anything – after the movie, we said ‘bye’ and that was it, nothing further happened! But I do remember that back when we were filming a kitchen scene for the series Shine on You《青出於藍》, I had asked you what would’ve happened if I actually did ‘pursue’ you back during the DIF days.

K: I remember too….actually, back when we were filming DIF, you had asked me the same question, but at the time, I was already dating Frankie [Lam] and our relationship wasn’t publicly known yet. I also remember you asking me if Frankie hadn’t already appeared in my life, whether you would’ve had a chance?

M: And what was your response at the time?

K: I said: ‘I don’t know?’ But in the end, you didn’t make an attempt to pursue me, so it proves that you didn’t fight for it! You understand my personality though – we have the same strong temperament, so being together would be like Mars crashing into Earth! If we truly had been together, I believe it would not have been a happy ending!

M: For us to have such a harmonious relationship now, it proves that my decision back then [not to pursue you] was right – otherwise, we probably wouldn’t be talking to each other anymore! Now when we see each other again, we are able to think back fondly of the past and have beautiful memories of those times when we endured long filming days together and also when we accepted an award (best onscreen couple) together!


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Chinese version:

陶大宇郭可盈 舊相好爆當年情


一對經歷十七年的螢幕情侶陶大宇和郭可盈，憑95－97年間三輯多達100集的《刑事偵緝檔案》合作而結緣。「高婕」可盈早前在洪天明婚宴遇上「大勇」大宇，他們興奮合照上載微博，瞬間引爆粉絲對這Pair經典情侶之懷念，這對「舊相好」日前敍舊，竟然驚爆當年大家只差一步便能發展感情，可盈還笑指大宇不夠積極。


婚宴遇上合照瘋傳


陶：陶大宇　郭：郭可盈


陶：隔咁多年見你仍然好靚，眼前更多咗一份成熟美！我哋喺天明婚宴上再碰上，好意外!

郭：你都無變，一樣係開懷大笑！其實上次合照上載到微博都係徇眾要求，再加粉絲評論，簡直係瘋傳！當年我拍《刑》劇系列仍係一個新人，好似一舊雲，呢個劇亦係我事業轉捩點！　

陶：一張白紙先可吸收得最多！「高婕」個角色先可以如此自然演繹！

郭：其實我入行第一部劇《Catwalk俏佳人》都係同你合作，我處女作亦係畀咗你呢！緊接開咗三輯《刑》，第一輯我戇居居，第二輯就係徇眾要求開拍，因為當時好多觀眾睇完結局唔開心，要寫信去K-100投訴，當時監製潘嘉德特別設計結局，寫我失憶要離開，喺機場轉頭望住「大勇」…………之後完場，好多觀眾都好心痛！

陶：監製好聰明，如此設計就可以開第三輯！不過，第三輯我哋去北京外景，記得你好慘…………肚屙！天氣凍至零下十多廿度，你又要做兩個角色，場場都有你，我又愛莫能助！

郭：幫到我嘅只有「止屙藥」！我記得有一朝早要出外景，但我肚屙，你仲叩門問我係咪唔舒服……不過，都捱過咗。

陶：辛苦都值得，十幾年後，依家返內地工作演出，好多觀眾仲記得「大勇」、「高婕」這對經典組合！


經典情侶難得咁夾

郭：我倆絕對係經典情侶，你係我經典拍檔！我哋嗰種「夾」，唔係指人靚，其實靚人呢個圈好多，但要相襯就唔多，我同你嘅配對真係好「受」！最初我面對你嘅感覺，有兩種Feel，一種係大哥哥，好有耐性教我，另一種係大明星！

陶：大明星？你講真？我覺得自己當年仲戇居居！

郭：點戇居？你入行已一段時間，你係我拍過嘅男演員最深刻嘅一個，簡直陪我成長！

陶：我都經歷過「白紙」年代，不過可盈你好聰明，吸收快、戰鬥力強，又有一種不忿氣性格！你試過喺我面前喊，我知你非易喊嘅人，你有呢個表現，證明你對我信任！

郭：係呀！我好硬頸！我記得當年為咗被屈遲到嘅事，其實有錯我一定認，嗰次後我倆感情邁進一大步。

陶：有好多人問，我倆日對夜對點會唔「撻着」？

郭：照正來說，應該會！哈哈……我仲記得我倆都有緋聞，既然演得情侶，嗰時我倆未婚，但始終都冇「撻着」，我諗因為我當時太專注工作，忙讀劇本，連補妝都無時間，所以無留意身邊呢位俊男而錯過了！但我估你應該對我有遐想啩？


約完睇戲再冇下文

陶：當日你「卜卜脆」，點敢話無遐想！可能大家都忙，無行前多一步，可能就係欠呢一步！

郭：就係欠呢一點點啦……不過，我有記憶我倆曾經相約睇戲！我記得拍《Catwalk》時，睇《侏羅紀公園》！嗰次係我約你……點解你會應約？

陶：冇咩特別就應約啦！睇戲都唔代表咩，睇完戲就Bye　Bye，冇下文！不過記得拍《青出於藍》時，一場廚房戲我曾經問你，如果我當初（指拍《刑》）「溝」你估會點呢？

郭：我都記得……拍《刑》時你都問過我呢條問題，但我當時同文龍拍拖尚未公開，我記得你仲問我，如果唔係文龍已出現，唔知你會唔會有機會？

陶：你當時點答？

郭：我話：「唔知呢？」但最後你都冇追我，證明你冇爭取！不過，你知我性格係點，跟你一樣都係「凸」，一齊就如火星撞地球，如果真係一齊，我相信會唔開心收場！

陶：我倆能夠有今日嘅和諧關係，證明當初我決定係冇錯，唔係依家可能反面！依家大家再見面，可以緬懷當時一齊捱、一齊攞獎（情侶組合）嘅美好回憶！

My Thoughts on Detective Investigation Files I, II, III (刑事偵緝檔案)

I just finished re-watching one of my favorite series of all time: “Detective Investigation Files" (DIF). There are actually a total of 4 installments to this series, however since the 4th installment is a completely different cast and is not related to the first 3 at all (except for the ‘cop series / investigative cases’ theme), I will write about the 4th installment separately at a later date.

When it comes to series and sequels, the general sentiment is usually that the sequels don’t live up to the original and that the original work will always be the best one. Well, with the DIF installments, my personal opinion is that the sequels were actually better than the original, both in terms of cast (guest stars for each case), storyline (more cases to solve, more characters so more depth to storyline) and overall suspense. Out of the 3 installments, my favorite one is actually the 3rd one – which was actually the last one with the same cast as the original (Michael Tao, Joey Leung, Kenix Kwok)….I’ll talk more about why this one is my favorite later on in this review.

