"Half Life" Movie Stills Information Picture

【Big Bay Observation·Co-construction of the Humanities Bay Area】

"Bay Area Rising Moon" 2021 Greater Bay Area Mid-Autumn Festival Movie and Music Evening has occupied the hot search list on Weibo for several days. Familiar faces and classic melodies have brought us to relive the glorious years of Hong Kong movies.

Hong Kong, known as "Oriental Hollywood", has undoubtedly had impressive results in its films.

In the early 1980s, almost every household was watching "Huo Yuan Jia". In 1982, "Shaolin Temple" was released in the mainland, setting a box office record of 160 million yuan at a price of 1 dime. You can imagine how popular it is.

However, the argument that Hong Kong films are "no longer brilliant" has been mentioned in the Chinese film circle.

However, it should be noted that, against the background of the great changes in the film market in the new century, Hong Kong films and Mainland films have been merging and developing.

We believe that in the process of actively integrating into the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong films will gain new opportunities and space with a larger vision and a higher profile.

"Shaolin Temple" Movie Stills Information Picture

1. Hong Kong and the mainland have a long history of film and television cooperation

  Hong Kong-produced films in the 1980s created amazing miracles in terms of output, box office, quality and artistry, and formed a huge film industry system. The total film output value surpassed the Bollywood of the Asian film power India and ranked second in the world. , Second only to Hollywood, which has a global market.

  At that time, Hong Kong gathered the best film practitioners in the entire Chinese-speaking world. Whether it was screenwriters, directors, actors, photographers, props, dubbing and even dubbing, they were all talented.

With the help of powerful human resources, even some "fast movies" that were shot in a few weeks and some movies that don't even have a script can have good quality.

  In the 1980s, Hong Kong film companies have begun to cooperate with the mainland, from "Shaolin Temple" to "Half Life", from "Mythology" to "Kung Fu Yoga", we can see from the successful experience of the integration of the mainland and Hong Kong film culture, On the one hand, Hong Kong filmmakers retain the essential elements of Hong Kong movies, such as kung fu, action, and funny; on the other hand, they also have a keen perception of the multi-cultural effects brought about by the rise of the Chinese film industry.

This cultural integration not only gave Hong Kong films a new life, but also improved the cultural quality of the entire Chinese film, allowing Chinese films to better participate in international cultural competition.

2. The film and television industries of the two places should better work together

  For a long time, people’s impressions of Hong Kong movies have often focused on themes such as police actions, nonsensical comedies, Hong Kong-style love and martial arts.

However, as some Hong Kong directors, actors, and film and television companies entered the mainland film market, Hong Kong films and mainland films began to integrate and develop, and the themes and content became more diversified.

For example, the small-cost movie "The Unknown", the popular movie "The Evil", the annual box office champion movie "Operation Red Sea" and other films, all have Hong Kong film and television companies.

How can the film and television industries of the two places further integrate and develop?

  First, in terms of the subject matter of film and television works, Hong Kong film and television companies can try to further increase tolerance, not limited to the types of police and criminal crimes they are good at, and try military, absurd comedy, inspirational love and other themes.

You can also actively participate in the trend of mainland IP film and television adaptation, and cooperate with famous mainland directors and emerging film and television companies to varying degrees.

For example, in the movie "Antique Bureau Intermediate Bureau", with the old Beijing city at the end of the 20th century as the background, the protagonist made a wish to live in Beijing Liulichang since he was a child.

Choosing to adapt the story that is rich in northern regions shows that Hong Kong film and television companies have confidence in their own production capabilities. This is a good attempt.

  Secondly, gangster films are the advantage of Hong Kong's film industry. They can dig deeper into mainland stories and innovate the content of gangster films.

In the past, mainland elements also appeared in more representative Hong Kong police films, but in most cases, the story took place in Hong Kong, and the overall narrative style was also traditional Hong Kong characteristics.

However, in recent years, it can be seen from films such as "Operation Mekong" and "Operation Red Sea" that the police and criminal series involving Hong Kong directors, actors, and production crews have begun to use mainland stories and backgrounds as the core of the film, in narrative and In terms of artistic style, the original traditional model is no longer copied, and the deep integration with mainland film production has been realized.

It can be seen that continuously injecting new content into its deeply cultivated police and criminal films to realize the innovation of this type of film is becoming a major trend in the development of Hong Kong police and criminal films.

"Evil Do Not Suppress Righteousness" Movie Stills Information Picture

3. Integration and development are at a time when the time and place are right and the people are harmonious

  The national "14th Five-Year Plan" outline was put forward for the first time to support Hong Kong's development of Sino-foreign cultural and artistic exchange centers.

This is a positive response to the current urgent needs for the development of Hong Kong’s culture, helping to leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantages of “one country, two systems”, strengthening the establishment of close relations with overseas famous cultural institutions, continuing to promote cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and building a hub for cultural and creative industry exchanges between China and foreign countries. A highland of Chinese and foreign cultural talents.

This is undoubtedly a strong thrust for the integration and development of the film and television industry in Hong Kong and the mainland.

  In 2019, the relevant central authorities promulgated five measures to benefit the Hong Kong film industry.

Hong Kong people participating in the production of the mainland film industry will no longer be subject to quantitative restrictions; for co-productions between Hong Kong and the mainland, there are no restrictions on the ratio of actors and mainland elements; cancellation of the application fee for the establishment of Hong Kong and mainland co-productions; Hong Kong films and filmmakers can sign up Participating in Mainland film awards; Hong Kong film companies can apply for awards provided by the Mainland for the distribution and promotion of outstanding Mainland films and co-productions in Hong Kong, Macau and overseas.

The series of new measures have reduced the burden on the Hong Kong side and strengthened the willingness of Hong Kong film and television companies and filmmakers to cooperate.

  The implementation of the new measures allows Hong Kong films to enjoy more voice in the creation of co-productions.

At the same time, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has also brought brand-new development opportunities to the integration of the films of the two places.

With the promulgation of the "Outline of the Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", taking the film and television industry as the starting point and cooperating with Hong Kong and Macao for coordinated development is an important opportunity for the construction of the "Humanistic Bay Area".

  The Greater Bay Area gathers cutting-edge scientific and technological talents at home and abroad, but it cannot be denied that technological shortcomings are a potential problem for the further development of domestic films.

The perfect combination of technological advancement and film art is the only way for modern movies. The gap of technical talents must not be a gap in the development of Chinese movies.

It is hoped that the policies and talent advantages of the Greater Bay Area can be used to establish an independent intellectual property development platform for the film and television industry, form a digital ecosystem for the film and television industry, and provide filmmakers with freely selected, full-line, low-cost and one-stop solutions , So that it no longer bears high digital movie content patent fees or worry about infringement costs, let filmmakers let go of their hands and feet to concentrate on creating high-quality content, so that outstanding Chinese film and television works will go international with a legal status.

  The cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland film and television industry has not only promoted the overall reform and development of mainland film industrialization, but also promoted the formation of a multi-variety, multi-type, and diversified market structure, and to a certain extent effectively realized cross-cultural communication.

As the Hong Kong film critic Lie Fu said, Hong Kong films and mainland films have developed a comprehensive and full cooperation, learning from each other's strengths, continuing to carry forward the enthusiasm and professionalism of films, and daring to develop new film technologies. In this way, Hong Kong films and mainland films The future of the cooperative film is bound to be brilliant, and there is bound to be a better tomorrow.

(Author: Wu Jiezhuang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a founding member of the Mainland Development Association of Hong Kong Performing Arts)