As a follow up to my previous post, I wanted to share another post about my most anticipated movie of the year, Heaven in the Dark! Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) released a behind-the-scenes production clip for the making of the movie that features interviews with the cast and director. OMG, the more I watch / read about the movie, the more I can’t wait for the movie to come out!
I wanted to also take this opportunity to give a little bit more information on the movie as well as the stage play that it was based on (Candace Chong’s “The French Kiss”). Before I do so though, I have to say that I have no clue at this point how faithful the movie’s script will be to the original stage play script – my understanding is that director Steve Yuen was the one who actually “wrote” the movie’s script (meaning that he was the one who adapted the stage play script to movie version). The original stage play script was very reliant on the brilliantly-written dialogue to make it such the success it was, so hopefully Steve Yuen retained this aspect when adapting the script. In the production clip, both Jacky and Karena stated that each person who read the script had a different perspective in terms of the story and what ‘truly happened’ between Pastor To (Jacky) and Michelle (Karena). Hopefully this means that much of the powerful dialogue that Candace Chong originally wrote in the stage play version was retained.
Someone asked me what genre I would classify this movie into and my answer at the time (based on everything I had read about the movie and the stage play) was that I lean more toward this being a “psychological thriller, but minus the action and with a heavy emphasis on the ‘psychological’ part”. Well, turns out I wasn’t too much off the mark, as the writer of the original screenplay, Candace Chong, was actually a psychology major in college, but after graduating, she felt she wasn’t suitable to pursue the field of psychology as a career, since she found that she is unable to suppress her emotions in order to look at situations objectively. So she decided to pursue an advanced degree in screenwriting – turned out to be the right decision given her success today as a highly acclaimed, award-winning playwright. In all of Candace Chong’s works, she addresses serious issues that the public often faces (whether social, political, economic, etc.), but in a way that is brilliantly interwoven and incorporated into the stories via powerful dialogue. And there is always a psychology-related angle to her works due to her background.
Obviously, because of this movie, I’ve been reading up on Candace Chong and her stage play “The French Kiss” in recent weeks. In addition to the above background on Candace Chong, I found out that the story in The French Kiss is actually based on real-life events: a pastor kissed his secretary and subsequently was sued for sexual harassment. Listening to this pastor recount his experience, someone commented that he can be considered lucky, since he did not have to go to jail and only had to pay a fine as punishment. To this, the pastor replied: “But I compensated with my reputation, family, friends, and my soul.” When Candace Chong heard this, her initial reaction was one of shock and it reinforced her belief that ‘real life is more dramatic than plays’ -- so it inspired her to write this play in order to explore the inner human psyche as well as address issues related to religion, law, and moral values. A quote from a Chinese University interview with Candace Chong a couple years back does a great job summarizing the purpose of the story and its impact: “[In The French Kiss], Chong provokes the audience to re-examine the verdict through the tense conversation between the pastor and the secretary and raises the problem of false memories brought about by self-deception and a selective memory.” This is why, in the original stage play script, there is no real ‘ending’ to the story, as it is impossible to get to the ultimate truth due to the way human nature and the human mind work – throughout the story and even to the end, both the pastor and his secretary are unwavering in their ‘beliefs’ of what happened and their own versions of ‘the truth’.
I will definitely be posting up more stuff about Heaven in the Dark (as well as the stage play) in coming weeks, so those who are interested, please stay tuned. For those who don’t like knowing too much info about a movie prior to watching it, I apologize if you already read this and it spoiled anything for you – if you haven’t read it though (or didn’t watch the clip), I encourage you to come back after you watch the movie and see if these posts answer any lingering questions you might have in regards to the movie.