The 1st and 2nd installments were spaced pretty close together (1st was in 1995 and 2nd was made at the end of 1995 through 1996) – I actually read that when the first installment aired, it was so popular that TVB decided to do a sequel before the series even finished airing, so that’s why those 2 were spaced so close together (unlike a lot of other series and their sequels where they are usually spaced at least a year or more apart). The 3rd installment was made in 1997 and even though the main leads were the same (Michael, Joey, and Kenix), the remaining cast was completely changed – even the supporting cast. But I’m actually fine with this though because I really like the supporting cast in the 3rd installment anyway (not that I didn’t like the cast in the 1st two installments, but the cast was pretty much ‘beefed up’ in the 3rd one and it made the storyline way more interesting). Plus I guess you could say that the cast wasn’t completely changed because some of the characters from the first 2 installments (i.e.: Maggie Chan as Kenix’s older sister, Yvonne Lam as Madam Lui, Lau Dan as Michael’s dad, etc.) did have cameos in the 3rd installment (though their screen time was very limited)….also, the storyline in the 3rd installment flowed / continued from the 2nd installment very well.

One of the biggest defining factors of the DIF franchise that sets it apart from other run of the mill cop dramas is the use of individual cases to build the plot / storyline as well as the various relationships of the characters. In this review, I’m not really going to talk about the cases in detail, since there were way too many of them – but I have to say that all the cases were done really well. I remember the first time I watched all 3 installments (years ago – I’ve since re-watched all 3 installments at least 5 times if not more), I was praising the writers for the cleverness of the cases and how I would never have been able to come up with so much material to make all the cases so different from one installment to the other. Not only that, but the cases were more suspenseful from one installment to the next – I liked how the cases in the 3rd installment really intertwined with each other so that when one case ended, it wasn’t truly ended because there was one or two things that happened that becomes the impetus for a future case (or affects one of the future cases). This is one of the reasons why I love the 3rd installment so much.

So let’s talk briefly about the original DIF – even though the series was very well made in and of itself, I felt there was a certain amount of predictability in that installment in terms of the relationships – for instance, that Kenix would end up with Michael (even though she was dating Kenneth Chan throughout most of the 1st installment) and that Joey would end up with Louisa. Honestly speaking, neither pair was particularly endearing to me in the 1st installment – I mean, I like Michael and Kenix together because I think they match quite well, but they really aren’t a couple until the end of the 1st installment and throughout most of the 2nd installment. Same with Joey and Louisa – they don’t get together until the end of the 1st installment and when the 2nd installment starts (where the first one left off, pretty much), Joey and Louisa were already married. Pretty much to summarize – in the first installment, I primarily liked the cases because the storyline surrounding the relationships was sort of cheesy (though Michael and Louisa’s relationship in the beginning was absolutely hilarious for me).

Ok, so onto the 2nd installment…the cast was exactly the same (even the supporting artists and the cop A, cop B people), except for the addition of Amy Kwok (definitely the other female lead besides Kenix and Louisa) as well as recurring supporting characters such as Lee Kwok Lun, Maggie Chan, etc. Of course, when Louisa’s character dies about ¾ of the way through the series and Amy’s character leaves, Sammi Cheng is added as the other lead (I guess they had to find someone in addition to Kenix to balance things out – plus they probably wanted to add a love interest for Joey after his wife dies).

Just a quick mention that the cases in this installment were actually quite interesting and the guest stars for each case did AWESOME jobs (again, not going to go into details, but some of the ‘guest stars’ included: KK Cheung, Eddie Cheung, Astrid Chan, Hoyan Mok, Gordan Lam, Rebecca Chan, Helena Law, etc. etc. etc.)

Back to the 2nd installment plot / characters….

Even though the primary focus of the series is investigative stuff, of course there’s a need to intersperse relationship storylines throughout in order to ‘beef up’ the plot. I actually think this is a good method and it’s one reason why I like DIF so much as opposed to the other cop series of this generation (i.e. the whole Academy thing). The way that Michael‘s and Kenix’s relationship developed throughout this installment was very well done -- though I sort of felt that putting Amy in there as the ‘3rd wheel’ in their relationship was a bit pointless, especially since it made people hate her character. But I can see where they were going with that too, especially in the end when Michael and Kenix get back together and are about to be married after going through so much turmoil in their relationship, only for tragedy to strike….it definitely made the ending more suspenseful.

In terms of Joey’s and Louisa’s relationship, it was cute, but I honestly didn’t feel that they were that compatible – though I’m sure this wasn’t the case in real life, I really felt that Louisa’s character seemed older than Joey’s in the series and so, to me at least, they didn’t really seem to match. I think this is partly because in both the 1st and 2nd installments, the writers made Joey’s character sort of ‘boyish’. But at least Joey’s and Louisa’s characters truly did love each other and the writers did do a good job developing their relationship, since it didn’t come out all weird or stupid. It’s not that I didn’t like their pairing, I just didn’t feel much chemistry between them.

(I obviously have a lot more to say about DIF 1 and 2, but since I know this review is going to be long already, I wanted to spend more time on DIF 3).

Ok, let’s talk about the 3rd installment – my absolute favorite DIF installment!!

First of all, I must say that it was already obvious from the ending of the 2nd installment that a 3rd one was going to be made because they left it so open. So once the 2nd installment ended, there were a lot of unanswered questions: now that Kenix’s character lost her memory and doesn’t remember Michael or anything that happened up to that point, what is that going to mean in terms of their relationship? Is it over for good? How about Joey? Are they going to continue the Sammi storyline or find another love interest for him? Oh, and how would the cases be like?

There was definitely a lot of anticipation for the 3rd installment (for me at least) and that could be why I enjoyed it so much.

One of the (many) things I liked about the 3rd installment is that they developed Joey’s character a lot and made him more mature – he’s no longer the ‘boyish’ sidekick and when this particular installment starts, he’s actually the ‘head’ of his own team at a separate police station from the one that Michael is at. Yes, of course the two end up joining forces again after the first few episodes, but the way the writers handle it this time makes them more like equals (Michael is still Joey’s ‘boss’ technically, but their collaboration is more like brothers in this installment). So I guess you could say that in this installment, Joey becomes the ‘big brother’ and Michael becomes the ‘big big brother’ (LOL!!).


