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Recommended films - Other films to check out - Films to avoid - Other movies

Very few Hong-Kong movies in 2002 were capable of providing the audience with authentic feelings. Such genuine emotions (thrill, surprise, suspense, melancholy, joy…) were therefore my first selection criteria in establishing the following lists (Recommended films and Other films to check out).
There are amongst them typical Cantonese comedies (Frugal Game and If You Care), a genre that has been existing in HK for ages. Other 'international movies' have been selected (Inner Senses and Infernal Affairs), or at least they can be categorised as movies designated for foreign markets and with a polished Chinese identity. Production values of such features are expected to be higher than films made for the local or Pan-Asian markets. As money and big budget aren't necessarily equal to quality (e.g. The Touch), I didn't exclude other low-budgeted movies (Fighting To Survive and Hollywood Hong-Kong).

I didn't intend to find the 2002 trends out of the movies reviewed below. They are examples of what has happened and how producers and filmmakers have considered their work in 2002. There is no proper order of preference since they are all interesting in their own way.

Most of the selected movies are mirrors of the economic and social contexts in HK, and the rest of Asia, and reflections of the current local film industry situation. The films say that Hong-Kong is a fast-paced money-driven city where people have lost some basic values of life. However, the former British colony is very much loved by locals and it's a place where everything is possible with some courage and work.
Some films reveal also the reactions of filmmakers to this juncture and how they had to handle their art to survive. That is why it makes these movies fascinating.

My recommended list

More 2002 movies worth checking out:

Demi Haunted Just One Look Love Undercover The Mummy, Aged 19

My Wife is 18 My Life As McDull New Blood

No Problem 2 Three: Going Home The Wall

The 2002 movies to avoid:

Beauty and The Breast, The Killing Skills Naked Weapon

Psychedelic Cop So Close Wesley's Mysterious Files, The

NB: I haven't watched Golden Chicken and Hero and Era Of Vampires (released in Singapore) yet. Therefore, they cannot be added to this non-exhaustive list.

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My recommended list : 11 movies to get an idea on the 2002 film productions

CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002
is a Wong Kar-wai production and it is quite obvious. The mannerism, the slow-paced story, the production design, the wonderful music and a great cast (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong, Vicky Zhao Wei, Chan Chen…) prove that Wong Kar-wai is behind all this. But not only. Jeff Lau is the director here. Together, they are like enfants terribles of the HK cinema. The two filmmakers, good friend in life, make a lot of private jokes about Wong Kar-wai successes (Chungking Express, Happy Together, Ashes Of Time, Fallen Angels…) or Jeff Lau's tale of the Monkey King A Chinese Odyssey with Stephen Chow Sing-chi. In Chinese Odyssey 2002 there is this particular sense of non-sensical humour you'll get as well from Eagle Shooting Heroes (Dong Cheng Xi Jiu) also made by this team. It is a fine example of the Wong Kar-wai system: a day-to-day written script constituted of a succession of scenes, sometimes self-sufficient. The scenario eventually lands on its feet. The result isn't always hilarious but the beauty and the entertainment of the whole thing make it an enjoyable show. It's worth mentioning that the movie is much less intellectualised than the usual Wong Kar-wai movies and thus it's maybe a bit more accessible… But I still prefer my Wong Kar-wai art-house movie though…

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THE EYE
by the Pang Brothers (Danny and Oxide) is a more typical Chinese ghost story in essence than Inner Sense. Despite a Pan-Asian cast and crew, The Eye stands definitively as a true HK movie in spirit. The story coming from cultural Chinese beliefs on ghosts and the Pang Bros. mise-en-scene, framing and editing confirm its filiation. It's a must seen for three main reasons: an amazing and mature performance by Malaysian born/ Singapore based newcomer Angelica Li Sin-je (Princess d, Betelnut Beauty), a really thrilling atmosphere all along and a bold and stunning final action scene which creates this sense of surprise you'd expect from a HK movie.

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FIGHTING TO SURVIVE
is a low budget comedy produced, written and directed by comedian Dayo Wong. In a post-retrocession and economic crisis context, a young man literally fights to survive. Due to a youth trauma, he cannot take any sort of transportation mean and he is stuck in the Tuen Mun area (a poor area in HK). To make a few bucks, he uses his brain and he develops some great ideas. Surrounded by other peculiar characters and friends (especially Sonija Kwok), he organises pyramidal scams or creates a bodyguard company to bring safely back home lonely females at night. Dayo Wong childish character is a kind-hearted guy firstly blinded by the actual consumerism and venality of the society. He has that strength to always fight to get what he wants, but he'll make decisions to help people first rather than to earn a few more dollars. The refreshing thing about this 'moleitau' (non-sensical humour) movie, mainly based on situation comedy, is that without special effects but only ideas and irony, it keeps the entertainment values high all the time and the surprise effects constant.