As mentioned in my previous post, one of the movies that
I am most looking forward to this year is Heaven in the Dark, which stars my
idol Jacky Cheung reuniting with his July Rhapsody co-star Karena
Lam. I was actually drawn to this movie
from the beginning, prior to any filming even being done (so basically when the
‘concept’ for the movie as well as the leads were announced) – of course, a big
reason was due to Jacky, since it has been 6 years since he’s starred in a ‘main
lead’ role (last movie where he was officially lead was Crossing Hennessy in
2010…all the movies he’s been in since then have pretty much been either cameos
or one of the leads amongst a large group of similar level A-listers). But before I get labeled as a ‘crazy fan’
(probably too late for that, since I know some people have already labeled me
as such, lol), let me explain the other reasons why I’ve been so ‘obsessed’
with this movie from the beginning (as well as why the movie is at the top of
my ‘must-watch’ list this year).
Aside from Jacky, the second main reason is because July Rhapsody also
happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. Even though this particular movie has nothing
to do with July Rhapsody per se (different scriptwriter, director, cast, production team, etc.), the ‘pairing’ of Jacky and Karena, the dark,
controversial theme, the ‘look and feel’ of the overall production, etc. are
interestingly similar (though it’s obvious that Heaven’s script is much
more complex – that is IF the script remained faithful to the original stage
play script written by Candace Chong). I
actually quite agree with one of the points stated in the East Touch article I translated below: that the story feels like a ‘continuation’ of
Jacky and Karena’s distant romance in July Rhapsody.
This leads me into yet another reason why I want to watch
this movie: the chemistry between Jacky
and Karena. Whether in July
Rhapsody or in the music videos that they filmed together for Jacky’s
songs (the most recent being the ones last year from Jacky’s latest Mandarin
album released in December 2014), Jacky and Karena continue to have great
chemistry on-screen. I honestly feel
that if it were any other pairing with the same story, I may not feel as
excited about the movie as I am currently.
Another reason to watch is, not surprisingly, the
supporting cast. With the exception of
perhaps 1 or 2 artists, the supporting cast is comprised of artists I enjoy
watching, so that definitely makes it an easier sell for me. Oh, by the way, I’ve been hearing nothing but
praise for Anthony Wong’s performance in this movie, even though he only has a
few scenes and can pretty much be considered a cameo appearance only. The court scene in the movie (reference the
article below to understand what I’m talking about) is a ‘must-watch’ – I was
told that Anthony’s acting in that scene is beyond stellar (pretty much blows
everyone out of the water, including the leads). Of course, I absolutely believe it, since I
have confidence in Anthony’s acting skills, but I am still going to wait and
see for myself once the movie comes out.
Yet another reason I want to watch – and this is an
important reason – is due to this movie being adapted from a famous stage
play. I’ve always had a liking for
theater and stage plays, it’s just that here in the U.S., it’s a lot more
difficult to watch stage plays unless you live in a place like New York where
the theater business thrives. I try to
catch a few local productions whenever I can, but unfortunately, the ‘big name’
productions are seasonal (plus located in far away cities) and the lesser known
productions only pop up once in awhile.
Even though I don’t live in HK, I do try to keep up with the theater
scene as much as I can -- which shouldn’t be a surprise given my enjoyment of
theater for one, but also the fact that many HK movie and television artists I
follow also participate in theater. If I
ever get the chance to watch the original stage version of this production, I’m
pretty sure I would enjoy it. In the
meantime though, I will settle for watching the movie version. [Sidenote:
Candace Chong actually published 5 of her most famous stage play scripts
into a book that was released last year -- I already ordered the book and am
just waiting for it to get here. I am
definitely planning on reading the original stage play script in conjunction
with watching the movie, I just haven’t decided whether I’m going to read first
or watch first – I guess it depends on when the book actually gets here].
Since the movie is scheduled to premiere in Hong Kong on
3/24 and in Taiwan on 4/15, there will undoubtedly be more promotional events /
material for the movie as the dates get closer.
I will continue to update my blog with more information on the movie as
I see necessary. For now though, I’ve
included an article below from East Touch magazine that actually does a pretty
good job of describing what the movie is about.
There are spoilers in the article though, so please read at your own
risk.
