REVIEWS HKIFF IN BRIEF


Together Asian Premiere/Together section. Dir/scr: Zhao Liang. Chi. 2011. 83mins


This ambitious and well-intentioned docu- mentary — which also screened at the Berlin International Film Festival — looks at issues around China’s growing HIV-positive popula- tion. Intended as a companion piece to Gu Changwei’s Til Death Us Do Part, Together (Zai Yi Qi) looks at real-life Aids patients who worked on Gu’s fiction film, putting together on-set footage with interviews. As a film it never properly gels, but it is made with real compassion and good intentions as it tries to educate and tackle common misconceptions. Mark Adams


INT’L SALES EDKO FILMS, info@edkofilm.com.hk


Hi-So Global Visions. Dir/scr: Aditya Assarat. Thai. 2010. 102mins Beautifully made and memorable, writer-direc- tor Aditya Assarat’s beguiling film Hi-So (which means simply ‘High Society’, also the original shooting title), about film-making and relationships, is a film which demands atten- tion as it draws you into its refined and ele- gantly simple tale. US-educated Ananda (played by Thai-born, half-Australian, half- Laotian Ananda Everingham) returns to Thai- land to try his hand at acting, and while filming on location, Zoe (Cerise Leang) his university girlfriend flies over to visit. The second part of the film sees the film wrapped and Ananda back in Bangkok, now in a relationship with May (the charming Sajee Apiwong). Mark Adams


INT’L SALES POP PICTURES, www.pop-pictures-ltd.com


The Ditch Auteurs. Dir/scr: Wang Bing. HK-Fr-Bel. 2010. 114mins A gruelling ordeal of a film, documentary maker Wang Bing’s first fictional feature tells the story of China’s gulags — primitive re-edu- cation camps in the Gobi desert for those of its citizens branded by the regime as ‘Rightists’ in the late 1950s. The Ditch is a grindingly austere drama which makes serious demands on its audience’s resilience. It seems destined to play only to the toughest arthouse audiences, though it is also a work whose historical rele- vance — plus Wang’s growing reputation as a Chinese auteur — should give it a long-tail shelf life.


Lee Marshall INT’L SALES WILD BUNCH, www.wildbunch.biz


Edited by Mark Adams mark.adams@emap.com


vals with Asian interest and a safe bet for others which are looking to bank on To’s auteurish appeal. Set around the Asian financial crisis and its after-


math, the upbeat movie opens with a chance encounter and argument between financial analyst Cheng Zixin (Gao) and her ex-boyfriend (Yin). The argument is witnessed by investment company CEO Cheung Shen-ran (Koo), who abandons his own sports car to chase after the furious Cheng, only to be beaten to the spot by a drunken and dishevelled man, who saves Cheng from the heavy traffic. To Cheng’s surprise, the seemingly homeless


Don’t Go Breaking My Heart


REVIEWEDBYEDMUND LEE


With mainland China’s vast market (and censor) firmly in mind, Johnnie To takes a break from his intense thrillers with this Hong Kong-China co- production, a relentlessly sweet and entertaining urban romcom starring Chinese actress Gao Yuan- yuan (Shanghai Dreams), as she juggles the fervent pursuits of two hunky and wealthy suitors. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart charts a love trian-


gle characterised by secret crushes and romantic mistiming. Commercial prospects look solid in Chinese-speaking markets, and the film should prove an audience-friendly crowdpleaser for festi-


Quattro Hong Kong 2


WORLD PREMIERE: OPENING NIGHT FILM


Chi. 2011. 60mins Directors Stanley Kwan, Brillante Mendoza, Ho Yu-hang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul Production company Brand HK, www.brandhk. gov.hk Main cast 13 Minutes In The Lives Of… Lam Ka-tung, Terence Yin, Hayama Hiro, Felina Pau, Yolande Yau; M Hotel Chaisiri Jiwarangsan, Nitipong Thinthupthai; Purple Rene Durian, Raymond Nullan; Open Verdict Wai Ying-hung, Michelle Wai, Tsui Tien You, Carlos Chan, Chew Kimn-wah, Bront Palarae


REVIEWED BY MARKADAMS


Four vibrant, provocative and very different short films make up Quattro Hong Kong 2, which allows four of Asia’s most distinctive directors to present their own visions of Hong Kong. Commissioned by Brand HK and produced by the Hong Kong Inter- national Film Festival Society, the four-piece world premiered last night as part of HKIFF’s opening night event. Each of the films also screen in the fes- tival’s short film competition programme. Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan’s film 13 Min-


utes In The Lives Of… takes a real-time journey on a bus from Hong Kong airport to Kowloon, eaves- dropping on conversations — from a pair of bicker- ing old women through to a pompous cellist and his hassled assistant — as they take their short trip. Cannes winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s


film M Hotel is — unsurprisingly — a more man- nered and artistic piece as he films two men in a newly built hotel as they photograph each other and gaze out of the window, all set against a muffled soundtrack recorded in the park next to the hotel. Brillante Mendoza’s Purple is set in Hong Kong’s


flower market and Tai O, the fishing village on Lantau Island, observing the way local people live their lives while also dwelling on an old man and a young guy as they deal with their relationships. Perhaps the most distinctive of the four is Ho Yu-


hang’s atmospheric black-and-white film Open Ver- dict, a darkly amusing thriller about the


n 8 Screen International at Filmart/HAF/HKIFF March 21, 2011


cross-border illegal trade of animals between Malaysia and Hong Kong. While a team of cops stake out a building, a man books into a hotel, much to the suspicion of the two women in charge. They sneak into his room to investigate a heavy


bag, only for the man to return much to their terror. The final credits describe how Malaysian smug- glers pretended to be police and how a man was found swallowed by a python in his hotel room, presumably smuggled into the country to be sold. Often such portmanteau titles can be plodding


affairs, but each of the films here is distinctive and challenging, offering thoughtful — and beautifully shot — views of Hong Kong. Each is very different, ranging from Weerasethakul’s artistic piece which would be at home in a gallery space through to Ho’s stylishly moody comedy-thriller.


man, Fang Qihong (Wu), is actually a former New York architect fallen on hard times. Fang’s pro- posed date with Cheng a week after is subsequently forgotten by the young woman, whose heart is sto- len by Cheung’s courting antics. The two set a date (which happens to be at the same time proposed by Fang), but Cheung misses the occasion as his evening is sidetracked by another very forthcom- ing girl, leaving Cheng disappointed by the fact the man has cheated even before their first date. Events pick up three years later, when Cheung


has taken over the company at which Cheng has been working. Gradually winning Cheng’s heart by taking advantage of the two’s professional relation- ship, Cheung nonetheless loses it all over again with his promiscuous tendencies. Enter Fang, who by coincidence has restarted his career at the office previously occupied by Cheung. As the audience is swept along by the whirlpool


of romance, the action eventually moves to Shang- hai. In a late scene of romantic declaration which distantly echoes a similar climax in Needing You, Cheng finally makes her choice between the flawed and the flawless.


WORLD PREMIERE: OPENING NIGHT FILM


HK-Chi. 2011. 117mins Directors Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai Production companies Media Asia Films, China Film Media Asia Audio Video Distribution Co, Milky Way Image Company International sales Media Asia Distribution, www. mediaasia.com Producers Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai Executive producer John Chong Screenplay Wai Ka-fai, Johnnie To, Yau Nai-hoi, Au Man-kit Cinematography Cheng Siu-keung Production designer Bruce Yu Editor Allen Leung Music Xavier Jamaux Main cast Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Gao Yuanyuan, Lam Suet, JJ Jia, Terence Yin, Selena Li


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24