China Central Television's English program Culture Express discussed the last 12 months in Hong Kong film industry. In 2006, only 51 movies were made in Hong Kong, the lowest production since 80's, generating only 300 million HK dollars (US$39 million) ticket sales. And the top blockbusters were all co-production with other regions.
CCTV's report says:
There's a positive log-jam of movie events in Hong Kong at the moment. Entertainment Expo 2007 runs for almost a month and during this period there are 8 other events taking place including the Asia Film Awards, the Hong Kong Film Mart, the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.
2006'S Hong Kong movies
After the boom comes the bust is the old law of economics, and recent years has seen the Hollywood of the East struggling to recapture the glory days of the 1990s. Unfortunately, 2006 marked a record new low in output.
Output and marketing: A new record low
2006 saw just 51 movies produced in Hong Kong. From the 186 movies in 1997 the figures have yo-yoed year by year but the overall trend has been relentlessly downwards.
And box office receipts have followed the same path. Way back in 1982 the ticket sales for locally produced films were worth 4 hundred million HKD. Last year the figure was just 3 hundred million. And the top four movies,"Fearless","Rob-B-Hood","Battle of Wits" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" were all co-productions with outsiders.
In contrast foreign movies have been raking it in. "Superman Returns" took over 25 million, ,"Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man's Chest" took nearly 36 million and "Death Note" more than 15 million HKD. With 32 foreign movies,the summer season was more like an English film festival.
New companies and actors: Half happy and worry
But it wasn't all doom and gloom -- the industry did see some new faces and interesting new product. Sundream Motion Pictures released 3 movies in 2006 including "Battle of Wits","49 Days" and "Nothing is Impossible". "Battle of Wits" was well received by both audiences and critics for its simple and realistic style. And there's hope of more to come.
BMA released "My Name is Fame". With a strong story line, it also went down very well. While the company's "Heavenly Mission" made three and a half million HKD, "Lola's Curse" made just 400 thousand.
Among the directorial debutantes were Chi Chung Lam, who appeared in many of Stephen Chow's movies,with "I'll Call You". Robin Lee Yan-Chan with "The Shoe Fairy", Lee Kung Lok with "My Mother is a Belly Dancer". And of course there was last year's run away success "Crazy Stone" directed by Ning Hao.
By comparison the acting scene didn't look so bright. In 26th Hong Kong Film Awards,most of the best actor nominees came from elsewhere. And recently the leading roles have all been going to the veteran stars of 10 or 20 years ago. A dearth of new talent is becoming a serious problem.
Joint movie: A new direction
Of last year's movies, it's been the co-productions like"Fearless", "Battle of Wits", "Confession of Pain" and "Dragon Tiger Gate" which have done the best business.
In fact joint HK-Chinese production goes back a long way.In the 1980s "Behind the Screen", "The Burning of YUANMINGYUAN", "the Shaolin Temple", "Shaolin Assassin" and the like, were all made this way. Hong Kong's financial muscle and mainland's beautiful landscapes and other resources made for natural partnerships.
After Hong Kong returned to the Mainland in 1997, the trend intensified. 2004's Closer Economy Partnership Arrangement contained several protocols on film cooperation. The 32 co-productions accounted for almost half of that year's output. In 2006 only 18 movies were made this way, but all were big budget affairs. Obviously the mainland represents a huge market for Hong Kong film makers, which they're not going to lose sight of.
And although the Hong Kong industry has faced many pressures, it keeps coming up with great scripts. And as long as it can do that, there's always hope for a reversal of fortunes.
Editor:Liu Fang