On a related note, I do want to say a few things about the HKFA Best Actor and Best Actress nominations that Jacky and Karena received. For those wondering how a movie that has not been officially released in HK yet can still garner nominations at HKFA -- well, there was actually a 'sneak preview' limited release of the movie in HK theaters back in December (I think there were only 5 showings of the movie over the span of a few days). This was done in order to 'qualify' the movie for this year's HKFA -- some feel it's a bit of a rush and perhaps they should've waited until next year to participate in HKFA. To be honest, I kind of have mixed feelings in regards to this. On the one hand, I am of course tremendously happy for Jacky and there is no doubt that he would've gotten nominated for his performance in this movie anyway, regardless of whether it's this year or next year. This is Jacky's 6th HKFA Best Actor nomination -- previous nominations were for Bullet in the Head (1991), To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui (1995), July Rhapsody (2002), Golden Chicken 2 (2004), Crossing Hennessy (2011). While I have full confidence in Jacky's performance, the competition for Best Actor this year is actually VERY strong (the other 4 nominees include Andy Lau, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Nick Cheung, and Aaron Kwok -- all reputable actors who have won the Best Actor award before). Some people have said that HKFA should give the award to Jacky this year since he's the only one out of the 5 who has never gotten the award, but to be honest, as a fan, I definitely DON'T want that...what I want is for Jacky to be recognized for his acting merit and for him to win the award because he deserves it, NOT because of sympathy (plus I know for a fact that's what Jacky wants as well -- he has said in the past that acting is a secondary profession for him and if he hasn't gotten the Best Actor award yet, it's because he hasn't put enough effort and focus into his performance to deserve the award). In any case, I will absolutely be rooting for Jacky come April 3rd, even though I know his chance of getting the award is not tremendously strong....
Lastly, a FUN FACT about the movie: watch for a VERY BRIEF cameo appearance by Dayo Wong in the court scene -- he literally only appears for a few seconds so if you blink, you might miss him. He had visited the set due to being friends with some of the production team (plus he's one of Anthony Wong's good friends) and decided to do an 'ad hoc' appearance as an 'extra' (basically, one of the no name audience members sitting at the back of the court listening to the proceedings). If you watch the movie, pay attention to that scene and see if you can spot him (though of course, do it the second time around, since the first time you watch, you should be paying attention to the movie itself, LOL).
****
Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂)
Cast: Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Anthony Wong,
Helena Law, Wong Hei, Edmund So, Catherine Chau, Michelle Wai
Director: Steve Yuen
Distributed by: Emperor Motion Pictures
Premiere date: 3/24/2016 in Hong Kong, 4/15/2016 in
Taiwan (not sure if this movie will be shown in Mainland or not)
Trailer (note that this is the first ‘official’ trailer
for the movie – as premiere date gets closer, there will undoubtedly be more
trailers released):
****
Article:
“A pair of lovers
who overstep the boundaries of love”
Source: East Touch Magazine
Article originally published February 3, 2016
Translated by: llwy12
14 years ago, in the movie July Rhapsody (男人四十),
the illicit love affair between teacher Lam Yiu Kwok (played by Jacky Cheung)
and his student Wu Choi Nam (played by Karena Lam) was heart-wrenching to
watch. As a teacher and husband, Lam
seemed to find himself slowly going down a path that he himself had once
despised, while Choi Nam, as the student, had no burdens at all and freely
sought after the excitement of loving the way she wanted to love. With Lam in a position that did not allow for
certain boundaries to be crossed, this teacher-student love relationship was
destined to fail.
14 years later, Jacky Cheung (張學友) and
Karena Lam (林嘉欣)
reunite once again, but this time, one plays a pastor while the other is a
believer in the faith he preaches. Without the burden of a ‘taboo’ relationship
like they had in July Rhapsody, Jacky and Karena are in the ideal position to
openly and freely develop a love relationship.
Unfortunately, their steps are
not aligned and both bear quite differing goals within their hearts. A passionate kiss that they thought would
help them break the ambiguity in their relationship turns into a regret that
ultimately ends in a life-changing fall from grace.
