"Police Story", "The True Color of Heroes", "Once Upon a Time", "Journey to the West"... When it comes to the classics of the "Golden Age" of Hong Kong movies, the majority of movie fans will naturally be familiar with them.
The well-known lines and meaningful and profound fragments have long entered the collective memory of the public.
Today, seven Hong Kong directors, including Yuan Heping, Tsui Hark, and Xu Anhua, who have participated in and witnessed the brilliance of Hong Kong movies have gathered again to shoot with films that have already withdrawn from the film industry. Starting from Hong Kong in the 1950s, they each choose an era as the background to tell their stories. .
The film called "The Band of Seven" not only leads the audience back to the changes of the times, but also is an affectionate confession to Hong Kong movies.
golden years
The development of Hong Kong film has a history of over a hundred years.
Since the 1970s, Hong Kong movies have accumulated a lot, Shaw Brothers martial arts has demonstrated the spirit of traditional Chinese culture, and Bruce Lee has created a whirlwind of "Chinese Kung Fu" in the world film circle.
Until the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong films reached their peak, with an annual output of more than 200 films, with more than 20,000 film practitioners.
Hong Kong films of the golden age not only often beat Hollywood films at the local box office, but also profoundly influenced Hollywood culturally, attracting imitations and tributes by American directors.
At that time, Hong Kong enjoyed the reputation of "Hollywood of the East" and was also called the "star-making factory" of the Chinese.
Since the mid-to-late 1990s, affected by the financial crisis and the SARS epidemic, coupled with industry problems and a shrinking market, Hong Kong movies have entered a low ebb, with an annual output of only dozens of films.
"Some Hong Kong filmmakers have gradually realized that if they want to find new development opportunities, they must focus on the mainland market." said Ma Fengguo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
"With the return of Hong Kong to the motherland, more channels have been opened up for film exchanges between the two places." Lin Yawen, deputy director of the Hong Kong Office in Beijing, told reporters that in 2003, the "Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" (CEPA) was signed. , so that filmmakers from the two places have more opportunities to exchange film production technology and experience, and the number of co-productions is increasing.
In 2019, the State Film Administration introduced a number of measures to support the further development of Hong Kong films in the Mainland, which improved the flexibility of co-productions between Hong Kong and the Mainland, allowing each other to complement each other's advantages and achieve mutual success.
northward development
"Hong Kong filmmakers who have developed in the north have brought mature commercial experience and genre film production experience to Chinese films." Zhou Xing, director of the Asian and Chinese Film Research Center of Beijing Normal University, told reporters. From "Operation Mekong" to "Changjin Lake", Hong Kong directors have participated, giving China's new mainstream movies a more popular angle.
"Telling Chinese stories brings me a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Hollywood movies all have themes, why can't we, a country as big as ours, make our own themes?" Hong Kong director Lam Chao-hsien has directed many new mainstream movies with good box office reputations. In an interview, he said that inspiring stories such as "Operation Mekong", "Operation Red Sea" and "Changjin Lake" were all created in the context of national development.
At present, there are more than 80,000 movie screens in China, ranking first in the world and the second largest movie market in the world, with a broad space for development.
"Only relying on the local market in Hong Kong cannot support the long-term development of Hong Kong films and filmmakers. The vast mainland market is a solid backing for the continuous innovation and development of Hong Kong films." Zheng Jianfeng, vice president of Media Asia Film, told reporters that the current Hong Kong film industry is facing The biggest challenge lies in the generation of talents and the lack of connection.
The major opportunities provided by the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have brought the long-awaited east wind to Hong Kong filmmakers.
"Currently, the development of the cultural and creative industries in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has two advantages. First, the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area proposes to 'jointly build a cultural bay area'. Second, the national '14th Five-Year Plan' supports the development of Hong Kong. Become a cultural and artistic exchange center between China and foreign countries.” Zheng Jianfeng said that at an important development node, Media Asia Film and Bauhinia Culture Group will join hands to carry out strategic cooperation, and plan to jointly invest in the production of ten films to help young people in the Greater Bay Area and film and television talents from both places realize their film dreams. .
Passing the torch
Last year, the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival added a Hong Kong Classic Film Festival, and the film list was full of surprises.
The most anticipated 4K restored IMAX version of "In the Mood for Love", tickets for the first and additional screenings were sold out in seconds, which shows the charming charm of Hong Kong's classic movies.
"There are so many classic films in the history of Hong Kong, but there are not many that we can see on the big screen." Li Xiaohong, deputy dean of Xiamen University Film School, told reporters, "There are people in Hong Kong who have been doing film restoration work, and they have also jointly cultivated restoration work with us. Talents. There are too many films to be restored, and if these are done well, I believe Hong Kong films will have a greater impact on young people."
"Hong Kong films have a glorious past, which can provide important experience and reference for mainland films to go overseas and have greater influence." Zhang Yan, executive director of the Hong Kong Film Committee of the China Taiwan and Hong Kong Film Research Association, told reporters.
"The Band of Seven" is currently being released. The seven Hong Kong directors are over 60 years old, and the Hong Kong movie stars who have traveled with them all the way are no longer young.
Zhao Weifang, deputy director of the Film and Television Institute of the China National Academy of Arts, told reporters that in the 1970s and 1980s, young directors Tsui Hark and Xu Anhua created a "new wave of Hong Kong films", opened up new genres, and expressed the Hong Kong society and the mentality of Hong Kong people at that time. .
After Hong Kong's return to the motherland, around 2010 and now, young Hong Kong filmmakers have seen two waves of creation similar to the previous "New Wave" in the Hong Kong film industry.
"Despite the epidemic now, the creation of Hong Kong films has not weakened. Young Hong Kong directors pay attention to reality and show the resilience of Hong Kong people in the face of difficulties in life and the Hong Kong spirit full of positive energy. Relying on the expression of Hong Kong flavor, the subject matter is rich and the thinking is also good. It is more profound, and it highlights the humanistic characteristics of Hong Kong films.”
The emotional work "Anita Mui" was released last year, evoking the audience's memories of the golden years of Hong Kong movies and winning the Hong Kong box office championship that year.
The director of the film and "post-70s" Liang Lemin said that the flexibility of Hong Kong people is really high. In the behind-the-scenes team of the film, you will deeply feel the efficiency and adaptability of Hong Kong people, which has not changed.
Inheriting the efforts of our predecessors, we will continue the tradition.