With regard to the relationships in the 3rd installment – ok, I have to admit that Joey definitely stole the show, at least for me (I’ll talk more about this later). I sort of got annoyed with the Michael / Kenix relationship in this installment and even when they added Monica Chan in as a potential love interest for Michael (they don’t get together until later in the series, though their relationship doesn’t last), I still sort of found the storyline about their relationship a bit boring. I don’t know how to describe it – maybe because I had already watched 2 installments with Michael’s and Kenix’s on again / off again relationship and the 3rd installment was more of the same in that regard, so I really didn’t care too much about them anymore.

Also, it doesn’t help that Kenix’s character was super-annoying in the 3rd installment – it’s as though after she lost her memory, she becomes ultra-stubborn. I hated how throughout the entire installment, she was so obsessed with trying to ‘remember’ everything that happened in the past and would get pissed off at Michael for not telling her about things that had happened before she lost her memory (I side with Michael on this one – he doesn’t want to tell her because he doesn’t see the point of digging up old wounds, especially since they have a happy life now) – this of course erodes their relationship (since the 2 of them have strong personalities in this series) and ultimately results in them separating (again). To be honest, I blame Kenix’s character for what happens between her and Michael and have absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever.

Moving on to the relationship storyline involving Joey….

Joey is paired with Winnie Yeung (Miss HK) for most of the 3rd installment and it’s not until the very end that he and Margaret are truly together (though inklings of their relationship develop throughout the series). I have to say that I really like Joey and Margaret’s relationship in this series because it’s different, refreshing, and kind of sweet – plus the 2 of them have awesome chemistry in this series (I guess it does help that Joey and Margaret were a couple in real life during that time).

Their relationship starts off as ‘brother/sister’ (they are not related by blood technically, but they are from the same village and everyone from that village has the same last name because their ancestors were probably related at some point, so they regard each other as siblings) – plus it makes sense because Joey’s character is obviously older than Margaret’s (she refers to him as ‘apprentice brother’ and he calls her ‘lang mui’ which is Cantonese slang for ‘little sister’). Eventually, they find out that Margaret is really the daughter of a rich businessman (played by Law Lok Lam) and her mother moved to that village after she was born, so technically, she is not a ‘member’ of that village at all (which is important because it means that Joey and Margaret are not even remotely related and so are definitely not brother/sister). Margaret’s character has had a crush on Joey’s character since childhood – by the time Joey finds out about this and realizes that he’s had feelings for Margaret all along, it’s “too late” because he is already in a steady relationship with Winnie. Neither of them (Margaret especially) want to hurt Winnie, so they suppress their feelings for each other – which is painful because they have to see each other every day (not only do they live next door to each other, they also work together, since Joey leads the team at the police station that Margaret is a part of).

For me, what makes Joey and Margaret’s relationship so appealing is the “bittersweetness” of it. They’re so compatible in many ways (in the series, that is) and it just seems natural that they should be together, yet you’ve got all these factors preventing it from happening. I could definitely feel their pain (the way they would look at each other was heart-wrenching). Both Joey and Margaret definitely put in great performances (the emotions and chemistry were awesome – plain and simple) in the 3rd installment and the storyline involving them is absolutely one of my favorites!

As I said earlier, Joey definitely stole the show and his performance in the DIF franchise is certainly deserving of the recognition and ‘popularity’ he gained as a result – BUT too bad he didn’t treasure it. That was a stupid move that he made cheating on Margaret like that (I’m talking in real life now) and even though he was ‘man’ enough to ‘face the music’ and ‘take a beating’ for it, his career as well as his love life (not to mention his image) went down the toilet (and rightfully so, in my opinion!!). Ironically, despite how much I loved their pairing in DIF 3 (because of who their characters were), I actually didn’t feel that the 2 of them were compatible as a couple in real life (don’t ask me why – that’s just the way I feel).

Of course, I have to mention how much I loved the cases in the 3rd installment (though I talked about that already), but I also applaud the supporting cast as well as the 'guest stars' in this installment, as they all put in excellent performances. Well, not surprised with the supporting cast because almost all of them are veteran artists (i.e.: Liu Kai Chi, Law Koon Lan, Kam Hing Yin, etc.). Oh, and since I mentioned some of the 'guest stars' in the 2nd installment, might as well mention a few from the 3rd installment as well (Melissa Ng, Patrick Tam, Ellesmere Choi, Gabriel Harrison -- who, btw, did an excellent job as Michael's younger brother, Joe Ma, Angela Tong, etc. etc.)

Concluding comments….

I think I’ve made it quite obvious already how much I love the DIF franchise. If you haven’t seen any of the DIF installments yet, you’re definitely missing out! My personal opinion: if you want to watch good, quality cop dramas that are suspenseful and will keep you ‘chasing’ each episode, forget ‘The Academy’ franchise (I found all 3 installments of THAT franchise extremely boring) – watch DIF instead!!!

My review only scratches the surface and doesn’t come close to doing justice to the entire DIF franchise. You need to watch all 3 installments (well, technically all 4 installments) for yourself to truly understand why I enjoy this franchise so much!

My Thoughts on “Born Rich 富貴門"

This was my most anticipated series of 2009, as I absolutely love the cast (both lead and supporting) and hadn't seen most of the leads (Ray, Jamie, Kenix, Gallen, Anita) as well as supporting artists (Benz, Ming Sir, etc.) in series in a long time, so was looking forward to their 'comeback' performances.....despite the lack of promotion from TVB's side (because as well all know, all of the promotion went to BTROC instead), I still was hopeful that it would be good. Even after the series aired in HK last year and there were tons of negative feedback on it, I was still a little optimistic and wanted to at least watch it for myself to see if it truly sucked as much as people said it did.

After finally watching this series, all I can say is: boy, was I hugely disappointed!!!

The script for the series absolutely sucked!!! Most of the storyline made no sense and was very hard to follow. I had actually missed quite a few episodes here and there, but didn't bother re-watching because I felt as though nothing of significance occurred in those episodes to warrant my going back and 'catching up'. Also, alot of the parts dragged out way too much (like the whole love triangle thing between Ray, Jamie, and Kenix), and ended up being boring.

For me, I felt like TVB just took a bunch of talented artists and threw them all together in a series for the heck of it, with no decent storyline or plot to carry the series -- sort of like one of those Taiwanese Idol dramas but except all the 'idols' are middle-aged or older and can truly act. And I realize now what made the storyline so hard to follow was that there were too many sub-storylines going on at the same time, some of which weren't really related to each other (kind of like a 'hodge-podge' of storylines mixed together). I mean, was it really necessary to have all those complicated relationships in there? If you really take apart each character, all of them had more than 1 relationship, whether it was a family relationship or a romantic one, however most of the relationships were under-developed (probably because there wasn't enough time or room in the script to develop them with so much stuff in there).