“A pair of lovers
who overstep the boundaries of love, at the same time it is easiest for them to
become enemies.” These lyrics from July
Rhapsody’s theme song seem especially fitting at the moment. Times have changed, our surroundings have
changed, our positions in life have changed – the one thing that hasn’t
changed: after 14 years, Jacky and
Karena continue to demonstrate [through their newest collaboration] that Love is Difficult (相愛很難).
Continuation of
distant romance
In 2002, both Jacky Cheung and Karena Lam received HK
Film Award nominations for their performances in July Rhapsody – in the
end, Karena was successful in winning both the Best New Artist as well as Best
Supporting Actress awards at HKFA. After
that, Jacky and Karena continued to pursue their separate paths [TN: Jacky continued with his music and movie
career while Karena also continued to film movies, but also left the industry
for a few years to get married and have children] and did not get the
chance to ‘cross paths’ again in movies.
It wasn’t until last year (2015), when Karena’s husband Steve Yuen (袁劍偉)
decided to try his hand at directing movies [TN: prior to this, Steve Yuen
was primarily a director of commercials and music videos], that the
opportunity came up for the two of them to collaborate again in his directorial
debut Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂). Adapted from
renown playwright Candace Chong’s (莊梅岩) award-winning stageplay The French Kiss (法吻),
Heaven
in the Dark actually has nothing to do with July Rhapsody in terms of
story, characters, setting, plot, etc. – however, due to the chemistry between
Jacky and Karena, their reunion in this movie gives off the feeling that they
are continuing that distant romance from 14 years ago. Even though the movie has not officially
debuted in HK theaters yet [TN: the movie
premieres on 3/24], both Jacky and Karena have already earned HK Film Awards Best
Actor and Best Actress nominations once again for their performances. [TN: This year’s HKFA will take place on
April 3rd].
‘Re-trial’ of
buried memories
In Heaven in the Dark, Jacky takes on
the role of To Tin Ming, a pastor who is also the chief director of a major
international charitable organization for the HK region. With his eloquence in speaking as well as
dynamic personality, Pastor To is popular with the masses and can even be
considered a ‘celebrity’ of sorts.
Karena plays the role of Michelle, a young woman who takes up an
assistant position in Pastor To’s charity and also becomes one of his
congregants after being attracted to his charm and charisma. Both eventually develop feelings for each
other, though neither one pursues the relationship further. Later on, Pastor To decides to accept the
position of chief director for the entire Asian region, a position based in
England. On the night of the farewell
dinner that Pastor To’s colleagues throw for him, he and Michelle go for a
drive at the Peak and before they leave, they decide to finally give in to
their feelings and share a passionate kiss together. Unfortunately, this one kiss changes both of
their lives forever. The next morning,
Michelle goes to the police station and files a sexual harassment complaint
against Pastor To, who is completely shocked at the sudden turn of events. The two end up arguing the case in court and
after an intense, emotionally draining trial, Pastor To loses the case – with
his reputation tarnished, he eventually leaves behind everything he has,
including his position as a pastor.
5 years later, Pastor To and Michelle bump into each
other again – this chance meeting rekindles long-buried memories of that
fateful night where one kiss changed their lives. After a tense verbal exchange, Pastor To and
Michelle are eventually able to piece together the scattered memories from that
night. Through a psychological ‘re-trial’ of those memories, the two of them
discover the shocking truth of what actually happened that night – an ‘answer’
that no court would’ve been able to give them.
Truth revealed 5
years later
In essence, the entire premise of the movie centers
around the question of what truly happened the night of that fateful kiss
between Pastor To and Michelle. How is
it that the situation went from two potential lovers acting on their mutual
feelings for each other to both parties becoming enemies overnight? Both the original stage play and the movie
begin in a similar manner: the setting
for the opening sequence is 5 years after the conclusion of the sexual
harassment court case against Pastor To.
