China Central Television's English program Culture Express continued to discuss Hong Kong film industry. It pointed out three options Hong Kong film industry is facing: sticking to home market, merging with mainland, and going global.
CCTV's report says:
We continue to focus on the Hong Kong movie industry. Just as in other businesses, there are always challenges and opportunities. And local film-makers usually have three choices open to them as they seek all-important funding and support. Not surprisingly, they must return to these options again, and again.
Option No. 1: Sticking to home market
In the Special Administrative Region there are a number of filmmakers who make a point of making movies with local funding. With an enduring love of cinema for its own sake, they are determined to stick to the home turf from whence they sprang. And their works are totally imbued with the unique spirit of the port city. The first and foremost amongst them is director Johnny To.
To was influenced early in his career by the Hong Kong New Wave of the 1980's. His early films all displayed a special quality that is in perfect harmony with the overall temperament of Hong Kong movies. In "All About Ah Long" and "A Moment of Romance", his realistic plots and pacey direction won wide acclaim from both spectators and critics.
By the mid 1990s, Hong Kong's movie industry had hit a slow patch. While many of his colleagues dashed off for new pastures across the Pacific in Hollywood, Johnny To stayed in Hong Kong. Trying to combat the bleak conditions of the local market, he began to turn his hand to a variety of different movie styles. He directed comedy/romances like "Needing You", "Wu Yen", and "Love on a Diet", and the gangland epics "Running out of Time", "PTU", and "The Mission". Almost every one of them got top marks from the critics, as the impressive number of Hong Kong Film Awards on Johnny's mantelpiece attest.
And recent years have seen Johnny trying to blaze yet another new trail. Last year his movie "Exiled" enjoyed a very successful run in Europe, opening a whole new market for Hong Kong movies. His Milky Way Image Company is now the standard-bearer of Hong Kong's home grown production industry.
It is a hard to draw a conclusion as to whether sticking to the home market is the right choice overall. But it seems to be working for Johnny To, and for the audiences who want authentically Hong Kong flavored productions. One thing is for sure, the Hong Kong industry couldn't do without HIM.
Option No. 2: Merging with mainland
The movie industry in the Chinese mainland has been undergone a complete transformation in recent years. And Hong Kong filmmakers have moved fast to secure a major share of the pie. In 2006 their box office revenues in Hong Kong itself stood at roughly 900 million Hong Kong dollars. But last year co-productions like Rob a Baby, Confession of Pain, Battle of Wits, and Dragon Tiger Gate, were able to earn three times their take in Hong Kong on the mainland market. The Chinese mainland has become the largest single market for Hong Kong producers.
So nowadays it has become the norm for Hong Kong movies to feature mainland talent. In "The Protege", mainland actress Zhang Jingzhu took the female lead, while the mainland's Xu Jinglei played opposite Hong Kong's Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro from Japan. It's a trend that has seen Zhang Ziyi starring in "2046" and Zhou Xun in "Perhaps Love". Mainland screen performers, especially actresses, have created a considerable presence in Hong Kong, where good young actors are in short supply. Looking the other way, mainland directors have also taken a shine to Hong Kong's established stars. Chen Kaige cast Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung in "The Promise", while Feng Xiaogang’s "The Banquet" starred Daniel Wu. So there is a genuine two way traffic in on-screen talent.
Option No. 3: Going global
Right now Hong Kong filmmakers are hot property in Hollywood, where the need is desperate for creative directors and original plots. In the gangster and action genres,in particular, Hong Kong filmmakers have displayed considerable strength. This year "The Departed", Martin Scorcese's remake of Andrew Lau’s "Infernal Affairs", won Best Picture at the American Academy Awards. Lau himself was invited to direct "Daisy" in South Korea. And the production starring Jeon Ji-hyun, though failing to win the hearts of local audiences, created a new box-office record in the Chinese mainland. Back in Hollywood Kungfu choreographer Yuen Woo Ping, who created the action sequences for "The Matrix" trilogy and "Kill Bill", is still in great demand. And among the Hong Kong acting fraternity who have become global stars are Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan, and Michelle Yeoh. Meanwhile director John Woo, who made HIS name in Hollywood with "Face-Off", is now returning to Chinese-language films, with the 70 million dollar epic "The Battle of the Red Cliffs"
In recent years, East Asia and Southeast Asia, formerly the a major markets for Hong Kong movies, have shrunk considerably. "The Battle of Wits", in spite of having two local actors in its cast, could only hold its place in South Korea's top ten for two weeks. The situation is much the same in Japan, where domestic productions are neck and neck with Hollywood blockbusters. "The Battle of Wits", an adaptation of a Japanese cartoon, has taken 4.67 million US dollars in Japan since opening on February the 3rd. While the figure isn't bad for a Hong Kong film in Japan, it pales in comparison to the business the movie did on the mainland.
Whatever challenges have faced the Hong Kong movie industry, its local filmmakers have never slacked in their efforts for innovation and development. With the markets at home and abroad still hungry for fresh ideas, Hong Kong film makers must surely be well placed to meet this demand.
Editor:Liu Fang