For example:

Gallen -- family relationship with Kenneth (his real brother), Ray (his 'fake' brother), Anita (his 'fake' sister), Nancy (his 'fake' step-mother); and romantic relationship with Anita (who is not truly his sister, but only he knows that and of course she doesn't, which tortures her throughout the series) as well as Sharon (who is pretty much a 'stand-in' for Anita, since he doesn't love her at all).

Ray -- family relationship with Gallen (his 'fake' brother), Anita (real sister), Nancy (mother), his kids; and romantic relationship with Jamie (his wife) and Kenix (extra-marital affair that turns into actual relationship after he and Jamie end up divorcing).

Anita -- family relationship with Ray, Nancy, Jamie, Gallen and romantic relationship with Gallen (whom she truly loves but can't be with) and Joe (whom I still can't tell whether she truly loves or not).

And THAT'S just scratching the surface! All the other characters have very similar complicated relationships....

Bottom line is that the writers and producer tried TOO HARD to cram as much material as they could into the series and it ended up backfiring on them, since it made the series way too confusing and difficult to follow (I got confused just trying to list out the above 3 relationships for this post!!!)

Watching this series made me get really pissed off at TVB for wasting such a great cast -- I mean, both the main leads as well as the supporting cast (with the exception of a few people) are awesome actors / actresses in their own right and have many great performances / series to their credit. Plus, like I said earlier, I really loved the cast because I grew up watching most of their series and know how much potential these artists have -- so it made it extremely painful for me to watch them put 100% effort in such a poorly written drama (it was so poorly written / put together that even the awesome acting of the artists couldn't save it!!)

I don't think I've ever watched a series with such a true waste of talent! I mean, many of the characters had like NO PURPOSE and were JUST THERE for the sake of being there! For example, Paul Chun (his character would show up every once in a while, but I had no clue what he was there for), Benz Hui and Angelina Lo (I know that they are Sharon's parents in the series, but other than that, they don't have much other significance), Lee Sing Cheung (all I know is that he works for Ray's family and shows up every once in awhile in a few episodes here and there).....I could name a bunch more, but you get the picture....

As if that weren't enough, most of the lead characters were very poorly written as well -- there wasn't much depth to the characters for one, and two, there was nothing about the characters that made them memorable to the audiences....pretty much anyone could have played those characters and it would have probably still come out the same way because the script was so poor (so again, why did they waste those talents???).

Here's my take on a few of the main characters:

Ray's character (Cheuk Yat Yuen / Marcus) -- if ever there were a poorly written character, this one is definitely it! I mean, the poor guy is all over the place -- first he is insistent on finding his long lost brother and getting Nancy to accept him, then when she does, he sort of resents it because Gallen starts to threaten his position in the company (and this is even before he finds out that Gallen is a fake). And he supposedly has the 'perfect' family with a loving wife and smart kids, but then he has an affair with Kenix (whom he supposedly dated prior to being married) and ends up destroying his perfect family and losing his powerful position in the company just so he could be with her. And what about his constant power struggle with Joe? I didn't understand that piece at all because I thought he considered Joe his 'right hand man' -- but then why does he resent the fact that his sister is dating him and tries to ruin their engagement party? It's almost like Ray's character is pulled in a hundred different directions and ends up going nowhere....

Gallen's character (Cheuk Yat Ming / Sa Fu Loi) -- his character in this series really confused me....it seemed to me as though his character is supposed to be both tragic and comedic in a way, but mixed together very poorly. There were several scenes were I saw elements of his comedic "Old Time Buddy" character, but then the rest of the time, he is mostly scheming for money and power. And the whole triangular relationship thing with Sharon and Anita as well as his hatred / jealousy of Joe was sort of ridiculous. But I do have to hand it to Gallen because despite his badly written character, he pulled off the acting piece without a problem -- with his facial expressions and gestures, etc., and the way he is able to show his character's 'evilness masked in goodness' -- very natural and convincing.

Kenix’s character (Tung Ling Chi / Angie) – Kenix is one of my favorite actresses, but her character in this series totally sucked -- her acting was a bit forced at certain points too (though I don't know if it was because the character was so poorly written or she was dealing with issues in her personal life that may have affected her acting). I really felt that the part where her character tries to ‘seduce’ Ray by pretending to be heartbroken over breaking up with her boyfriend, then talking her way into moving in with the Cheuk family was extremely cheesy (not to mention that it didn’t make any sense whatsoever). And I hated her physical appearance -- I've always thought of Kenix as pretty, but she looked really scary in this series...way too skinny to the point of being skeletal and the makeup didn't help any either.

Anita’s character (Cheuk Yat Sum / Rene) – to be honest, Anita’s character in this series was very bland – nothing special, nothing interesting, nothing memorable. I was actually a bit disappointed with Anita’s performance in this series because to be honest, I really expected more from her – after all, she IS the film industry’s Best Actress winner (multiple times)….though I do attribute a lot of it to the poorly written character, I still think that she could have put a little more effort. I do like Anita as a person (and as a movie actress), however I just feel that she made the wrong move by going back to television – she was way better off in the film industry, where she excelled.

Jamie’s character (Hor Tseuk Nin / Connie) – amazingly, my feelings are neutral towards Jamie’s character, but I think that’s because I really did not pay a whole lot of attention to her character, since it was another one of those typical ‘strong woman’ roles. Or it could be that I got so confused with all the rest of the intermixing storylines that I did not have the energy anymore to pick apart her character or performance. All I really remember is that – like Anita’s character – Jamie’s character was not that memorable either.

Though there are probably a lot more things to say about this series, I don’t feel it is necessary to go more into it, since the rest of my feedback is pretty much the same as what I expressed above.

Overall, this was a very disappointing series that I probably would not watch again, no matter how much I like the cast – it was enough torture sitting through this series the first time…I definitely don’t need to go through it a second time!

Review of "Remembrance 黃埔傾情"

Though this series was released in 1994, I had actually never heard of it previously and only discovered the series a few years ago when it came out on DVD. I was attracted to the series because of the cast (Julian Cheung, Kenix Kwok, David Siu, Betsy Cheung, etc.) and the setting, and after reading the summary of the plot, it sounded very interesting. So I bought the series, watched it, and it has become one of my favorites ever since -- in fact, just like with my other favorites, I've seen this series multiple times already (for me, favorites = repeated viewing) -- I think my last count was like 5 times, but I honestly lost track already.