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FRUGAL GAME
is a comedy full of wit and satire and that mixes happily various topics. The main ones are ruthless TV producers whiling to make money at all costs, old-time righteousness nostalgia and the economic and social situations in HK. An unemployed father (Eric Tsang) hides his situation from his family by staying all day in a café. The unemployment rate seems to have exploded in HK since most of the café customers are in the same situation. Even the boss (Dodo Cheng) who gave Eric Tsang the sack got fired. They decide to get together in a real TV show in order to win the cash price. Despite its topics, Frugal Game is actually an optimistic and feel-good film with great pugnacious characters. Eason Chan is perfect as Tsui, a TV-series director who only believe in Wu Xia Pian (Chinese chivalry movies) and the values they used to convey. Veteran Ti Lung appears as a schizophrenic Wu Xia Pian actor. In real life he has the same chivalry spirit and the same old-fashioned gestures than in old-school films. Tsui respects him a lot and talks to him with much deference, which creates some of the most hilarious moments in the movie.
Real-TV shows, scandals or affronts to human dignity on TV seem to be popular at the moment. Tsui characters seeks in the past of HK cinema a noble and generous spirit that apparently doesn't exists any more. That's probably why he wants to recover this spirit by making Wu Xia movies.
Director Derek Chiu's final message is positive and encouraging since the rivals of the Frugal Game have preferred their relatives to money. There is not easy solutions and people have to work hard to achieve their goal. The whole family eventually opens a noodle shop, they work hard together and develop great ideas. It's the best way to solve problems for people undertaking hard times and for a film industry that keeps on declining. "Nothing is impossible for HK people!" they say.

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HOLLYWOOD HONG KONG
is and independent movie written, produced and directed by independent an internationally acclaimed filmmaker Fruit Chan Gor. Reported to be the second episode of a prostitution trilogy, the film tells the story of miserable people living at the edge of the wealthy Hong Kong, in Tai Hom village. There are a butcher family, as fat as the pigs they sell, and a weird bunch close to the prostitution business (an under-aged pimp and a prostitute). Another prostitute, called Hung Hung, or sometimes Tung Tung, makes scams and blackmails in order to get money to go and study in Hollywood.
There is a very dark and cynical sense of humour all along. Hong-Kong is shown as a strange city full of lights and flashes and sometimes it really does look like hell. Fruit Chan not only crafted a film about prostitution in HK, but also about the poor forgotten by this economy-driven Asian city and also about those who'd do anything, from prostitution to blackmail passing by friendship treason, to get the hell out of there. Hollywood HK has then this incredible ability to mixes a meaningful story and a reflection on the social consequences of a very modern society with a great sense of entertainement.

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IF YOU CARE
is another 'moleitau' comedy worth watching. Director Adrian Kwan makes incisive critics on the money driven HK society. The story deals with a country bumpkin (Eason Chan) who is deep inside kind-hearted. The only trouble is that he doesn't remember it since he's been living in Hong-Kong, described again as a city full of sharks and venal people, where one is always looking for stealing other people ideas. To protect himself, he has established a psychological shield made of cynicism and selfishness. One day, he meets his childhood sweetheart (Gillian Chung) and finally remembers the true principles of life he once valued in his hometown with other mates. Even though the plot isn't very subtle, the sarcasm and the very black humour work fine. Eason Chan, whose acting may exasperate some, has mastered the commedia dell'arte. A good production value, a neat post-production (funny sounds added give much impact to effects) and a motivated supporting cast (Candy Lo, Hui Siu-hung, Rain Li) reinforce a true sense of entertainment emanating from this comedy. Although the HK film industry as well as the HK society may be undertaking difficulties, the Cantonese sense of humour is not dead yet!

