UK/CHINA: AS THE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST FILM PRODUCER, HONG KONG LAYS CLAIM TO THE TITLE OF HOLLYWOOD OF THE FAR EAST

Record ID: 387668

  • Title: UK/CHINA: AS THE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST FILM PRODUCER, HONG KONG LAYS CLAIM TO THE TITLE OF HOLLYWOOD OF THE FAR EAST
  • Date: 29th July 1998
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (RECENT) (RTV ACCESS ALL) SHU KEI SAYING, (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH "IF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT MAKING GOOD FILMS, LONG-LASTING FILMS, WE ARE ON THE SAME PLANE (AS MAINLAND CHINESE) - BUT IN TERMS OF CHOOSING SUBJECT MATTER WE ARE VERY DIFFERENT - A FILM LIKE (REP. OF CHINA DIRECTOR CHEN KAIGE'S ) 'FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE - THERE IS NO HONG KONG FILM-MAKER WHO COULD MA
  • Embargoed: 13th August 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOND0N, UK / HONG KONG, CHINA
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Reuters ID: LVA5300RK1IMYP3QGDOADCB7E436
  • Story Text: As the world's third-largest film producer, Hong Kong can rightfully lay claim to the title of Hollywood of the Far East.Hong Kong cinema long ago broadened its scope from Kung Fu movies and its vibrant film scene has attracted fans across the globe.

    Over the past decade Hong Kong films have established themselves on the international cinema scene and a number of directors have joined the ranks of the great masters.

    Three Hong Kong Chinese directors recently came to London to show their films at a festival to celebrate Hong Kong film-making - a year after the handover to China.They represent only a proportion of today's Hong Kong film-makers with a sense of style, passion and strong identity which gives their film's universal appeal, beyond the Chinese market.

    Last year, Fruit Chan's film 'Made in Hong Kong' won prizes at European festivals including Locarno and swept the board at the 1997 Hong Kong Academy Awards.

    Chan is riding high on the success of 'Made in Hong Kong' - a no-budget wonder made with short ends of film and a non-professional cast.The film tells the story of Autumn Moon, a teenager forgotten in the trauma of a society preparing to change its boss from colonial to communist.

    Moon is a street kid who gets caught in the treacherous world of drugs and gangsters but who defies his fate by falling in love.

    Chan says the handover to Chinese rule has brought no great changes to the Hong Kong film industry.He does not think censorship will be a problem as the world is watching what China does in Hong Kong.He plans to shoot his next film on the mainland of China.

    Stanley Kwan's film 'Hold You Tight' won two awards at this year's Berlin film festival.Kwan is better established in the art-house circle of Hong Kong directors, along with the acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai whose 'Happy Together' won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1997.Kwan says there is a loose group of young directors including himself and Wong Kar-Wai who are concerned with Hong Kong culture and how it functions.

    'Hold You Tight' takes place in the run-up to the handover in Hong Kong and as Kwan says, it is about 'confusion, identity and awakening'.It is a highly personal story of a complex love triangle between two men and a woman, dealing with love, sex and sexuality.Kwan says the issues reflect the atmosphere in Hong Kong at the time.

    Shu Kei's film 'Stage Door' (Hu Du Men) was nominated for Best Foreign Film in the 1996 Academy Awards.Kei's film is about life and art - in traditional Chinese theatre the 'Hu Du Men' is an imaginary line that separates the stage from the real world, when the actor crosses this line he must leave his real self behind.Confronted with the changing values of contemporary society, a middle-aged opera singer finds this increasingly hard to do.

    Shu Kei says he has no intention of going to Hollywood - as other Hong Kong alumni such as John Woo (director of 'Broken Arrow ' and 'Face/Off', have done.He will stay in Hong Kong and make the films he really wants to make.Though he says Hong Kong film-makers have a particular culture and vision which means they will never make films as great as the masters of mainland China.

    The Hong Kong industry has been affected by the Asian financial crisis - along with all other sectors of the economy.It has also been hard hit by competition from Hollywood movies which have captured the biggest share of the movie-going public.

    But most of these young directors will stay in Hong Kong, and carry on making films, whatever the market and the political climate.Their films, at least, will carry on being made in Hong Kong.
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