What do I like about this series? Too much to list -- but I will attempt to highlight a few of the things that really stood out for me:

> The time period / setting -- the series is set in the 1930s/1940s Shanghai, which is a very popular era historically because of everything that went on during that time leading up to World War II. Most of my favorite pre-modern series (whether Hong Kong or Taiwan series) have been set in this era, so obviously that was one element that attracted me from the start. I guess part of it too is the 'East meets West' thing and how the 2 cultures must assimilate and co-exist, which I find interesting. True, alot of series like to use this time period because there are plenty of ideas and storylines that could be easily developed from the rich history of that era, however not all series are able to do it well -- this particular series is one of those rare gems that is able to utilize the time period in the best way possible, yet not let it overwhelm the storyline.


> Julian / Kenix pairing -- I LOVE THIS PAIRING!!! These 2 look so good together and the chemistry they had on screen was absolutely AWESOME. I fell in love with this couple right from the start and was rooting for them throughout the entire series.

The main reason why I enjoyed the pairing so much was because of the emotional factor -- the storyline involving the relationship between Julian's and Kenix's characters was quite complex and covered a whole range of emotions. Simply put, the relationship basically goes from admiration to love, then to hate, and back to love again -- but what makes the relationship stand out is all the 'other stuff' that is thrown in such as: regret, sacrifice, loyalty, unwavering love, war, conflict, etc. etc. I would say that the best way to describe the relationship that Julian and Kenix have in this series is with one word: 'bittersweet.'

With all the series that I've seen, it's rare for me to get emotionally attached to an on-screen couple, but I certainly did with this one, primarily because of the chemistry -- I could really feel the love that these two had for each other in the series and the pain of their separation, plus everything that they go through and the sacrifices made -- which made their reunion at the end of the series so touching; even though I've seen this series so many times already, to this day, each time I watch the ending to the series, I still get teary-eyed -- which is definitely rare for me, since there are only a handful of series that have affected me emotionally to that extent.


> Storyline / plot -- on the surface, the storyline sounds simple: romance against the backdrop of a country on the verge of war.....but it's actually quite complicated because thrown into the mix is the 4-way love triangle between Julian, Kenix, Jenny Chou, and Hong Chiu Fung; the 'brothers turned enemies' relationship between Julian and David; the irony of Julian's past and his subsequent relationship with Jenny and her family (and how the 2 are interrelated); the conflicts between Julian / David and Jenny's father (the dark triad society); and during the second half of the series, the struggle between patriotic loyalty to the country versus one's own beliefs and values. Basically the series delves a little bit into everything -- action, romance, light comedy (only a few scenes), good versus evil struggle, family relationships, brotherly friendship, triad (jiang hu) society, etc. etc. -- and weaves all these elements intricately into the storyline.

The series handled the complicated plot and sub-plots extremely well (in my opinion at least) and it did not feel cheesy at all. Also, I felt that there wasn’t a single boring scene in this series (which is rare for any series, let alone a TVB one)....it was actually quite face-paced in the second half especially and -- like a good book -- I didn't want to put it down. When I first watched the series several years ago, I finished the entire series in 2 days (definitely a record for a 20-episode series)!


> David / Betsy pairing -- I've always felt that David is a talented actor and he is definitely best suited for these kinds of 'jiang hu' roles, as he plays them extremely well! The smart but selfish and brazen 'tough guy' big brother character he plays is actually a bit complex because he is essentially a 'good guy' in the beginning (though not THAT good compared with Julian's character, who has a good heart, but can be tough when he needs to be), but lets jealousy and envy get to him, which eventually puts him on the path of no return. Betsy plays his love interest who is very loyal and devoted to him from the beginning....what I like about her character though is that she is not the usual 'sacrifice everything for love' type of woman -- she's very intelligent and has this 'righteousness' about her that enables her to handle tough situations in a way that is very mature and logical. David and Betsy are a very well-matched couple as well and I also liked seeing them together -- their chemistry is of a different kind and the way it is handled is very appropriate to the storyline. Unfortunately, neither artist is actively involved in the HK TV industry anymore, which is a bit of a shame, since both are good in terms of acting and can beat out today's younger generation artists in terms of skill and talent any day!


> Julian / Betsy friendship -- Also worth mentioning is Betsy's relationship with Julian in the series. Their relationship is actually a very interesting one -- Julian regards her as his sister-in-law (since David is his 'sworn brother' in that they grew up together and she is David's woman), however she is also his closest confidante. Julian's character really admires her strength and intelligence (especially for a woman in that era) and so whenever he encountered a difficult issue or problem, he would talk it through with her and seek her advice....plus they would always watch out for each other like true friends always do. The one part of the storyline that I thought was stupid (but was able to forgive the scriptwriters because they made it very brief and were actually able to turn it into something different that eventually played into the plot) was when Betsy and David had a major argument because she was very disappointed in his selfish actions and they (the script writers) made it seem like she was going to betray David and be with Julian instead. It doesn't end up happening (thank goodness) because Julian's character is too righteous, for one (meaning he would never steal his brother's girlfriend) and he is so fiercely devoted to Kenix that he can't bring himself to love any other woman besides her (even the woman he eventually marries).


What do I dislike about the series? Not a whole lot, but even with the best of series, there will always be flaws. Below are a few that stood out:

> Length of the series -- at 20 episodes, I personally felt that the series was too short and as a result, some parts -- especially in the 2nd half -- felt very rushed. I think that there was definitely enough material for 25 episodes and the plot could have been handled in a way where more time was given to the development of certain parts -- especially the ending, which seemed a bit rushed and choppy. This is very important, because there were certain segments of the series that didn't make sense (for example, what happened to Betsy after she tried to prevent David from killing Julian and he locked her up in that house? How she managed to escape is a mystery to me because the next scene with her in it jumps to 3 years later and they never explain what happened....). It just seemed to me that the production team was trying to cram everything into 20 episodes and so sacrificed some details of the plot.


> Editing and cut scenes -- this sort of relates back to the first point I made about the length of the series and the 'rush job' with certain parts of it. After watching the series multiple times, I am absolutely certain that some scenes were cut from the series -- it's actually quite funny, but I seem to have a knack for identifying these types of things with series that I've watched multiple times. There is one scene in particular where I could tell a scene was cut because of the dialogue that goes on between 2 of the characters -- in the scene, Kenix's character and Hong Chiu Fung's character bump into each other after a long separation and sit down at an outdoor cafe to reminisce about the past. Without going into too much detail, basically there is one part of their dialogue where Hong is recounting how the 2 of them met and tells Kenix that if she hadn't hidden the government seal that she had discovered when they were both being questioned by some triad groups with ties to the Japanese, he would have been dead (he's a high-ranking government official working for the Chinese military). When he said this, I was scratching my head because I surely did not recall that situation happening in the series at all. The first time watching it, I thought that perhaps I had missed the scene somehow (though highly unlikely) but after the 2nd and 3rd times, I was pretty confident that what he described did not happen -- or at least it wasn't in the series. I even went so far as to 'slow-motion' through the episode where they met just to see if perhaps I missed something and when I did, I found that those particular scenes were sort of choppy and didn't really flow as nicely -- which indicates to me that something was cut.


