Yangcheng Evening News reporter Hu Guangxin

In the past year, Hong Kong films have frequently set new records at the box office. First, at the end of 2022, "Tomorrow's War" set a Hong Kong box office record for Hong Kong films with a box office of 8182.2023 million Hong Kong dollars; After that, "Poisonous Tongue Lawyer" ("Poisonous Tongue Shape") released on January 1, 21 surpassed "Tomorrow's War" and became the first Hong Kong film with a box office of more than 7734 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong. Coupled with "Still Think You're the Best" ("Dinner Drama Attacking the Heart"), which ended with <>.<> million Hong Kong dollars, the three films won the top three in the total box office list of Hong Kong Chinese-language films. Hong Kong films, which were once asserted to be "dead", seem to have ushered in "Xiaoyang Chun".

At the 27th Hong Kong International Film and Television Festival, the signals of the recovery of Hong Kong films can be seen everywhere. The reporter interviewed a number of industry insiders, and after several years of struggle, Hong Kong films seem to have found a new direction.

The A-list cast and cast return

This year's Hong Kong International Film and TV Festival has resumed its former liveliness, and a number of film and television companies have announced the next year's film list. Among them, Emperor Film held a huge film tour, from Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Chen Weiting, Lin Ka Yan, Choi Cheuk-yan and other star artists to Lin Chaoxian, Chuang Wenqiang, Mak Siuhui and other well-known directors, all appeared with their works.

"Reboot" became the key word of this movie tour. Many people who have not been seen for a long time and collocations that have not been seen for a long time have appeared in this list. For example, Tony Leung, who has not cooperated for 20 years, and Andy Lau collaborated again in the crime film "Goldfinger", which will be released this year; Jacky Cheung, who has not filmed for 7 years, finally came out and starred in "Customs Front"; Lin Chaoxian, who had been filming a big production in the mainland before, returned to Hong Kong to shoot "Breaking Point", the male protagonists are Cheung Ka Fai and Chen Weiting, who has not appeared in Hong Kong movies for a long time; There is also Nicholas Tse, who can be called this year's model worker: in addition to the "Customs Front", which has already been filmed, three upcoming projects have been announced at once, including "Rage Spread", "Infinite Mission" and "New Police Story 2". Among them, he will be a director for the first time in "New Police Story 2". Nicholas Tse said: "These are all projects that have been talked about for several years, and they can finally start this year, so we won't worry about being busy." ”

The number of Hong Kong films has decreased year by year in recent years, from 2019 in 49 to 2022 in 27. Andy Lau said frankly that for Hong Kong film practitioners, there have not been many job opportunities in the past three years, but this year there is a positive trend: "Everyone seems to want to find the gap of the past three years, as long as there is this heart, the industry will get better and better." Lam Chaoxian, who served as executive producer and chief director of "Burst Point", said: "Coming back to Hong Kong to film makes me feel at home because everyone is passionate about doing the same thing. Although filming action scenes in Hong Kong is tough, it is also the fun. ”

Hong Kong films are becoming premium

In the past three years, the number of Hong Kong films has declined, and the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies has increased. Tony Leung mentioned in an interview that it is a happy thing to see that many audiences are willing to support Hong Kong films, "local audiences are very enthusiastic about watching movies, so that we can cultivate more new film practitioners, which is a good start." Chan Wing-sun, director of "Still Think You're the Best", also observed the same phenomenon: "Since last year, the audience will take photos and check in after watching Hong Kong films, and I feel very gratified. ”

From another side, it is precisely because the quality of Hong Kong films has improved in recent years that more audiences are willing to pay for entering the cinema. "Poisonous Tongue Lawyer", "Tomorrow's War" and "Still Think You Are the Best" set box office results in Hong Kong, and also have good earnings and reputation in the mainland. These three films have jumped out of the shackles of Hong Kong-style genre films such as police and bandits, crime, and action, allowing the audience to see the novelty of Hong Kong films. The downturn that lasted for several years gave Hong Kong films the opportunity to be reborn.