Michelle is married to another pastor and has a child, while Pastor To
-- whose reputation was severely damaged by the guilty verdict handed down by
the courts – is no longer able to serve in the clergy and has become a
businessman instead. The story is
structured in a way that requires audiences to tear away one layer after
another in order to find out what truly happened that night. From Michelle’s point of view, she is
unwavering in her belief that the kiss was forced upon her and she did not
consent. However, from Pastor To’s
perspective, he remembers that there was consent from both sides, but the
influence of alcohol that night caused his memory to be hazy and therefore he
could not be 100% sure. For both, the
situation continued to be a thorn in their hearts for 5 years, despite the
surface appearance of both having moved on with their lives. A pair with the potential to become lovers,
yet due to crossing the boundaries of love, they can only become enemies in the
end.
****
Caption box:
Background on
renowned playwright Candace Chong’s original stage play script
Heaven in the Dark is a film
adaptation of stage play The French Kiss, an award-winning
theater production written by one of HK’s most renowned playwrights, Candace
Chong. The stage play first debuted back
in 2005, right before the start of the Cultural Arts Festival. At that time, the play consisted of only 3
actors performing against a simple backdrop that remained the same throughout
the production -- majority of the plot was brought forth through the dramatic confrontation
scenes between the male and female leads.
Many theater critics have praised the ability of writer Candace Chong’s
meticulous and well-written dialogue to give the story a tightly intertwined,
layered effect. In addition, the
script’s vivid yet simultaneously tension-filled language successfully draws
out the complexity of the sexual harassment case in the story, yet at the same
time, does so in a subtle and unassuming manner. The production has won several
awards over the years, including 2 of its most prestigious – awards for Best Script
and Top Ten Most Popular Stage Plays at the 15th annual Hong Kong
Drama Awards back in 2006.
It has been awhile since I’ve watched a HK film.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I am grateful to have witnessed the ‘heyday’ of
HK cinema back in those days (especially given what the HK movie industry has
become today). As an avid follower and huge supporter of the HK
entertainment industry back then, I watched my fair share of HK movies and
found most of them enjoyable, regardless of whether the story was good or
not. Of course it helped that there were so many big stars back then who
possessed both charisma as well as acting skill, plus all the talent
behind-the-scenes in terms of scriptwriters/directors/producers, etc., so it
made it easier (in my opinion at least) to enjoy even the lowest quality of
movies (i.e.: those raunchy slapstick ones where there is no coherent plot
whatsoever yet still manage to be funny and enjoyable).
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about HK movies is
the distinct ‘HK flavor’ that most HK movies – especially the CNY (Chinese New
Year) ones – possessed back then (those of you who’ve been watching HK movies
for a long time will probably understand what I mean).
Unfortunately, that distinct ‘HK flavor’ has greatly eroded over the years, to
the point that nowadays, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a ‘purely HK flavor’
movie that is meant to cater to the HK market (I’m throwing completely bogus
numbers out there right now, but as a means of comparison, if 8 out of 10 HK
movies back in those days were ‘HK-centric’, then that number is only 1 out of
10 today – if that….). Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to diss non-HK
movies in any way, as I don’t feel it’s in my realm to do so…I’m merely
lamenting the erosion and ‘slow death’ of the HK movie industry (actually, the
entire HK entertainment industry as a whole if we think about it) due to
various factors that cannot be explained in one blog post.
When the industry started going downhill in the mid to
late 90s and most of the artists/production people I knew and loved became less
active in movies, I also became less and less interested in watching HK
movies. In the past 2 decades or so, I would venture to say that the
number of HK movies I’ve watched is less than a third of what I used to watch
in the old days – while I do have a few favorites from recent decades that were
absolute gems and that I would re-watch all day if I could, it’s not surprising
that a huge majority of my favorite HK movies are actually from the 80s/early
90s eras.