Overall, this series was great and I highly recommend it. I'm not sure how it did in the ratings back when it aired, but I'm guessing it probably did average because the series doesn't look like a tremendously big-budget production....plus I wouldn't exactly call the cast all-star either. Julian was pretty popular back then, but Kenix was a newbie -- my understanding is that "Remembrance" was only Kenix's 2nd series since joining the acting department after coming out of the Miss HK pageant (which is pretty amazing given her great performance in the series with very little training). And since I was actively following HK entertainment back then, I would have heard about the series if it were truly a grand production. This proves once again that just because a series is not a grand production or doesn't have an all-star cast does not mean that it can't be a quality production -- with the right combination of good script and great acting, it can still become a great, quality series.

Review of "At the Threshold of an Era 創世紀"

I've been meaning to write this review, but just never got around to it. Though technically, this review covers Part 2 primarily (since I just finished watching it not too long ago), there will be many references to Part 1 as well as the series as a whole, since it's necessary to understanding the entire series.

As we all know, ATE was made in 1999/2000 to commemorate the changing of eras (transition to Y2K). It was a huge production back in the days and made history in a sense because 1) it was the first modern day "long" non-sitcom series (total 100+ episodes), which TVB had not done since the 70s (and even then, none of the series were more than 100 eps long), 2) the series boasted an ALL-STAR cast consisting of many of the biggest siu sangs and fadans of that era, plus other big names in the TV and music world (Gallen Lo, Roger Kwok, Sunny Chan, Kenix Kwok, Flora Chan, Maggie Siu, Liza Wang, Paul Chun, Ada Choi, Louis Koo, Joe Ma, Wu Qi Long, plus a supporting cast of well-known veterans).

After having watched part 1 years ago and only watching part 2 recently, I must say that I liked part 2 way better than part 1, even though part 1 has one of my favorite actors Sunny Chan. One reason is because the majority of Part 1 was spent "building up" the characters and the storyline -- and with so many "big stars", of course their would be multiple storylines and sub-storylines involving all the various characters. This is why, in my opinion, part 1 had alot of "draggy" scenes which were not always necessary to further the plot -- which is a shame because I truly feel that the length of this series is what caused it to get low ratings back when it aired on TV (well, not really that low, but lower than expected).....audiences probably lost interest at certain points with the dragginess (especially near the beginning of the series) and also the confusion with all the different storylines. I feel that part 1 only started getting "climactic" after the scene where Sunny Chan's character Hui Man Biu becomes evil -- it's the turning point of the series and many of the scenes following that one focuses on the emotional and physical struggles between the characters, which is where we get to see the true test of each person's acting.

Part 2, on the other hand, was "climactic" throughout (so much so that I found myself 'glued' to the TV set!). I think part of the reason why Part 2 was so much better was because it did not have to do any "buildup" because that was done already in part 1. The entire premise of part 2 was based on everything that happened in Part 1; in terms of plot, it continues where Part 1 left off, but most importantly, it also talks about the aftermath -- the repercussions of the events that happened in part 1 (the death of Sunny and Kenix's characters, Gallen's role in pushing Sunny over the edge, the kidnapping of Maggie and Wu Qi Long's characters, etc. etc.) and how they affected the lives of the characters. If I remember correctly, I believe TVB aired Parts 1 and 2 separately, in different years and the "selling point" so to speak for Part 2 was centered around the question of "How did Hui Man Biu die?" -- therefore, the first few episodes were spent 'unraveling' this mystery. I must say that this tactic was pretty clever because it makes those who watched part 1 want to tune in for part 2 in order to find out the answer and then continue watching as the events unfold.

Well, the revelation that comes out in Part 2 of how Sunny's character Hui Man Biu actually died was a bit of a shocker because up until that point, almost everyone thought that Gallen's character Yip Wing Tim somehow killed him -- or hired a hitman to do the job, since he wasn't actually at the scene. This is very important to note because this is the catalyst for why Louis Koo's character Cheung Zi Lik wants to avenge his brother's death in Part 2 (which drives everything that he does) -- so in a sense, it "sets up" the plot for Part 2, with Louis obviously taking over for Sunny as the "evil" character this time around. The revelation also changes the relationship between Gallen and Roger's characters -- who, along with Sunny, started off as close buddies, but were torn apart at the end of part 1 due to all the things that happened.....so going into Part 2, Roger was mad at Gallen for "killing" Sunny and causing his wife Kenix to die as well, leaving their baby son an orphan. But when it turns out that Roger actually caused Sunny's death and not only was Gallen innocent all along, but he actually tried to protect Roger by letting the whole world believe that he did kill Sunny, the 2 'brothers' end up reconciling. This is definitely one of the climactic points in the series, both from a "plot" as well as an "acting" standpoint: from a "plot" standpoint, it's important because Gallen and Roger's relationship is taken to a whole new level and they spend most of Part 2 working toward a common goal -- realizing the architectural "dream" that Sunny had prior to his death and doing everything they can to make it come true, in honor of their friend. From an acting standpoint, Gallen and Roger were absolutely brilliant with how they played out these scenes -- the emotional aspect was way up there and you could really feel Roger's guilt and anguish as well as Gallen's emotional struggle between protecting his friend and dealing with the entire world misunderstanding him.

One of the things that really impressed me about this series is the AWESOME acting by all the main players, especially Sunny, Gallen, Roger, Kenix, and Louis. The series really shows the acting prowess of these artists extremely well, as there are alot of emotional scenes and at certain points in the series, the same character ends up at 2 opposite extremes ("good" and "evil") -- it takes alot of skill to be able to pull off the superb acting that these artists did!

I'm just going to focus on 3 of the characters here, as there were way too many to do an in-depth review of each.