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INFERNAL AFFAIRS
is probably the best thriller made in 2002 and not only because there were actually very few thrillers produced this year! The film, obviously made for international markets, gathers the best cast and crew that the HK movie industry could possibly offer (Nansun Shi, Chris Doyle, The Pang Bros.). Brilliant lead actors are supported by very experienced second roles. Not only Tony Leung Chiu-wai is at his best, but Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong performances are impressive for their depth and restraint as well. In addition to that, the script is well written, complicated at time but never confusing.
All above points should contribute to make Infernal Affairs a masterpiece. The highest expectations are legitimate but it unfortunately fails to be that great. It's however beautiful, clever at time and even thrilling. The over-stylised aesthetic certainly gives an undeniable value to the movie, but it doesn't always serve the film discourse as a whole. Infernal Affairs is however not a beautiful empty shell, since a few shots are truly brilliant and meaningful (Chris Doyle is the visual consultant).
Two scenes make the film worth watching. The first one is when Anthony Wong is shot in a lobby under very bright and cold white lights. His two-coloured aspect (black & white) illustrates well that he is straightforward and cold-blooded. He keeps his self-control under any circumstances, as he'll demonstrate to the end. Shots of the undercover Tony Leung in the sun-lighted roof are equally magnificent. The deep focus composition used reveals spaces, pushes forward the walls and diminishes the legendary narrowness of HK. Not only it cleverly expresses the will of Tony Leung to reach light and freedom, but also the desire of the filmmakers to stretch the HK space and to open the film industry to the West.

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INNER SENSES
has a great production value very close to international or Hollywood standards. Formally, it doesn't contain very much of the HK style. The photography is down to earth and stylish but the editing and framing are consensual enough not to perplex an international audience. Story-wise, this is a ghost story full of suspense. The approach to super-natural phenomenon is original: it is neither a typical Chinese ghost story nor a real Sixth Sense duplicate. In this respect, the ambiguity between phantasms and reality, served by a first-class cast (Leslie Cheung & Karena Lam), makes it breathtaking all the way.

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JULY RHAPSODY
is a nice new feature film from director Ann Hui. She made Visible Secret before, a commercial standard ghost movie. There are obviously contrasts between the two movies. July Rhapsody has well written characters (with solid performances from by Jacky Cheung, Anita Mui and Karena Lam). On top of that, Ann Hui's mise-en-scene is sober, with no excessive angling or face-paced editing.
July Rhapsody deals with a middle age teacher (Jacky Cheung) who starts to wonder about what he's been doing so far in his life and if it actually did worth it. He thinks he falls for one of his students or maybe it's only an excuse to change his everyday life. All is life has been built on lies, hatred and the unsaid. The 17-year old forbidden fruit (Karena Lam) is wicked. She wants to make him fall for her and she's dying to consummate their relationship. The teacher takes the opportunity to gather some courage to change things.
Ann Hui only tells a very realistic story with remarkable restraint. July Rhapsody has a bitter taste for the unanswered questions on generation gap it raises and for the portrait of a man retrospectively assessing his own life. The movie is then deeply touching and for this reason it is probably the best drama of 2002, or at least it deserves to be watched by any fans of HK cinema.
[NB: Although it is considered as a 2001 film by the HK Film Critics Society, I decided to include it to the list since it's been released in HK in March 2002].

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RUNAWAY PISTOL
It's an independent and provocative movie produced by Andy Lau's production company Team Work and Andrew Lau. The story is told from the point of view of a gun made in the thirties and that still kills people around. The gun passes from a hand to another travelling from HK to Mainland China. Each day, when it is on the market and still potentially dangerous, is punctuated by the 'funny fish tank' show on TV. HK and China are apparently filled with ferocious animals: pimps, whores, punks, a husband beating up his wife, another one killing his wife's lover, child kidnappers. Nobody is safe, since even the lady who's used to report on TV with a smile the worst atrocities is involved.
The well-written script, the gritty look of all, the pounding music and an average but still good enough production value prolong the suspense all the way. Runaway Pistol is a dark and pessimistic film far from the yuppie preoccupations constantly showed in many HK movies. Director Lam Wah-chuen proposes an uncompromising point of view on some people whose moral and principle have been worn thin or put to the test. The overexcited bunch realises that the gun is indeed an attractive tool to gain power or a useful mean to quickly resolve problems. But by showing exclusively weak and selfish and amoral people, the director just implies that there is only this type of person left in HK.
Some HK directors took part to the movie as actors, such as Soi Cheang and Wilson Yip.

