Learning Mandarin - All-time greatest HK film heroes

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CITYLIFE / Hip & New






All-time greatest HK film heroes


(beijing weekend)
Updated: 2007-06-29 10:08



In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-Wai returns with his most accessible work yet. Chow Mo-Wan (Tony
Leung Chiu-Wai) and his wife move into their apartment on the same day
that Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) and her husband move into the apartment
next door. At first their relationship consists of passing pleasantries
and mundane mahjong games with the neighbors but soon a sneaking
suspicion bubbles its way to the surface. The increasing absence of their
respective spouses arrives at the same time that Chow sees his wife
carrying the same handbag as Mrs. Chan. Mrs. Chan, in turn, notices that
her husband sports a tie similar to that worn by Chow. The two begin a
clandestine friendship, and soon discover their desire turning from
revenge to genuine passion.

Wong's movies are about love, but are not necessarily love stories. The
exquisite detail in which we witness the growing passion and passing
frustrations of the would-be adulterers gives Wong ample chances to weave
his signature cinematic magic. Everything from the music, to the glorious
cinematography, to the sublime performances echoes the longing and inner
emotion felt by the two protagonists.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai won the Best Actor Award at Cannes Film Festival in
2000.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Academy award-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is more than
just a movie; it's a phenomenon. The Ang Lee film has had a tremendous
impact on the Asian movies that are financed and distributed to American
audiences.

The disappearance of a magical jade sword spurs a breathtaking quest for
the missing treasure. Li (Chow Yun-Fat) is embittered by the loss of his
jade sword, and his unrequited pursuit of Yu (Michelle Yeoh) is further
complicated by the mysterious intrusion of a murderer. The identity of
the assassin is gradually unveiled as a beautiful, well-to-do noble who
is more than what she seems to be (Zhang Ziyi).

Shaolin Soccer

After a two-year break, Stephen Chow finally returned to Hong Kong
screens with Shaolin Soccer. Chow stars as Sing, a Shaolin disciple famed
for his "Mighty Steel Leg". He's inspired to start a soccer team composed
of Shaolin martial artists after he meets Fung (Ng Man-Tat). Fung was
once a brilliant soccer player called "Golden Leg Fung", but he became
crippled after throwing a match some 20 years ago. His rival Hung
(Patrick Tse) was the cause of Fung's injury, and now leads an
intimidating soccer team with the unsubtle moniker "Evil Team". Fung's
goal is to meet his old rival on the playing field, but first they have
to get a team together.

Easily his most ambitious film, it combined the usual Chow nonsense
comedy with a sports storyline and special effects. The result: the
biggest local moneymaker in Hong Kong history, and a critically-lauded
effort which took home the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Picture,
Director, Actor and a bunch of others.

Infernal Affairs

Top-notch commercial filmmaking starring more big names than any Hong
Kong film probably deserves. Directed by Andrew Lau, Alan Mak, this
cops-and-robbers thriller is about a pair of detectives leading
undercover lives. Yan (Tony Leung) has lived deep inside organized crime
for 10 years, while Ming (Andy Lau, not to be confused with the director)
is a highly placed, corrupt internal affairs officer. This intricate and
well-told story of loyalty and betrayal has been the stuff of other Hong
Kong crime melodramas.

At over HK$55 million ($7 million), the film has gone on to become the
territory's second highest-grossing local film behind Shaolin Soccer when
it was released. It has won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor
and three other awards at the 2003 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Perhaps Love

Hong Kong director Peter Chan continues his quest for love in Perhaps
Love - a Chinese-language, Broadway style musical film. The story itself
is simple. With its backdrop in present-day Shanghai, a female film star
Sun Na (Zhou Xun) runs into her ex-lover, Lin Jiandong (Takeshi
Kaneshiro), also a famous actor on a movie set in a circus troupe. But,
the actress is now together with the director Nie Wen (Jacky Cheung). Lin
harbors mixed love and hatred for Sun, and plots to take revenge to her
for ten years of waiting after she left him to chase her dream of being a
star. The three characters struggling in the circus troupe movie happened
to suffer the same triangle in real life.

Director Peter Chan invites Bollywood choreographer and dancer Farah Khan
to design the Broadway-style dance numbers set in Old Shanghai. Zhou Xun
has won the Best Actress award for her acting in this film at the 25th
Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006.




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