-- Gallen Lo (Yip Wing Tim): I must say that I was extremely impressed with Gallen's acting in this series. His character in Part 1 undergoes a major transformation in Part 2 and he played the part extremely well. In part 1, his character is essentially good, but is very ambitious and oftentimes would take extreme measures in order to achieve his goals -- including doing things that are borderline criminal. His character in Part 1 is very selfish and has no regard for anyone else when it comes to meeting his goals -- even if it means sacrificing his family, friends, girlfriend, and anyone else who cares about him. In fact, it can be said that he pretty much single-handedly "pushed" Sunny over the edge and set him on the course of 'evilness'. Of course, Gallen pays the price at the end of Part 1, especially after he witnesses the death of Kenix's character Shum Wing Yan and realizes the role he played (albeit indirectly). In part 2, except for the first few episodes where he is obsessed with avenging Sunny and Kenix's deaths, Gallen does a 180 degree turn -- he realizes everything that he had lost and how many people he had hurt with his actions and truly turns his life around. He goes from being the "selfish jerk" who would always act irrationally and oftentimes aggressively, to the humble, rational, righteous man who puts his family first above all things, is considerate about his friends' feelings, and even when people wrong him, he does not try to seek revenge like he would in the past.

His character goes through 2 opposite extremes, however Gallen's precise acting skills allow him to pull it off almost flawlessly -- he makes the character come across very realistic (you actually feel for him), yet not in a "cheesy" type of way. I actually went from "hating" his character in Part 1 to "loving" him in Part 2. As I've been saying ever since I finished watching part 2 -- Gallen should have received the TV King award for his acting in this series, as there was so much depth to the character and the acting was brilliant! (Well, I guess I should be happy, since he has 3 TV King awards already and still holds the record for getting the award the most times).

-- Sunny Chan (Hui Man Biu): Since I talked alot about Sunny in the earlier part of this review, I won't go as much in depth here....I do have to say though that Sunny is also a very skilled actor and is able to pull off every single role that is given to him with near perfection. His acting in this series was excellent -- especially with his transformation from "good" to "evil". Prior to watching this series, I was actually anticipating Sunny's role, as this would be the first time he portrayed an "evil" character -- and especially since all of the previous characters he portrayed were so righteous and good. Just as I was impressed with Gallen back in the early 90s when he started playing evil roles (and played them well!), I was also impressed with Sunny. Since he came out of the Acting Academy, his skills are of course very precise, especially his facial expressions in certain scenes -- which makes the characters that he plays so convincing and easy to relate to.

Even though the premise of Part 2 was based on Sunny's character, unfortunately, he was not in part 2 because he left TVB in 2000 and went to ATV (the reason why they "killed" his character off in Part 1) -- Louis Koo ends up taking on the "evil" role in Part 2, where his only goal in life is to avenge his brother's (Sunny) death. So imagine my surprise when, during one of the scenes near the end of the series, Sunny appears as his character Hui Man Biu from Part 1.....sure, the scene is technically a "dream sequence", but it was definitely not a flashback -- without revealing too much detail, he basically "appears" in that particular scene to tell his younger brother to "let go" of his anger and desire for revenge and to repent. I'm pretty sure the scene was probably filmed prior to Sunny leaving TVB, but it was still a pleasant surprise for me to see him at the end of Part 2 -- again, it was very clever of the script writer to put that scene in because it essentially "closes the loop" on the part of the storyline dealing with the Gallen/Roger/Sunny/Louis conflict.

-- Kenix Kwok (Shum Wing Yan / Kao Mei Na): Kenix actually plays 2 roles in this series. In Part 1, she plays Shum Wing Yan: quiet, reserved, innocent, compassionate, nice to everyone -- the epitome of the "ideal wife and mother" -- who has a secret crush on Gallen (and they do have a brief relationship), but ends up falling in love with and marrying Sunny. Her character in Part 1 is actually quite tragic -- she grows up in an orphanage and the only "relative" she has is Roger's family; as far as relationships, she has to go through alot of pain and suffering emotionally, first with Gallen, then with Sunny. In the end, she becomes the 'sacrificial lamb' in the whole Gallen/Roger/Sunny conflict -- going to jail for something she didn't do and then ultimately, death. In Part 2, the character she plays -- Kao Mei Na -- is completely opposite: loud and vocal, a little tomboyish, a little wild, willing to take advantage of a situation if given the chance -- and more importantly she grew up with a father who is part of HK's triad gangs (hence her background is a bit complicated and messy). Her role also has a bit of a "comedic" element to it because of her "bubbly" personality (plus her relationship with her father is funny at times as well) -- a stark comparison to the "tragic" element of Shum Wing Yan. It turns out that these 2 characters with completely opposite personalities are actually long lost sisters. No surprise that Kenix's character in Part 2 ends up with Gallen.

I have to say that I liked Kenix's pairing with both Sunny (in part 1) and Gallen (in part 2).....she had alot of chemistry with both actors and both pairings were so endearing that I can't decide which I like more (though I'm leaning more toward the Gallen/Kenix pairing....lol!). The other reason why I liked the 2 pairings is because the relationships (Gallen/Kenix and Sunny/Kenix) were actually pretty well depicted in the series -- there was substance to it and there were alot of emotional ups and downs as well as life and death decisions that both pairs went through, which, to me, makes the relationships more real.

Kenix definitely has talent as an actress, as she was able to take on both roles and make them so different in a way that was comfortable for the audience (me). I've seen most of Kenix's series and have liked all of them!

Overall, I really enjoyed this series -- part 2 especially! The series is extremely long and probably not everyone would be willing to sit through it, but with the awesome acting and the strong storyline for the latter half of the series, I feel it is well worth the time. I highly recommend it!

“Reaching Out (美麗人生)"

** Warning: This post contains spoilers – read at your own risk. **

Just finished watching an old TVB series from 2001 called "Reaching Out". It's actually airing on TV right now on the weekends, but because it's a pretty good series and I went ahead and watched the rest of it on my own.

There are many things to like about this series, one of them being the cast, which is quite well-balanced between newbies and veterans. The main/supporting leads in this series are Gordon Lam, Kenix Kwok, Benny Chan, Nicola Cheung, Michelle Ye, Ha Yu, Michelle Yim, and Sammul Chan -- plus a pretty solid cast of 'green leaf' veterans such as Gordon Lau, Wu Fung, Luo Lan, etc. The story primarily revolves around childhood friends Gordon, Benny, and Nicola, who grew up in an orphanage together and have a close-knit brother/sister relationship. It's interesting how different each of their personalities are, despite growing up together -- the chemistry of the 3 together in this series was also very well done:

> Gordon plays the quintessential 'big brother' Fook Sung who always has an optimistic and positive outlook on life no matter what happens to him (and alot does happen)...even when people wrong him, he always forgives them and always tries to put a positive spin on a negative situation -- his life philosophy is to "be the match that illuminates other people's lives". I actually liked the way Gordon portrayed the character because he was able to bring forth the essence of the character without going overboard and making it look cheesy. And I think that whoever cast him in that role knew that he would be a perfect fit because I've always felt that Gordon is good at portraying 'positive' characters that have a certain ‘boy-next-door’ 'naiveness' and 'aloofness' about them -- in fact, I sort of saw his character in this series as a modern day equivalent to the character he played in the ancient series "Crimson Sabre" (Yuen Sing Chi). The personality and character attributes are very similar.

