Info on new HK independent film "The Merger" (我們停戰吧！)

Realizing that many people may not have heard too much about the HK film "The Merger" (我們停戰吧！), I decided to post up some info that I had gathered from various sources over the past few months.  Of course, this post won't be all-inclusive, since it will take me some time to dig up some of the older articles and interviews related to the movie that I had read several months ago.  I've actually been sharing tidbits of info here and there on AF and other sites, but it's a bit scattered so figured I would post the highlights here.  There's also an article that Skypost published last week that gives some pretty good insight into the movie, so I translated it and posted it below.

Here is some general info:

The cast for the movie consists of:  Frankie Lam, Patrick Tam, Rachel Lam, Kathy Yuen, Pinky Cheung, Meiki Wong, Samuel Kwok, Chan On Ying, Wilson Tsui Charles Ying, etc. (all former HKTV artists except Patrick and Pinky).  Also the director is Jimmy Luk (he directed HKTV’s To Be or Not To Be and Night Shift) – this is his first movie ever, as prior to this, he only directed TV series (for both TVB and HKTV).

Rachel Lam, who is also the lead actress, wrote the script.  Just a little background on Rachel – she actually wasn’t a scriptwriter prior to this – The Merger is her first script.  Prior to joining HKTV, she was a host for a few i-Cable shows and then went into acting, participating in a few HKTV series.  She decided to try her hand at scriptwriting, which she was interested in but didn’t really seriously pursue. After she wrote the script, she and Frankie happened to be filming Hidden Faces together for HKTV and hearing that he was interested in starting his own production company, she asked him if he would be willing to invest in her script. He was reluctant at first but after reading the script, he agreed. And since they were working for HKTV at the time, they decided to invite HKTV people to participate in the series (out of the main cast, the only 2 artists not affiliated with HKTV are Patrick Tam and Pinky Cheung). It was definitely a gamble from the beginning and the path from preparation to filming to distribution was difficult due to all the obstacles they encountered (more on this later).

Despite this movie being a small budget independent film with no big names in the cast (also no big name production team and no big name investors/backing), it was able to win 27 awards at various international film festivals, including major awards such as Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, etc.  Plus the movie has gotten quite a bit of critical acclaim and the feedback from audiences who have watched the movie (in pre-release) have been mostly positive.

Also, just some background on this movie’s ‘path’ to being released in HK.  Originally, when the movie was completed a few years back, the team (Rachel, Frankie) had approached various distributors in HK to discuss releasing it to general audiences in HK.  When distributors watched the film, they praised that it was a good movie, however they rejected the request to distribute in HK because 1) the cast had no ‘big names’ so most likely won’t attract audiences, and 2) the movie wasn’t “commercialized” enough (interpret that how you wish).  Since no one would give the movie the time of day in HK, the team decided to try entering it in various film festivals around the world (not a bad idea, since at least some people would see it).  Well, turns out that was the right move because the movie started sweeping up awards left and right – by the time it had swept up 15 awards, those HK distributors that had refused to release the film in HK theatres suddenly changed their tune.  They approached the production team and asked if they were still interested in distributing the movie in HK – well, now the film will be releasing in all HK theaters September 17^th.  By the way, the movie continued to rack up awards at the film festivals and now, the total count is 27 awards…very impressive!

Lastly, about the theme song – it's called "You Still Have Me" (你還有我)...the lyrics were written by Rachel Lam and she also sings the song.  The musical arrangement was done by Kong Fai (actor and one of HKTV’s musical directors).  The theme song MV was officially released last week, which I’ve linked up to below.  Also, here’s a link to Rachel’s blog where she explains in detail her inspiration for the song as well as why she ended up singing it (sorry, but the post is in Chinese).

The Merger Themesong

Below are a more few links.  I'll post up more stuff once I dig it up and have time to translate.  Meanwhile, if you're interested in watching various clips about the movie (including behind the scenes 'making of' clips, blessing ceremony, celebration dinners, and also fun clips from many of the cast's friends), check out Global Saga's Youtube page (Global Saga is the production company formed by Tony Wong, Rachel Lam, and Frankie Lam).  Here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFzBZ5bIRivXLpt6MpunxhQ

Official Trailer:

Themesong MV:

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News Article (originally published September 10, 2015).

Frankie Lam and Rachel Lam’s new film:  a teacher/student romance that gives local HK feel

Source:  Skypost

Forbidden love is a pretty common subject matter for movies.  A taboo love relationship – such as that between a teacher and a student – can become especially poignant yet at the same time oddly alluring when presented on the big screen.  On hearing the movie’s Chinese title (我們停戰吧!), the first thought that comes to mind is that The Merger is about teachers and students warring with each other – however, after diving into the plot, the movie actually isn’t about that at all.  Rather, the movie at its core is about a teacher/student love relationship, a story written in a way that is unique in that it gives off a completely local HK feel.   There are also references to major events in HK history interspersed throughout the movie that are sure to trigger collective memories of the past for local audiences who are familiar with them.  This element makes the romantic relationship in the movie all the more poignant and realistic. 