At this point, you’re probably wondering why I’ve been
ranting on for 3 paragraphs about the demise of HK movies in a blog post that
is supposed to be about movies that I intend on watching this year. Well,
considering how few HK movies I watch nowadays, the fact that there are 3
movies that I plan on (more like WANT TO) watch this year is quite significant
(last year, I only watched 1 HK movie – mostly because my idol was in it…in a
sense, I’m trying to put things in perspective). I have specific reasons
for wanting to watch these 3 movies, which I will attempt to explain below (in
my usual ‘wordy’ way of course, lol) – though in the case of #1 and #3, I admit
that I am also trying to ‘shamelessly plug’ both movies in the hopes that more
people will go see them (#2 obviously doesn’t need any ‘plugging’ from me,
since there is enough ‘hype’ with the movie already and it will do well in the
box office based on cast alone).
So here are the movies:
1) Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂)
Cast: Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Anthony Wong,
Helena Law, Wong Hei, Edmund So, Catherine Chau, Michelle Wai
Director: Steve Yuen
Distributed by: Emperor Motion Pictures
Premiere date: 3/24/2016 in Hong Kong, 4/15/2016 in
Taiwan (not sure if this movie will be shown in Mainland or not)
Trailer (note that this is the first ‘official’ trailer
for the movie – as premiere date gets closer, there will undoubtedly be more
trailers released):
I’m actually working on a blog post dedicated to this
movie that will have details on the plot, background on filming and production,
etc., so I’m not going to say much here. Just note that Heaven
in the Dark is absolutely the MOST ANTICIPATED movie of the year for
me, one that I am very much DYING to see (3/24, please get here quickly!!!) –
to find out why, please stay tuned for my follow-up post (which should be
posted up by this weekend)…
2) From Vegas to Macau III (賭城風雲III)
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Nick Cheung, Andy Lau, Jacky
Cheung, Carina Lau, Li YuChun, Charles Heung, Jacky Heung, Law Kar Ying, Sean
Yue, etc.
Director: Andrew Lau
Executive Producer: Wong Jing
Distributed by: Wong Jing’s production company,
Shaw Brothers, plus a plethora of other HK and Mainland production companies
Premier date: 2/6/2016 in Hong Kong, 2/8/2016 in Mainland
China
Trailer (one of many):
Sub-theme song MV trailer (incomplete version): "Frozen" (停格) by Jacky Cheung
I was actually already working on this post prior to the
movie premiering in HK, but had to put it aside due to getting busy with stuff,
which of course means I had to re-write some content, so please cut me some
slack if my comments sound choppy or don’t flow as coherently as they should.
Ok, so before anyone gives me crap about why I’m
‘supporting’ a Wong Jing-produced movie, I’m going to come right out and say
that I am watching this movie for 2 reasons only: 1) my idol Jacky Cheung
and 2) the nostalgia factor (more specifically, 80S/90S HK film industry
nostalgia). I will explain more about both reasons in a minute.
First though, for the record, I did not watch the first 2 installments of From
Vegas to Macau and I don’t intend to in the near future either (just to make it
clear: no, I’m not ‘boycotting’ either movie, I just have no desire to
watch, whether from a cast perspective or story perspective). I don’t
normally watch Wong Jing’s movies (I’m referring mostly to his movies from the
past 2 decades or so, not the older ones from the 80s/early 90s) because I find
them cheap, vulgar, and raunchy with recycled plots and storylines, crappy
scripts, and generally bad acting (mostly from the newbies and his ‘Jing
ladies’) – besides, most of Wong Jing’s movies the past several decades have
been low quality category III sex movies anyway, so of course I won’t bother to
watch.
