If Jackie Chan and Ngo Vu Sam once made the glory days of martial arts movies, romantic movies are also considered an indispensable specialty of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s.
During the heyday of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s, filmmakers in Hong Kong set new standards for martial arts action films.
Building on Bruce Lee’s legacy, artists like Jackie Chan, Hong Kim Bao, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, Donnie Yen… have taken the genre to a new level with listed films. Listed in classics such as: Police Story, Identity Hero, Plan A…
Wong Kar-wai’s early films such as Chongqing Shanlin, for example, were artistic romances that focused on love and longing.
But while the global popularity of Hong Kong cinema is built on hit action films like this one – the genre that brought Wu Yushen and Yuan Heping to the Hollywood film market and had an impact. as big as The Matrix – better known for its excellent movies that lean towards romance and romance.
Truong Man Ngoc and Le Minh in Diem Secret
In which, the love film Diem Mitt, played by Le Minh and Truong Man Ngoc, held the record for the most during that period when “cleansing” the award at the Hong Kong Film Awards with 9 awards. Only later, The Secret was defeated by Wong Kar-wai’s action film The Great Grandmaster – which won 12 awards in 2014.
Speaking of Wong Kar-wai, he is the man behind early films about longing and unrequited love such as Chongqing Son Lam and The Mood for Love – which first brought him to the attention and praise of critics. reward.
In the Mood for Love is a classic film of Hong Kong cinema, released in 2000 by director Wong Kar-wai with two main actors Leung Trieu Vy and Truong Man Ngoc.
After all, the question arises: what happened to Hong Kong’s tradition of excellent romantic filmmaking?
Arguably Hong Kong’s last great romantic movie came from director Peng Hao Tuong with his trilogy of Smoke of Love, Xuan Kieu and Chi Minh and Xuan Kieu saving Chi Minh, starring Duong Thien. Hoa and Du Van Lac play a cigarette-addicted couple who secretly use drugs after Hong Kong’s newly introduced indoor smoking ban.
However, the film Xuan Kieu saves Chi Minh ended Peng Hao Tuong’s romantic drama series in 2017, and since then there has been no such special film.
Du Van Lac and Duong Thien Hoa in Xuan Kieu and Chi Minh
Even in the seven-year span between the first and last films of that “Smoke trilogy,” there were no films of note.
So what’s to blame?
The lack of “star power” could be a reason. In the same way that Hong Kong’s Canto-pop industry has failed to reinvent itself in recent years – except for one popular group that we know from decades ago until now is Twins, they still rely on the big names of the past to sell discs and concert tickets.
The same is true in the film industry. Hong Kong cinema is often based on established stars from the 1980s or 1990s.
Such movie stars really have a fan base that guarantees revenue. However, now Hong Kong lacks those stars. This is in contrast to the golden age of Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung Trieu Vy or Truong Man Ngoc – who were once domestic and foreign stars.
Lam Thanh Ha and Kim Thanh Vu in Vuong Gia Ve’s Chongqing Son Lam
Hong Kong’s film industry weakened in the 1990s due to factors such as copying, piracy, and many of the best filmmakers and stars moving to Hollywood… Therefore, Hong Kong also has strengthen its forte in the production of action movies.
With the domestic market shrinking, why not go global? If a global audience familiar with the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Wu Yu wants to see action movies, then so be it.
That is why in the years before 2000, Hong Kong could choose a film like Mood in Love as the Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film, while in recent years it has chosen films leaning more towards action movies such as Red Sea Agent (2018) and White Storm 2: The Opium Boss (2019)… to compete internationally.
One final reason why Hong Kong lacks contemporary romances might be the overwhelming dominance of the Korean film or drama genre itself.
The Hallyu wave has been on the rise for many years now. It has created countless famous works such as: Sassy Girl, The Star Brings You, Legend of the Blue Sea, Landing on You… with famous icons such as: Lee Min Ho, Jun Ji Hyun, Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jun… as well as countless other young Korean stars, it’s no wonder that Hong Kong has difficulty in creating hit romantic films worldwide.
The arrival of Korean films, typically Squid Game, proves that audiences’ tastes change.
Whatever the case, let’s remember that Hong Kong filmmakers have not lost their ability to make good movies at all.
In fact, there has been a quiet, small-scale renaissance in the Hong Kong film industry in recent years. Ten Years was released in 2015 and inspired local versions around the region in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand for example.
Movies like: Beyond Dreams and Ignorance offer a courageous look at mental health issues, while The Wanderer examines life’s often unexplored facets of life. in Hong Kong such as disability and the lives of domestic workers.
Image from the movie Revolution of Our Times
Although currently banned in Hong Kong and China, Revolution of Our Times has won documentary awards in both East Asia and Europe. For budding directors, the government’s feature film debut initiative has been invaluable support and has produced a number of worthy films on various themes over the years.
There have been a number of films that have told touching relationships in one way or another, but not all of them are the typical classic Hong Kong love stories.