Helmed by HKTV’s former production team, The Merger does not have any ‘big names’ among its cast – yet it was still able to succeed in sweeping up 27 awards in various international film festivals around the world, included amongst those Best Actor and Best Actress awards for its leads Frankie Lam, Patrick Tam, and Rachel Lam.  The movie starts in the 1990s era with the story of high school student Yip Heung Heung (Rachel Lam), who falls in love with her old-fashioned, ultra-conservative teacher Koo Wah Sung (Frankie Lam) – a relationship that ends with a tragic death.  Many years later, during a visit to the high school, Heung Heung’s daughter Yip Ka Ka (Kathy Yuen) accidentally discovers a long-buried secret – that her foster mother was somehow involved in the death of her biological mother’s lover. 

In the movie, Frankie Lam and Rachel Lam have a few daring bed scenes.  Asked about this, Rachel laughed and expressed that filming intimate scenes in a torridly hot old building was definitely NOT romantic – throughout filming of those scenes, they grumbled constantly about the heat.  “It was scorchingly hot during the filming of those scenes, but I was afraid to move too much because I was nearly half-naked and didn’t want to overexpose myself.  It wasn’t romantic at all!  It was embarrassing to film kissing scenes too, as I felt like laughing and it was hard to keep it in.”

Most of us originally thought this movie was simply a sad but beautiful love story spanning 2 decades in HK, but Rachel – who is the scriptwriter as well as executive producer – revealed that one intent of the movie is that the teacher/student love story will lead audiences to reflect upon their own lives and attitude toward HK in the era leading up to the 1997 handover as well as afterwards.  Revealing a little bit of the plot, Rachel explained:  “With her rebellious nature, Heung Heung sees that the handover is approaching and so wants to leave HK.  But then Teacher Koo talks to her constantly about the city’s rich history and it causes her attitude to slowly change – she eventually realizes that leaving won’t resolve the problems they face.  In the end, when disaster befalls HK, she eventually sacrifices herself.”  Rachel further explained that the story weaves back and forth between pre and post-handover HK, utilizing a ‘story within a story’ method and theater stage play style to bring back collective memories of HK’s and China’s histories. 

News Article: HKTV series “Night Shift” -- new style HK television series

HKTV's second to last in-house produced series Night Shift will premiere on Wednesday (8/19).  I've actually been looking forward to this series ever since I read about the filming of it 2 years ago!  It's been a long wait, but based on everything that I've read as well as the trailer clips and other behind the scenes clips, I feel that this series will be a worthwhile watch.  Of course, the sad part is that this also means we are one series closer to 'the end' of HKTV (though to be honest, it pisses me off more than saddens me, but I'll save that rant for another post).  

The below article came out today from Mingpao in anticipation of Night Shift's premiere -- it's a nicely written article / short interview of the creative minds behind the series:  Jimmy Luk and Alex Pau (yes, that's the same team that produced To Be or Not To Be, which is one of my favorite HKTV series so far).  I've also included a link to the 'documentary clip' that the writer mentioned in the article -- I actually saw the clip on HKTV's Facebook a couple days ago and posted it up on AF....here's the 'blurb' I wrote about it (paraphrase of what HKTV put on their FB post):

As a prelude to next week's premiere, HKTV posted the following clip on their Facebook page.  This is a special "documentary" clip that one of the professors and her student at Chinese University in HK put together documenting the last 2 weeks of filming Night Shift.  According to the post, when the government made the announcement denying HKTV a license back in October 2013, Night Shift was in the middle of filming and was only 70% completed.  Even after the announcement, the production team decided to finish filming anyway and this clip not only bears witness to how everyone felt at that time, it also shows the unity of the team and how much fire and passion they still had despite the imminent disbanding of the team....

The article is relatively short compared to MP's other interviews, but still a good article nonetheless.

Enjoy!

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HKTV series “Night Shift”:  New style HK television series

Source:  Mingpao

Translation:  llwy12

Article originally published August 17, 2015

Sincere.  For HKTV, that’s not a word that merely gets spoken – rather, they put that word into action through their productions.  A television series produced with ‘sincerity’ is one that will definitely be felt by discerning audiences.  

As the second to last of HKTV’s series to air, the ‘sincerity’ of the series Night Shift (夜班) can already be felt even prior to its broadcast.  In October 2013, when the government’s decision to deny HKTV a license came down, Night Shift was still in the middle of filming – faced with the possibility that the series might never see the light of day, plus most of the production team members were on the list of employees to be laid off the next day, the group collectively decided that they still wanted to finish filming the series.  Tomorrow (8/19), two years after it finished filming, Night Shift will finally get to face audiences.