In "Dialogue with the Director: Hong Kong Cinema's 'Little Yang Chun'? At the forum, Chan shared that the Hong Kong film industry has become more calm in recent years: "There are fewer speculators, and those who remain are people who love movies." Directors attach importance to making movies, and investors will also carefully calculate. It can be seen that Hong Kong films have become more boutique. ”

"Get together two big-name actors, say to the boss, 'Let's start a police movie', and the boss agrees to invest money - this kind of thing is basically impossible now." "Poisonous Tongue Lawyer" director Wu Weilun said. There is a new trend in the Hong Kong film industry: more attention is paid to scripts, "In this era, scripts are very important, we have to use scripts to convince investors and actors." In the case of low investment, "telling a good story" is the key to the success of small-cost films, and "Poisonous Tongue Lawyer" and "Still Think You Are the Best" are success stories. Chen Yongshen shared a method: "What Xu Guanwen taught me is to tell a story clearly in three sentences. Being able to do this proves that the beginning and end of the story and the dramatic conflict are clear. ”

The industry gives new directors more opportunities

Those who follow Hong Kong films will find that there have been more new directors in Hong Kong in recent years. Becoming a director seems easier than before. "In the past, we had to have Master bring us, and he thought we were OK, so he would give us a chance to try. But now there are many more ways to become a new director than we did before. Wu Weilun said.

At present, a number of organisations and companies in Hong Kong have launched film support schemes to encourage more people to join the film industry. The Hong Kong Film Development Council's First Feature Film Project was first launched in 2013, with films such as "One Thought of Ignorance" and "Five Steps" and this year's Academy Awards-shortlisted films such as "Flowing Water and Flowers" and "Lights Shouting". The "Always Make Films" project, launched by the Hong Kong Filmmakers Association in 2021, will support the shooting of eight films, with two finalists in the first edition, one of which has already entered post-production. There are more practitioners, and the themes and types of films are also enriched.

According to Zhu Fengxian, the director of "All the Way to Pupils", the subject matter that commercial investors can accept today is richer: "Whether it is a blockbuster film or a small film, investors are more willing to invest." My film was also invested by a commercial film company, and they were willing to put their money into such a very personal rather than commercial film. So I am confident that there will be more Hong Kong films of different themes and genres in the future. ”

However, the "actor shortage" is still an urgent problem for Hong Kong films. At this emperor film tour, Tony Leung, Andy Lau and other top pillars are over 60 years old, and there is a lack of middle-generation actors, which can also explain why Nicholas Tse is so busy. Chan Wing-sun also believes that Hong Kong films lack the most middle-aged male number one in their 30s and 40s, which will limit the play of the theme of Hong Kong films: "Filming a young man in his 20s who is out of love is divorced from filming a 40-year-old man, and I think the latter has more dramatic conflicts." But if we don't have the right actors, it's hard to make a work like this. ”

Hong Kong films should be aimed at a world audience

Wu Weilun said: "I have chatted with many industry insiders at the film and television festival in the past few days, and I feel that many people in other places have actually taken this opportunity to re-examine Hong Kong films and see what changes have been made in Hong Kong films. So for Hong Kong filmmakers, this is a great opportunity to let more people know about us. ”

Hong Kong films were once popular all over the world, and now Hong Kong filmmakers are rebuilding their vision of the world. "Now that streaming platforms are developed, we're targeting audiences all over the world. We've studied Netflix's data, and some films look particularly local, but they attract people around the world. Photographing local themes and exploring local cultural characteristics, I think this is a new way out. On streaming platforms, some of the most common genres are not necessarily popular. Wu Weilun said. Chen Yongshen also agrees: "Be yourself and seriously shoot the stories you believe." Culture is a cloak, but there are some feelings that are common to all human beings. Wu Weilun said that he hopes to have the opportunity to cooperate with filmmakers from other countries and regions to make better works together.

Yangcheng Evening News, March 2023, 3, version A17