My Thoughts on this year’s HK Film Awards

Not surprisingly, the HKFA was one award ceremony I absolutely was anticipating this year – main reason is of course my idol Jacky Cheung garnering a Best Actor nomination for his role in Heaven in the Dark (and unlike previous years, he was one of the hot favorites this time around).  My other reason for watching was for Sean Lau, as he’s one of my favorite actors and this is actually his first time hosting the awards (director and HKFA association chairman Derek Yee said that it took much persuasion to get Sean to agree to host).

I’m sure everyone has read the results of the HKFA and know who the winners are by now, so I’m not going to bother listing out the winners.  Instead, I am just going to focus on the categories that I actually cared about as well as the highlights (and low lights) of the ceremony this year.

First up – Best Actor (though ironically this was one of the last awards presented last night).  Jacky obviously didn’t win Best Actor (Aaron Kwok won for his role in Port of Call) – if he had won, this post definitely would’ve started with a scream of excitement, lol.  While I’m a little bit disappointed that Jacky didn’t win, I was surprisingly not too upset about it, since I sort of anticipated it already (Jacky just doesn’t have the luck when it comes to film awards).  Of course, us fans were hoping that the 6^th time’s the charm (he was nominated for HKFA Best Actor 5 times previously), but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. Well, awards are very much about luck and timing and in a way, all stars need to be aligned, so over the years, I’ve learned not to put too much emotion or attach too much significance to awards.  Whether he ever wins the BA award or not, Jacky will always be Best Actor in my heart and I will always support him!

Even though Jacky didn’t win Best Actor, he did win the Best Dressed award alongside his Heaven in the Dark partner Karena Lam, which I felt was well-deserved because he did look extremely handsome last night.  The expression on Jacky’s face when his name was announced was absolutely priceless – he was obviously very surprised!

Outside of the Best Actor category, the other category I was interested in was Best Picture.  I was actually a bit surprised that Ten Years won given how controversial the movie was, plus the great lengths that Mainland China went to in efforts to suppress the film -- including pulling strings behind the scenes to get all movie theaters to quietly ‘remove’ the film from showing after it became such a surprise hit, as well as Mainland’s latest move of ‘banning’ the HKFA ceremony itself due to Ten Years being nominated  (the awards show is usually aired live in Mainland every year, but this year, they released a statement saying that the show won’t be broadcast in China at all).  Ten Years is actually one of the movies on my ‘must watch’ list and I was super-happy that it had gotten a nomination at HKFA, though to be honest, I was like 99% sure that it wouldn’t actually win the award, since, in recent years, much of the HK entertainment industry has been reluctant to take on Mainland China head-on, so I figured the HKFA would continue along those same lines and not take the risk of doing something that is widely considered as slapping Mainland China in the face.  Well, I was wrong and boy am I glad!  This film went through so much and I’m happy that it was able to overcome all the obstacles it did.  With that said though, the movie still faces a difficult road ahead, but hopefully its HKFA win can help the movie in this area.  The producer was indeed correct when he stated in his acceptance speech that the award actually belongs to all the audiences who supported the film, as they were the ones who turned the previously unknown controversial independent film into a runaway hit.  For me though, I actually applaud the HKFA committee members for being so brave and not letting politics influence their decision this time around.  Congrats to the cast and crew of Ten Years for a well-deserved win!

Oh and one thing I just had to mention – I saw a lot of comments from pro-China supporters slamming the HKFA and there were quite a few netizens as well as other members of the general public who were ‘pissed’ that Ten Years won and felt it was ‘undeserving’ due to its status as an independent film with a largely unknown cast and ‘no name’ new directors, plus its hugely controversial subject matter.  My response to that is – those people’s comments can be ignored because it’s obvious their comments are politically-motivated and they don’t have a clue what movies or artistic creativity are about.  If they want to take the HK vs Mainland China thing so seriously (I agree with the sentiment that a lot of times, it’s really Mainland that is making the conflict bigger than it really needs to be), then they are the ones truly missing out.  They don’t see us Hong Kongers complaining when Mainland actors and actresses take home the Best Actor and Actress trophies, even when we feel our actors/actresses are more deserving, do they??

Ok, so onto the actual ceremony itself….

Here are my favorite moments from this year’s ceremony:

-          Sean Lau’s hosting:  he was great!  For someone who doesn’t like to talk, he did a pretty good job for his first time.   And yes, it was super-sweet that his wife Amy Kwok attended the ceremony just to support her husband (aww, love this couple).  I also got a kick out of Sean’s buddy Nick Cheung ‘teasing’ him throughout the ceremony – I actually feel that Nick was the one who laughed the loudest at all of Sean’s jokes, haha.