Earlier, there was a short 7-minute clip posted on the Internet that documented the series’ last 2 weeks of filming.  Watching the clip, the part that moved viewers the most was when Alan Luk (陸駿光) expressed during an interview segment that he felt the cast and crew of this series were like the orchestral band in the movie Titanic – even during the last moments of the ship sinking, they insisted on finishing their very last performance.  For those who participated in the series, this was not merely a ‘project’ that they finish and move on to the next one -- rather, for everyone involved this was a ‘work of art’ in which they invested a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

Three main story arcs

Interviewed for this article, Night Shift’s chief director Jimmy Luk (陸天華) and script supervisor Alex Pau (鮑偉聰) revealed that the concept for the series actually came from American TV series Third Watch, a story about people who worked at night.  The 3 main story arcs revolve around the West Kowloon district’s E.U. team (衝鋒隊) headed by Frankie Lam (林文龍), the underworld triad led by Philip Keung (姜皓文), and a group of young women, led by Kathy Yuen (湯怡), who frequent seedy night arenas in the hopes of making a quick buck.  Within these 3 main arcs, there are many sub-story arcs that involve a vendor selling fruit at his stand, a vegetable street market, a trash collector, an ambulance, and even a ridiculous murder case that occurs at a midnight fair.  Jimmy Luk expressed:  “Each sub-story arc will take up anywhere from ½ to 1 episode and will be interwoven throughout the 3 main story arcs.  Because of this, audiences may feel that the plot is bit ‘scattered’, as the story will jump from one occupation to another – this is actually done on purpose, as the main focus is really on ‘night-time’.  Things that people may not be willing to say or do during the day, all is let loose at night, people’s true sentiments are revealed, and the dark side of society is brought out.”

Laid off workers continue to participate in the series

Helmed by the same production team as HKTV’s earlier hit series To Be or Not To Be (來生不做香港人), Night Shift marks the second collaboration between director Jimmy Luk and scriptwriter Alex Pau.  Recounting that fateful day in October 2013 when the government’s decision to deny HKTV a free-to-air TV license came down, Jimmy Luk revealed that his boss Ricky Wong (王維基) called him to his office and told him that he was planning on laying off 200 people the very next day.  Given the circumstances, Jimmy was asked whether he wanted to continue filming the series.  As someone who believed in finishing what was started, plus so many people had put their hearts and souls into the production, Jimmy did not hesitate in telling Ricky Wong that he wanted to continue filming the series -- with that, all of the workers who were already laid off immediately returned on a ‘free-lance’ basis to finish the production.  The rare chance to work together again and the determination to ‘finish what they started’ united the team together – morale was especially high and the ‘fire’ in their hearts burned stronger ever.  Jimmy expressed that working for HKTV was the most enjoyable experience of his career, as he got the chance to feel what it meant to truly have ‘complete creative freedom’, which is a concept virtually unheard of in the HK television industry.  Without hesitation, Jimmy stated, “If one day Ricky Wong is issued a license and he asks me to go back and work for him, I would do it in a heartbeat!”

With Night Shift being scriptwriter Alex Pau’s very last collaboration with HKTV, he states that instead of feeling sad at having to leave the company, he decided to approach it with a heart of gratitude that he got the chance to explore different genres and filming methods at HKTV.  “The concept for Night Shift came about after Ricky Wong declared that he wanted to take an ‘American series approach’ with all of his productions.  This entirely ‘new’ style of filming was rare in the HK television industry and through it, we hoped to show audiences that it IS possible for HK production teams to film series this way.  Actually, I need to specially thank director Jimmy Luk – at that time, Ricky Wong was very ambitious and upped the ante by having all the script supervisors ‘sell’ their story concepts to the group and gave the chief directors complete authority on whether they liked the stories enough to film.  Some of the story concepts were actually rejected by the directors, so you can imagine the pressure that us script supervisors felt.  During that presentation, when I brought up the premise for Night Shift, Jimmy Luk was the first one to raise his hand and say ‘I really want to film that!’  To this day, I am still extremely grateful for his recognition!”

Filmed entirely at night, no ‘main leads’ in the series

Alex Pau further expressed, “I would also like to thank the artists who participated in the series – it was hard enough that they all had to re-arrange their schedules for a month to film entirely at night, they also had to deal with a neurotic script supervisor such as myself!   This series is unique in that everyone’s screen time is scattered and uneven and the main story line is fuzzy – to be honest, none of the artists in the series can be considered ‘leads’.  This is an entirely new format and also a different way of storytelling that left the artists a bit perplexed when filming, but they persevered anyway.  Lastly, I would like to thank the entire production team for selflessly giving so much of their time and effort to help me fulfill this crazy story concept!”