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SHARK BUSTER
Danny Lee is back in a cop-of-the-town movie, a genre he's been associated with in the eighties (see Final Jusrtice, Law With Two Faces and so on). He still has his same old habits of bending the law and pressurising gangsters. The context of the economic crisis, however, gives this good-cop story a new and original setting. Everyone has speculated and is in debts, even the members of police forces. Danny Lee is the rare one not to be in debts but he's bound to live on HK$ 2800 per month as he keeps repeating. After being mistreated by loan sharks, his fellow cops finally decide to get the culprits with officious means, ruining them by making them pay a fortune for their bail and lawyer fees and by stealing the debtor files. The story is funny and touching although the first half of the movie is slow-paced. If the current situation of HK households were only half the situation depicted in the film, it would still be highly worrying.

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More 2002 movies worth checking out:

Demi-haunted
The story deals with a young Cantonese opera performer (Eason Chan) forced by a ghost (Joey Yung) to accomplish her last wish in order to join her past lover (Nicholas Tse). Moleitau humour, opera and drama are the main ingredients of this demi-amusing and demi-convincing movie.

Just One Look
It's a movie on the golden years of HK cinema with a great cast (Twins, Anthony Wong, Shawn Yu & Sam Lee). It's basically based on nostalgia of the old movies. The film doesn't however makes a great use of these films or doesn't state any interesting point of view on what has been the cinema at that time. All in all, it's an original setting for two non-original and dull love stories.

Love Undercover
Director Joe Ma recycled the character of LK Fung who fakes pregnancy in Dummy Mummy Without A Baby. The setting here is a police station and LK Fung (Miriam Yeung) is a young policewoman who is extremely clumsy. She's sent undercover by a bunch of cops who aren't much better. She obviously makes a mess by falling in love with the target, the son of a former kingpin. Situation comedy, nonsense and great second roles add a spicy touch to this fresh but dispensable comedy.

The Mummy, Aged 19
As the title indicates, it deals with mummies from ancient Egypt. They are woken up by a bunch of youngsters (boy band Shine and Tiffany Lee). The movie starts pretty well with a good depiction of original characters, but it eventually fails to deliver the goods. The final act is neither scary nor funny, just cute to look at…
It's another half-achieved effort from director Wilson Yip who's been much more inspired with Bullet Over Summer and Juliet In Love.

My Wife is 18
It's fantastic for the interaction between Ekin Cheng and Charlene Choi (from girl band Twins) and the generation conflict that ensues. Ekin plays a 30-year-old old boy who's not fortunate in love and Charlene is a young overexcited and childish girl. She indeed is 18-year-old going to 12.
The story is just a pretext to an amusing confrontation between the leads and at least it lets you have fun for 90 minutes.

My Life As McDull
This is the only animation feature released in HK in 2002. McDull is a little and cute pig who tells, from a childish and funny point of view, his story and his life in the big city of HK. Various sketches more or less funny constitute the movie. There are so much references to local culture that if you are not from HK, it's very hard to get all the jokes. Sandra Ng and Anthony Wong are amongst the stars dubbing the characters.

New Blood
It's a second attempt from Soi Cheang to direct a serious horror movie after Horror Hotline… Big Head Monster. It is however much more accomplished here. Soi Cheang doesn't spare the characters, hence anything can happen to them. Once one get that, one realises that the film is overall thrilling because unpredictable. Leading roles are especially good (Nicki Chow and Bernard Chow).

No Problem 2
It's a co-production between HK and Japan, with HK actors (Yuen Biao, Candy Lo, Sam Lee) and director (Ching Kar-lok) and with Japanese actors (Takashi Okamura and Wakana Sakai). The overall story is a loose modern kung fu comedy with a dispensable love story in the middle. The best assets to the film are the parodies of HK greatest successes and stars: The Killer, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Bruce Lee's Way Of The Dragon…

Three: Going Home
Director Peter Chan is in charge of this last episode of the horror triptych movie Three. He decided to make a huis clos between Eric Tsang, Leon Lai and Eugenia Yuen in old and grotty buildings constituting almost a remote area from the HK depicted in most local movies. This apparent time and space discrepancy gives the illusion that the movie is actually far from the present HK preoccupations. This medium-length film is a part of a Pan-Asia project obviously designed for Asian markets. It is supposed to have a HK flavour. The other episodes are Thai and Korean. In Going Home there is a constant ambiguity between the fantasy of ghost stories and reality. So can it be considered as a typically Chinese ghost movie? The beautiful photography by Christopher Doyle and the overall simplistic story make Going Home a nice looking and stylish effort, which finally couldn't have last much longer than 52 minutes.