Before I elaborate on my 2 main reasons for watching,
just wanted to give a quick shout-out to the ‘legitimate’ naysayers out there
by saying that I totally GET why you guys don’t want to watch this movie. [Side
note: I use the word ‘legitimate’ because nowadays, people boycott stuff left
and right purely out of political reasons that have nothing to do with the
work/program itself. If people are not watching this movie purely because
Wong Jing holds different political views than them – um, sorry, but your
opinion doesn’t count in my book!) With that said, I personally can’t
stand Wong Jing, but not because of political reasons (I don’t give a crap what
his political stance is to be honest, since politics should be completely
separate from entertainment and therefore – in my opinion anyway – it’s dumb to
refuse to watch a movie just because the producer’s political views differ from
one’s own). I dislike Wong Jing as a person mostly because of his
aggressive attitude toward people as well as his forever childish behavior (the
guy is like in his 60s I think, yet he always acts like he’s 10 or something
with all the tantrums he throws, especially when people criticize him or
disagree with him) – oh and of course, his ‘annoying as hell’ arrogance doesn’t
help things either. From a filmmaker perspective, I’ve actually always
felt that Wong Jing is overrated – like I mentioned above, he’s actually one of
the few directors/scriptwriters/producers in the industry whose formula has not
changed one bit in the 40+ years he has been in the industry…he basically
recycles and rehashes his stories/plots/gimmicks over and over again, to the
point that there is no need to watch all of his works because they all end up
looking similar anyway…if you’ve seen one of his movies/TV series, you’ve
pretty much seen them all. As with most of his movies, the script for Vegas
III was penned by Wong Jing himself, so no doubt this will be more of the same (which,
as of this writing, has been confirmed by those who’ve actually seen the movie –
the basic sentiment is that the script is HORRIBLY written).
So why do I want to watch this movie then? One
reason (actually, the first and foremost reason) is because of Jacky – he
rarely ever films movies nowadays so every opportunity I get to see him in a
movie, I am absolutely taking advantage of it (call me a crazy fan if you want
-- when it comes to Jacky, I have no qualms about being labeled as
such!). While it’s true that Jacky actually doesn’t have a whole lot of
screen time in this movie (technically, his role is less than supporting but
more than cameo), the time that he does have is well-used and his acting still
manages to stand out amongst all the ‘greats’ in this movie. Amidst all
the criticism toward the movie itself (since the movie premiered, the feedback
has been all over the place – some people like the movie and feels it lives up
to CNY standards, some hate it and hugely criticize it for being nonsense and
ridiculous, some are neutral and see it no better or worse than other
run-of-the mill CNY movies), there have been 2 ‘elements’ of the movie that
have been consistently praised in both positive as well as negative reviews of
the movie: the first is Jacky’s acting/performance and the second is the
sub-theme song he sings at the end of the movie (people have commented that listening
to the sub-theme song paired with watching the final scene of Jacky’s character’s
demise in the movie truly moved them to tears, which is unusual for a CNY
film that is supposed to be comedic rather than tragic). Those who have watched the movie have noted
Jacky’s meticulous acting, with special mention of his on-the-spot facial
expressions – despite the horribly written script, Jacky managed to make his
crazy, schizophrenic character Yik Tin Hang amazingly convincing. Of
course, I am not surprised at the positive feedback toward Jacky’s performance,
as he has always been a solid actor who is hugely underrated (mostly because
everyone – including Jacky himself – focus more on his singing career rather
than his acting). The last few days I’ve actually read quite a few
reviews as well as media reports on the movie (from various sources, both in HK
and Mainland) and interestingly enough, there has been one particular common
sentiment amongst all those reports: ‘Jacky Cheung is the only actor
amongst the star-studded main cast who actually took the acting piece seriously
and it shows’ (basically meaning that everyone else still delivered the goods,
but didn’t put as much emphasis on the acting since this is a CNY movie after
all and most audiences won’t care as long as they are ‘entertained’). In
other words, Jacky’s performance is one of the ‘highlights’ in an otherwise
forgettable movie. Again, I am not surprised, as Jacky is a
‘perfectionist’ when it comes to his work and has high standards towards all
his performances – whether it involves singing or acting – so of course he is
going to take it seriously (one of the articles actually said that it’s obvious
from the end result that Jacky put 120% effort into his performance). As
a fan, I am of course happy to see all the praise for Jacky’s performance, though
too bad it was for such a lame movie overall.
However, it does make me proud know that my decision to watch the movie
mainly because of him was definitely not in vain.