-          The segment where so many former child actors went on stage to talk about the first film they acted in and how old they were at the time.  At first, I actually thought this was only a ‘tribute’ segment to child actors, which was very appropriate given this year’s HKFA theme, but it turned out this was a ‘2-in-1’ thing where all of those artists remained onstage to present the Best Director award.  I enjoyed seeing so many of those former child actors again, especially the veteran artists who started back in the 1950s and are still active in the industry even now – really admire their dedication to the HK film industry!  For me, the other highlight was definitely seeing John Chiang and Paul Chun together on the same stage – the first thought that went through my mind in seeing them was how great it would be if their brother Derek Yee (who was nominated for Best Director that night) was up there too?  The Chiang family is one of my (and my family’s) favorite entertainment industry families, so I of course was happy to see Paul, John, and Derek together on the same awards show.  Now of course Derek Yee didn’t end up winning (Tsui Hark won instead for The Taking of Tiger Mountain), but it was still an enjoyable – and extremely rare – moment that I will cherish.  [Sidenote:  I also found it so sweet that Benji and Lesley attended the ceremony to support their dad Paul Chun – when he came out on stage, the camera panned over to Benji and Lesley, who were recording the moment with their cell phones…aww, so sweet!  Love this family!]

-          Another presenter moment I enjoyed was when McDull (from the McDull cartoon series) and Wu Ba (from the HK hit movie Monster Hunt) went onstage to present the award for Best Visual Effects.  Both of them were soooo cute!!  And whoever ‘scripted’ their speech did a pretty good job, as their speech was cute and also got quite a few laughs from the audiences. 

-          Andy Lau presenting the Best Newcomer and Best New Director awards alongside the 5 adorable little girls from the movie Little Big Master was also a nice touch.  I actually like it when they have little kids as presenters because it just makes the atmosphere so much lighter and happier (plus everyone is so much more forgiving when the presenters screw up their speeches).

-          I had fun with the segment where Jacky and Nick presented the awards for Best Screenplay and Best Action Choreography.  They continued to play off their ‘real-life brothers’ relationship right from the getgo, with Nick introducing himself as Jacky.  Throughout their presentation speech, they just kept acting silly, even dragging Sean into it at one point (of course, since Sean is one of Nick’s close friends, lol).  Jacky and Nick also sat together off-stage as well and there was a lot of interaction between them, which was of course expected given their close friendship.  And I swear, based on the number of times the camera panned over to Jacky and Nick, the camera man must be a fan of theirs or something, haha! 

-          Best presentation speech in my opinion goes to Carina Lau, who presented the award for Best Actor.  She did a great job livening the atmosphere and in my opinion, gave a speech that was both witty and fun – she got a lot of well-deserved applause and chuckles, which was definitely needed given that the Best Actor award was the second to last award of the night and everyone had been sitting there for 3 hours straight already.  Good job Carina!

-          Best acceptance speech in my opinion goes to the production team of Ten Years.  As a Hong Konger, I was actually quite moved by their speech, especially the part where they said that the last thing on their minds was that the movie would do well or get any awards – their intention was just to do a little something for HK, their hometown and a city they love.  And both producers humbly acknowledged that their film doesn’t measure up to the others in terms of technical standards (of course, since Ten Years was a low-budget independent film whereas all the others were big-budget commercial films), so they were all the more grateful that the HKFA recognized their efforts.

Concluding thoughts:  Aside from the issue of not very many ‘big stars’ attending the ceremony outside of the nominees (which, to be honest, has been an ‘issue’ with the HKFAs for like the past decade already), this year’s HKFA ceremony still ended up being one of the better HKFA shows the past few years in my opinion.  I enjoyed watching this ceremony more than any other awards show this year.

Congrats to all the winners and hopefully next year will see the emergence of more great films!

BREAKING NEWS: Jacky’s concert tour confirmed!!!!

Finally!  Jacky attended Filmart yesterday to promote his new movie Heaven in the Dark (which premieres in HK on 3/24).  During one of the interview sessions, he confirmed that his concert tour will kick off in October as originally scheduled (refuting recent rumors that his concert was being put on hold due to legal disputes with his former concert manager Florence Chan).  The first few stops will be in Mainland China (not HK as previously rumored).  As for when the HK shows will take place, Jacky said the earliest would be in December.

The official announcement from Universal hasn’t come out yet (they issued a statement today refuting rumors but didn’t go into detail about the concert itself), but according to Jacky, Universal will be making a formal announcement with more details very soon.

As I’ve done in the past, I will be posting up information about Jacky’s concert dates and venues as the information comes out, so definitely stay tuned!  Also, I will be amending this post later on with a few links to news articles/clips where Jacky talks about his concert.

Lastly, in related news, in addition to preparing for his concert, Jacky has been busy the past few weeks promoting his new movie Heaven in the Dark.  Since my last post a few weeks ago, there have been tons more promo material released about the movie, including another trailer, a few behind-the-scenes production clips, and more than 2 dozen interviews with various media outlets.  I’m working on getting all the info together so I can post it up on my blog, but it will take some time, since there is so much stuff out there now.  Those interested please check back later this week.  Thanks!

Follow-up post: Heaven in the Dark production clip & some background info on the original stage play

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.

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Production clip -- “Scattered Memories”

My MOST ANTICIPATED Hong Kong movie of 2016: Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) ** contains spoilers**

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).

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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):

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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 3^rd].

‘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.

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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 15^th annual Hong Kong Drama Awards back in 2006.