The Wall
It's a low-budget movie with ridiculous action scenes. They obviously don't represent the film assets. On the other hand, Jordan Chan actor skills and charisma, Cherry Yin freshness and some well-written scenes are the main attractions. Director Billy Tang, used to this type of b-movies (e.g. Devil Touch and Interactive Murders), chose to deal with Triads and to condemn them. Apart from that the rest of the plot is non-original and the outcome is predictable. So if you don't fancy the two lead actors, don't even try.

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The 2002 movies to avoid:

Killing Skills (direct-to-video)
Simply bad because it has this cheap-take-your-camcorder-with-you-on-holidays look and feeling. The photography is sloppy. The lead lady (Lily Chung, the mistreated teen from Daughter Of Darkness) wonders around with a guitar case full of guns, like in Rodriguez's Desperado. But she never takes them out, and she keeps looking at the sea. Very few things happen and when they do, you can't even bother to care.

Naked Weapon
All the potential is there to make a great b-movie: director Tony Ching Siu-tung (from A Chinese Ghost Story and Dragon Gate Inn), two sex bombs Anya Wu and Maggie Q, and a desire to resurrect an old HK trend, i.e. 'Girls and Guns ' or the 'Deadly China Dolls'. The trouble is that the script is lousy and doesn't make sense. On top of that, the filmmaking is poor and even the fight scenes are not original. To be frank, Ching Siu-tung re-exploits his old fight moves and even borrow some from Yuen Woo-ping's The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ! Moreover, The plot is inconsistent due to sequences badly tied up together. It's like some bits are missing. It could have been at last a decent category III, if the film hadn't been loosely edited and if the moviemakers hadn't censored themselves to only get the movie rated category IIb in order to get it more widely distributed. The worst comes from the bad taste and atrocious moral of the whole thing. Women are sullied. A gang rape, as a part of the training, is supposed to make the three heroines dedicated to their job and whiling to sacrifice any parts of themselves to kill their victim. Since there is not any standpoint, this scene is obnoxious and obscene. Deadly China Dull…

So Close
Much less disgraceful than Naked Weapon, So Close reunites three beauties from the HK movie industry: Shu Qi, Vikki Zhao Wei and Karen Mok. In this cop and robbers flick, director Corey Yuen isn't inspired at all, apart from using and abusing of the slow-motion buttons and of the wind effects on Shu Qi's hair. High Tech, babes and camera work don't make a film. A meaningful script, a minimum of acting skills and a decent filmmaking do. This example along with Ching Siu-tung's Naked Weapon, proves that an excellent martial-art instructor and action choreographer doesn't necessarily equal to a good film director.

Beauty and The Breast, The

Psychedelic Cop

Wesley's Mysterious Files, The

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Other films
Other films I saw, but that are neither great enough to be recommended nor bad enough to be avoided.

DEVIL FACE ANGEL HEART
By Billy Chung, with Daniel Wu, Stephen Fung, Gigi Lai, Kelly Lin

DEVIL TOUCH
By Billy Tang, with Alex Fong, Michael To, Pinky Cheung, Iris Chai

DRY WOOD FIERCE FIRE
By Wilson Yip, with Miriam Yeung, Louis Koo

FAT CHOI SPIRIT
By Johnnie To, with Andy Lau, Lau Ching-Wan, Louis Koo, Gigi Leung, Cherrie Ying

INTERACTIVE MURDERS
with Andy Hui, Nicola Cheung, Ken Wong

IRRESISTIBLE PIGGIES, THE
with Michelle Reis, Karen Mok, Suki Kwan, Kelly Lin, Alex To, Jordan Chan, Stephen Fung

LION ROARS, THE
By Joe Ma, with Louis Koo, Cecilia Cheung, Fan Bing-Bing

MY LEFT EYE SEES GHOSTS
By Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, with Lau Ching-Wan, Sammi Cheng, Cherrie Ying

NEW OPTION, THE
By Clarence Fok, with Michael Fitzgerald Wong, Shawn Yu, Patrick Tam, Suki Kwan

PRINCESS D
By Sylvia Chang, with Angelica Lee, Daniel Wu, Edison Chen

SECOND TIME AROUND
By Jeff Lau, with Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung

TIRAMISU
By Dante Lam, with Nicolas Tse, Karena Lam, Candy Lo, Eason Chan

TOUCH, THE
By Peter Pau, with Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin, Brandon Chang

Thomas PODVIN, January 2003
Sources for movie credits: www.hkmdb.com and www.hkentreview.com
See also the 2001 film harvest

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