My Love Letter to Hong Kong Cinema: Part 1

I recently watched MEN ON THE DRAGON in our local cinema and also Vox's Border Series which covered Hong Kong in the most educational and entertaining way eg. China is erasing its borders with HK. These exposure and the feeling of nostalgia led me to write this 3-part series - to pay homage to Hong Kong cinema. 

To kick start, let me set it up with something depressing. 

In my opinion, Hong Kong cinema will never ever be able to resurrect its glory days of the 70s, 80s and 90s (during its golden age, the country was producing 400 films a year but in recent times, it has declined to 60 films). Here's why.  

Firstly, back then, HK was significantly wealthier than Mainland China and naturally, it reflected in its entertainment scene. HK contributed 27% of China's GDP during the early 90s, but today it's down to a shocking 3%. Visually, I am imagining Big Brother slowly but surely strangling the life out of Hong Kong, eventually killing off its commercial importance in the region. Obviously, this affected the output of movies as the entertainment industry shifted towards China - a much bigger market. 

Secondly, there is a role reversal. Once upon a time, Mainland Chinese actors/singers wanted to break into the HK market to jump start their career but today, HK people and existing personalities are trying to make it big in China, thus causing a brain drain. 

Lastly, more foreign investments especially from Hollywood started to pour into Mainland China to collaborate with Chinese production companies. The purpose? To break into the Chinese market to make more money as US box office has been steadily declining over the years (if you have 7 minutes to spare, check out this informative video on How China is Changing Hollywood). As a result, Chinese production houses are aggressively learning from the West and rapidly advancing their competencies in this field. In essence, Chinese cinema gets better and better, leaving Hong Kong cinema in the dust. 

Deep sigh :(

Hence, my love letter. 

I was heavily exposed to Hong Kong movies in the mid 80s to late 90s. That's like a good 15 years of engagement. It definitely influenced my world view and fueled my love for anything cinematic.

I learned about duty, brotherhood, honour, sacrifice and redemption from A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色). My nonsensical sense of humour thanks to Stephen Chow. My idea of romance from the tender interactions and thoughtful gestures between Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai's characters in Comrades: Almost a Love Story (甜蜜蜜). 

Confession time. 

When I was in primary school, I would usually spend a good one hour in the bathroom acting out dramatic shootout scenes from the famous cops and gangster genre. I would slide from one end of my tiny bathroom to another like how Chow Yun Fatt would do in slow-mo, with a gun in each hand. Most of the time, I would crash into the washing pails and my mom would be screaming her lungs out, "BOY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING AGAIN IN THE BATHROOM?!!"    

:) Good old days.  

Today, the quality of most Hong Kong movies are bad (it feels templatized) because they are mainly produced in collaboration with Mainland China production houses. What does that mean? Well, China funded movies have to follow a certain kind of guidelines of do's and don'ts eg. no revolution stories, no homosexual themes, no ghost/vampires movies etc. 

And these films feel "same same" because it's usually historical period dramas with expensive movie sets and costumes and many horses. They will usually have a Hong Kong veteran actor in it like Andy Lau and...Andy Lau, some Korean actors, badly dubbed conversations and horrible CGI.

Unfortunately, the above formula works in the box office. It brings in the money. Influential HK filmmaker Johnnie To once quoted, “Everyone who makes expensive films will have to make compromises, because China is where the money is. It’s that simple.”

In the end, even famed Hong Kong filmmakers have to kowtow to Big Brother. If there is one good thing that came out of this shift is that HK is currently seeing the rise of more independent filmmakers. And their work is setting new standards for Hong Kong cinema. Whether or not this would amass to anything, one can only hope.

---

In Part 2 and 3, I will be jotting down a list of HK movies from the 80s and 90s which left a lasting impression on me. It would be a much more entertaining and lighter entry.