> Benny plays 'second' brother Yee Sook who is pretty much a lazy bum with a big ego who likes chasing after pretty girls. I was a bit annoyed by his character at first, especially with how he constantly tries to take advantage of Gordon’s kindness and also his attitude toward his father, Ha Yu. But later on in the series, he redeems himself (after some things happen of course), gets a job, quits the ‘chasing pretty girls’ bit, and becomes more likable. He also brings a bit of ‘comic relief’ to the series, especially in his scenes with Ha Yu as well as Gordon.

> Nicola plays ‘little sister’ Ting Ting who has a secret crush on Gordon’s character but ends up becoming a couple with Benny’s character. She is a feisty reporter who is also very hard-working. She has a bit of that ‘little girl’ innocence that causes her to sometimes get ‘worked up’ over minor things and overreact at times, but her intentions are always well-meaning. I rarely ever watch any of Nicola’s series and frankly I’ve never really liked her because I always felt that she has an arrogant attitude. But I must admit that she did a good job with the character (though to be honest, I also found her character annoying at times because she would try to be ‘overly’ righteous and stubborn about a particular issue when she should just ‘let up’ a little).

In terms of the other artists / characters in the story, I will make a brief mention of the main ones:

> Kenix Kwok – she actually has a dual role in this story, as she plays the character Yuk Hiu Gwan as well as her older look-alike sister Yuk Hiu Nga. Kenix’s acting skills really shine in this series because the 2 characters she plays have completely opposite personalities: older sister Hiu Nga (who is plagued with an incurable hereditary illness) is very reserved, quiet, reasonable, extremely nice (the typical ‘school teacher’), and is the ultimate optimist, whereas younger sister Hiu Gwan (who is portrayed as a rich, young socialite with a complicated background) is loud, stubborn, can be mean and obnoxious at times when she wants to be (ex: making a production company ‘delete’ all their film just because they accidently captured her on film as she was walking by, filing lawsuits against people for minor issues, etc.), and is the ultimate pessimist.

Hiu Gwan’s relationship with Fook Sung is very interesting and actually quite enjoyable (it’s sort of a ‘love/hate’ relationship that ends up blossoming into true love). Ever the pessimist, Hiu Gwan’s goal throughout most of the series is to prove to her older sister that there are no ‘good’ people in this world and that Fook Sung – whom her sister regards very highly – is no exception. So she constantly tries to do stuff to ‘hurt’ Fook Sung (ex: trying to sabotage his relationships with his friends, etc.) in the hopes that he will reveal his ‘true colors’ (aka get mad at her and cut off all ties with her), but of course he never does. Instead, he sort of ‘plays along’ and uses his goodness and righteousness to change her (obviously, they fall in love and end up as a couple).

I’ve always enjoyed Kenix’s acting and have liked almost every single series she has been in. Her acting was absolutely awesome in this series and her pairing with Gordon was very unique and refreshing (I don’t think they were ever a couple in any other series). My only complaint is that she appeared way too late in the series – her character wasn’t ‘in the picture’ until episode 26 or 27…..since the series is 50 episodes (very long!), she was pretty much there for ½ the series, but I would have liked to see her more, especially since I enjoyed the scenes she had with Gordon.

> Michelle Ye – she played Gordon’s first girlfriend Shuet Yi who later leaves him and falls for Sammul instead (who is young and rich). Her character is very arrogant and also has a big ego – I hated how she ‘used’ Gordon’s character as a “shui po” after her failed relationship with her cousin and tries to ‘use’ him again after she breaks up with Sammul. Her character was the only one that I couldn’t stand throughout the entire series, especially in the last few episodes when she tries to ‘come between’ Gordon and Kenix.

If I remember correctly, I think this was one of Michelle’s first series, so for a newbie, she wasn’t bad in terms of the acting, though there was definitely lots of room for improvement. I still didn’t like her character though and to be honest, I don’t think she’s a good match for Gordon – she has more of that ‘childish’ look that is better fitted with Sammul than with Gordon. Plus, seeing Gordon and Kenix as a couple was much more endearing to me.

> Ha Yu / Michelle Yim – knowing nothing about this series going into it, I wasn’t expecting Ha Yu and Michelle’s pairing at all (I had thought that their first ‘official’ collaboration as a couple was in “Moonlight Resonance”). But I’m glad that they were in this series because – as usual – their acting was brilliant! Ha Yu played Benny’s father and Michelle played Gordon’s mother (though we find out later in the series that she is not really his mother). I love the chemistry between these two and how they would constantly bicker one minute then be friendly with each other the next minute….it was actually kind of funny at times. And their acting is “perfect” as usual -- just the right amount of delivery to get the characters’ personalities across without going overboard…..2 great veterans and a great pairing that I’m looking forward to seeing more of in the future.

In terms of the storyline and series itself, I feel that this is definitely one of the better ones that TVB has done. It has the perfect balance of comedic and dramatic elements and also sends a very positive message of hope, optimism, and the power of love. The series is very heartwarming and I personally was really touched by the storyline and what some of the characters go through. This message / theme was really brought forth through the evolvement of Gordon and Kenix’s relationship in the series, especially with the sacrifices that they had to make in order to find true love and happiness.

The last 10 episodes or so of the series were an emotional roller coaster for me, as there were moments of light humor and laughter (Ha Yu/Michelle and Benny / Nicola), but also moments of poignancy and tears (Gordon / Kenix). The last episode where Hiu Gwan (Kenix) was on the brink of death due to her hereditary illness and the sacrifice that Fook Sung (Gordon) made for her was especially touching – I cried when watching it, which is rare for me, especially with TVB series (the only other 2 series where I’ve gotten teary-eyed while watching are “A Kindred Spirit” and “Remembrance” – both of which happened to have Kenix as well….)

Anyway, even though this series was extremely long (50 episodes!) and there were parts that sort of dragged out unnecessarily (some of which I skipped), overall, it was very well-made! I definitely recommend this series to anyone who wants to watch a good quality series!