Lastly, to touch on the second reason why I want to watch
this movie – the nostalgia factor. For someone like me who grew up
watching HK movies in the 80s/90s, this movie will actually have a little more
significance in that I will be able to recognize a lot of the ‘classic’ scenes
/ dialogues / songs, etc. incorporated into the movie. Also, there are a
BOATLOAD of veteran artists and other familiar faces (whom long-time HK
movie-goers will for sure recognize) that make cameo appearances in the movie.
The nostalgia piece is actually a unique component of this particular
installment of Vegas that was absent from the previous 2 installments – though to
be honest, I’m pretty sure it’s not lost on anyone that the nostalgia piece is
a ‘gimmick’ on Wong Jing’s part to get audiences who have fond memories of ‘the
good old days’ to watch the movie. Ah well – it is what it is, I guess….
3) Ten Years (十年)
Cast: Liu Kai Chi, Leung Kin Ping, Courtney Wu
Zerisawa, Peter Chan, Wong Ching, Lau Ho-Chi, Ng Siu Hin, Tanzela Qoser, etc.
Directors: Kwok Zune, Wong Fei Pang, Jevons Au, Chow Kwun Wai, Ng Ka Leung
Distributed by: Ten Years Studio (low budget
independent film)
Premier date: 12/17/2015 in Hong Kong
Trailer:
Since probably not many people have heard of this film, I
will attempt to give a brief summary of it (though I also attached an article
from SCMP that does a pretty good job of summing it up, plus there’s also
Wikipedia for those who want more detail).
Anyway, this is a low budget independent movie consisting
of 5 short films directed by 5 newbie directors (from the younger generation
obviously, given the movie’s theme).
Basically, the movie is a political satire that attempts to depict what
Hong Kong might be like ten years from now, in 2025 (hence the very fitting
title). Though largely ‘fictional’ in
nature, the very realistic portrayal of political and social issues that HK has
been facing (with some of what has been depicted in the movie eerily ‘coming
true’ already) has made this film a haunting reminder of Mainland China’s
increasingly suffocating stronghold on HK.
Initially, this film did not draw much attention,
especially since all the directors are young newbies, plus the cast is largely
unknown (except for a few veteran supporting artists such as Liu Kai Chi and
Leung Kin Ping, though if you read up on the film, there are other familiar
faces who do have cameos, it’s just not highly publicized). Not long after its release though, ticket sales
went through the roof, with sales surpassing the new Star Wars movie at one
point in a few theaters. That’s when
mainstream media started reporting on the movie more, giving it much needed
publicity. In the short amount of time
the movie has been in theaters, it managed to rake in $5 million HKD in ticket
sales, which is virtually unheard of for an independent film helmed by unknowns
(plus the film only cost $600,000 HKD to make, so the directors definitely got
a return on their investment). So far,
this film has gotten wide critical acclaim (in HK of course) and has been
touted as a film that all Hong Kongers must watch. Those who’ve watched the film praise its daring
yet relevant portrayal of HK’s political and social issues – the film is
powerful on many fronts, but ‘disturbing’ and scary at the same time due to how
closely it hits home with its candid commentary of the HK-Mainland conflict as
well as the CCP’s ominous influence.
As a Hong Konger, I am definitely interested in watching
this movie. For the record, I have
always taken a ‘neutral’ stance when it comes to politics and nothing will ever
change that. I refuse to involve myself
with politics or associate myself with any party / political faction because to
me, there is no party out there that will ever jive completely with my views
and value system – therefore I prefer to remain ‘neutral’ so that I can both
understand and appreciate both sides of the argument, so to speak. Besides, as I mentioned above, I have always
taken the position that politics should be separate from entertainment, so I
don’t allow my entertainment choices (whether in television, movies, music,
books, etc.) to be ‘influenced’ by any political leanings. With all that said, I am interested in
watching Ten Years mainly due to its artistic merit and critical acclaim
– I want to see for myself whether this movie is as poignant and powerful as
everyone has said it is. Regardless of
its heavy socio-political theme, if the movie is good, then it’s absolutely
worthwhile to watch -- no amount of criticism, whether politically-laced or not, will discourage me from watching a worthy film!
