After This Our Exile (父子), a meticulously told drama about a deadbeat father, was the big winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, clinching best movie and best director for Patrick Tam (譚家明).
In a major upset, Lau Ching-wan (劉青雲) won best actor Sunday for the little-known movie My Name Is Fame (我要成名), beating heavyweights like Hollywood stars Jet Li (李連杰), Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) and former Cannes best actor winner Tony Leung (梁朝偉).
Gong Li (鞏俐) from Memoirs of a Geisha and Miami Vice was named best actress for playing an empress who helps stage a coup in famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou's (張藝謀) imperial epic Curse of the Golden Flower (滿城盡帶黃金甲). Gong didn't attend Sunday's ceremony.
Hong Kong director Tam made a triumphant return after a 17-year-break with After This Our Exile, the painstakingly told downfall of a hot-tempered cook, who pimps and forces his son to steal after losing his job, his home and his wife.
Tam, part of Hong Kong's new wave cinema in the 1980s, quit directing after making My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (殺手蝴蝶夢) in 1989 because he wasn't happy with his work, turning to teaching and movie editing instead.
Tam's early work was beautifully shot but thin on substance.
Making his comeback, the director strove to perfect both form and content. The director's cut of After This Our Exile is a stunning 160 minutes.
In testimony to his improved storytelling, After This Our Exile also won Tam a best screenwriter prize Sunday.
Asked about the trend of Hong Kong filmmakers working in China and the decline of the local industry, Tam said: "If you want to revive the Hong Kong cinema, the most important thing is to raise the creativity and quality of Hong Kong film industry workers. Whether you're working with Hollywood or China isn't the most important point.''
Tam's best movie and best director wins Sunday were impressive because he beat respected Hong Kong counterpart Johnnie To (杜琪峰), who was nominated twice in both categories for the gangster movies Election 2 (黑社會：以和為貴) and Exiled (放逐). But perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Lau's best actor win. He won for playing a faded movie star who finds new life by mentoring a budding actress in My Name Is Fame, a film that generated little attention amid the new trend of Chinese epics.
Although Lau was the least well-known among the best actor nominees, he's a veteran actor whose work dates back to 1984.
Lau, who raised his trophy forcefully in celebration, joked about his relative obscurity with his fellow nominees in his acceptance speech.
"I have to thank actors who are senior than me ... like brother Tony Leung, brother Aaron Kwok (郭富城). I will work hard to continue your legacy,'' Lau said, even though both actors are his contemporaries.
Kwok's loss in the best actor category was another surprise because he won the prize at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎) in November for playing the father in After This Our Exile.
Ten-year-old Goum Ian Iskandar (吳景滔), who played the son in After This Our Exile, cemented his status as one of the industry's hottest child stars. After winning best supporting actor at the Golden Horse Awards, he won the same prize in Hong Kong.
Goum struggled to hold up both trophies when posing for photographers backstage. He said his mother has promised to buy him a Nintendo Wii video game console as a reward.
China's Zhou Xun (周迅) won best supporting actress for playing the innocent lover of a prince in The Banquet (豪門夜宴), which was inspired by the Shakespeare play Hamlet.
The lifetime achievement award went to entertainment mogul Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫), who founded the famous Chinese movie studio Shaw Brothers with his siblings and later launched the local TV station TVB.
On the Net: Hong Kong Film Awards official Web site: www.hkfaa.com.
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, while two were found not guilty. It has been a bad week for the TPP. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) with suspicion of taking part in Beijing-directed election interference. Xu has strong links to the TPP, which once offered her a party list legislator nomination. Tuesday also
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS