A long time ago in a country far, 
far away…

It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire — WHOOPS! Wrong epic saga.

If you’re wondering how I could confuse The Founding of a Republic – a star-studded Mainland Chinese film made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China — with one of George Lucas’s blockbuster space operas, let me explain (and reveal my once fervent Star Wars fanaticism in the process): The Fall of the Republic was one of many rumored titles for the third film of the Prequel Trilogy, as we all presumed the Republic made way for the Empire in the Original Trilogy (in fact, the Republic is the Empire — just under new management).

Anyway, to get back on point — I finally caught The Founding of a Republic over the winter break, and boy was I disappointed! What a snooze! I have to admit that the movie is often pretty to look at despite the required presence of numerous unattractive and/or middle-aged political figures. And I suppose it’s sort of amusing when each of the big-time Chinese celebs (Jet Li, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, etc) show up for their thirty-second cameos, but let’s be real about this — the movie could use a LOT of work.

Now to that comment, you might be saying to yourself, “Hey, THIS IS HISTORY, MAN! You can’t mess with history! It’s not like you can just spice things up by having Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-Shek have a lightsaber duel on top of the Great Wall of China!”

Well, you know what I say to that? Why the heck not? I don’t think the presence of lightsaber-wielding Jedi masters would have hurt this movie one bit.

Jet Li approves of lightsaber duels with historical figures

Okay, I’m kidding. But really, even though the stakes may be high for the real-life characters depicted in the film, The Founding of a Republic is so dramatically inert, it’s almost unbelievable. Aside from a briefly tense moment at a military checkpoint, the film fails to conjure up any palpable feeling of tension or drama. Sure, it’s all a foregone conclusion, but so was the fate of the Titanic.

I kind of feel bad for directors Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping, and here’s why: horror auteur John Carpenter has said on more than one occasion that the most difficult scenes to shoot are ones in which two people are simply talking with one another. What’s difficult about it, he says, is to keep it interesting for the audience. The Founding Republic is almost entirely composed of scenes in which people, often just two, talk about what’s going on in China and how they feel about it. In a sense, this is a movie composed entirely of set-up and exposition, leading to the “climactic” scene that’s featured in the screengrab of Mao I’ve included at the beginning of this article.

I won’t even bother to analyze the politics of this movie. I don’t think I’m qualified anyway. And Kevin already did a really thorough job of pointing out the film’s limitations so I won’t cover the same ground again. All I can say is that The Founding of a Republic didn’t work for me — not as a history lesson and not as a cameo-fest (and I missed Jackie Chan somehow!).

But y’know, I am curious…how did the rest of you like it? And if you did truly like it — what appealed to you?

 Tell “Army Andy” EVERYTHING!

Since Kozo recently asked the readers of LoveHKFilm.com to send in a list of their favorite Hong Kong films of the last decade, it got me to thinking about what my top picks would be if I had to come up with a list of my own. That bit of brainstorming turned into – wouldn’t you know it? – my very own top ten list!  Originally, I planned to talk about twenty-five Hong Kong films that I really, really liked, but after hashing out all the flicks I could possibly mention, I soon realized that this would be too big a task to complete in so short a period of time. I mean, I should be spending my holiday celebrating Christmas and the New Year (not to mention passing my qualifying exams for the PhD), right?

So, I’ve whittled down my choices to cover what I think are the top ten Hong Kong films of the last decade. Be warned — when I say “Top Ten,” my definition lies somewhere between “best” and “favorite.” As with any list, my personal biases will become blatantly obvious, and I make no apologies for them.

Some of you may bristle when you see that this list is not filled to the brim with all of Johnnie To’s creative output between 2000 and 2009. I’ll try to address the reason for this potential ”oversight” if any of To’s films actually make it onto my list. Similarly, you might see a slight bias in favor of films that came out in the early part of the decade. The reason for this inclination is simple — I think they made better films back then (or at least more of them anyway). If that makes me sound like a gruff old timer, so be it.

In any event, the list is meant  as a) a fun little celebration of the last decade of Hong Kong cinema and b) the perfect jumping off point for you to discuss your own top picks in the comments section. So don’t take ‘em too seriously, enjoy the walk down memory lane, and, of course…

Happy Holidays!

10. Infernal Affairs (2002)

Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai square off in an iconic scene from Infernal Affairs

If Infernal Affairs 3 had been a better movie, I would’ve bent the rules and listed all three films here as a trilogy. Although the third film has grown on me (like a fungus!), it’s not nearly as good as the first two entries in ”The Legend” (as the series was billed in HK advertisements. I think they meant to say ”saga.”). I’m sure some people might have a beef with this choice because they think Infernal Affairs 2 or Colour of the Truth is a better film. While I acknowledge that both films are solid genre flicks, I find that I have little interest in revisiting either of them when perusing my own back catalog of Hong Kong movies. To put it bluntly, the first Infernal Affairs has something that those two films simply don’t possess – across-the-board star wattage.

Now, let’s be clear: having big stars won’t help a terrible film very much (if at all), but it sure can give a welcome boost to one that’s already quite good. And that’s what I love about Andrew Lau’s Infernal Affairs. Thanks to Tony Leung and Andy Lau, it has a swagger and bombast that is nothing less than electric to watch, even after multiple viewings. That quality seemed to quickly turn into unintentional self-parody in the last two films, as the filmmakers behind “The Legend” seemed to take the films way too seriously.  And really, how can I not list a film that a) spawned an Academy Award-winning American flick and b) gave Hong Kong cinema a much-needed blood transfusion (even if it only lasted for a little while)? Taking these and other facts into consideration, I believe that Infernal Affairs is nothing less than a landmark film in Hong Kong cinema history, one that rightly deserves a place on this and any other list of the best of the decade. Wow, that sure is some emphatic praise. Did I just blow my cover as a mole for Andrew Lau?

9. Hero (2002)

 Jet Li is “What’s-his-name?” in Hero

Whatever you think of Hero’s politics, you can’t deny that the film is gorgeous to behold. The award-winning combination of Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, Emi Wada’s costume design, and Huo Ting-Xiao & Yi Zhen-Zhou’s art direction make this Zhang Yimou film an unforgettable feast for the eyes. Add in Tan Dun’s score, Ching Siu-Tung’s elegant fight choreography, and the welcome presence of some of China/Hong Kong’s premiere actors (Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Chen Daoming, and former “It Girl” Zhang Ziyi), and you have a recipe for cinematic gold.

At its heart, the film is a stylish Rashomon-like wuxia that begs the question, “Do the ends justify the means?” While the main characters seem to come up with a particular answer for that question, I don’t think you have to agree with their decision to appreciate and enjoy the film. In fact, Hero’s potentially troubling political subtext, which fudges history and creates uncomfortable parallels with modern China (and maybe even the Bush administration, too, if you want to go there) makes what could have been another “arthouse” take on the wuxia genre into something far more intriguing. I mean, if you want a movie that’s wall-to-wall spectacle without any troubling subtext whatsoever, you can always watch James Cameron’s Avatar instead. Uh, waitaminute…

8. The Heavenly Kings (2006)

Conroy Chan, Andrew Lin, Terence Yin, and Daniel Wu channel the Village People

Actor/director Daniel Wu’s hilarious mockumentary would probably be the funniest Hong Kong film of the decade if Stephen Chow didn’t exist. I love how the movie — taking its cues from reality TV — blurs the line between what’s real and what’s fake in an effort to send-up the Hong Kong music industry. Wu occasionally interrupts the film’s “narrative” — about a terribly untalented boyband called Alive – with amusing and insightful interviews with several prominent HK singers/actors, including Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, and Miriam Yeung. I could’ve watched a movie entirely composed of these, and their inclusion doesn’t distract, but actually helps the film considerably. Looking back, The Heavenly Kings turned out to be remarkably prescient about the state of pop music, as it might as well be an expose of the US music industry as well. Seriously, I’m not exaggerating when I say that the majority of today’s top-40 hitmakers rely on lip-syncing, fake publicity, and a curious invention called auto-tune to make it big in the biz. Think about it. My “I am T-Pain” iPhone app makes me sound like a pop star when I sing into it, and that’s a $2.99 device. Think of what they can do to a voice with top-of-the-line technology.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention LoveHKFilm.com award-winning actor, Andrew Lin, when discussing this brilliant little film. I’m totally sincere when I say that he emerges as the unsung hero of this movie. While his onscreen colleagues can occasionally come across as more obviously actorly or staged, I remember being struck by how unscripted Lin’s performance came off in comparison. In fact, he seemed like the only one in the group not in on the joke. However, if you read Kozo’s interview with Lin, you’ll learn just how much of an acting triumph his performance was, as some of the most unguarded, genuine moments in The Heavenly Kings aren’t as real as they seem. Acting! Genius! Andrew Lin!

 Next time: Kung fu rules, love hurts, and war is hell!

H1N1? Nah, we’re Michael Jackson fans. Hee-hee!

Well, a lot of Hong Kong-related news has gone down during my visit in Singapore. The big story hitting the papers recently is the fact that Andy Lau is married. Apparently, he’s been dating Carol Chu secretly for 24(!) years, but it turns out they actually got hitched in Las Vegas on June 23, 2008. I guess it’s a big deal because of the very looooooooooooong engagement, plus the fact that Andy promised his fans he’d announce his marriage as soon as it happened. 

After being publicly revealed as a married man, Andy’s been apologetic on that front, while the media has continued to froth at the mouth, trying to out Andy’s “secret kids” (apparently, they’re just relatives) and putting forth various theories as to a) why it took so long for Andy Lau to get married and b) why he kept it a secret at all. As someone who’s no stranger to celebrity weddings, I’ll offer my two cents on the various “theories” that were initially making the rounds:

1) Keeping Up the Illusion

First off, there’s the idea that Andy felt he needed to appear single so he could retain his large fanbase. I sincerely doubt a 48-year old Heavenly King could really be that vain or insecure, but I suppose it’s possible. But do fans really think like this? Are they that mercurial? Let me say this — if your interest in an actor/singer ends the moment he/she gets married because you need to believe that someday you might have a chance to hook up with said celebrity, you are serious deluded. Come down off that cloud, ok?

2) Dead Fans

The second bit of speculation involves Andy being afraid that some of his fans would go ballistic at discovering that he’s officially “off the market” and kill themselves in a fit of depression. Although it’s been reported that the gals in the official Andy Lau fan club are well aware of his relationship with Carol Chu and only wish him the best, sadly, the idea that a fan would kill him or herself over something like this is not a totally “out there” fear. As Jackie Chan found out when one women committed sucide (another made a failed attempt) upon learning of his marital status, and as Andy Lau himself found out in a bizarre incident involving the father of one of his more overzealous fans, there are a lot of unstable people out there. My totally unsympathetic opinion on the matter can be best expressed by Captain James T. Kirk.

3) The Right to Privacy

The third bit of reasoning is that they hadn’t gotten married/kept it a secret because Andy wanted to insure Carol Chu’s privacy. I’m not familiar with the HK media, but I’m not sure how being the “not-so-secret girlfriend” of Andy Lau insures her privacy, but whatever.

Of course, in all the articles I read in which the journalists basically call Andy Lau a dick for not getting married sooner, nobody seems to wonder if, y’know, getting married isn’t that big deal for Carol Chu. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but it’s interesting to see how each writers’ assumptions about marriage and what it means to be married seep out in all these tabloid articles. I know this is hard for some people to imagine — but you don’t have to get married to a) love someone and b) be serious about a long-term committed relationship.

But it’s a moot point. Apparently, they got married because Andy and Carol want a kid by artificial insemination, which is only legally available to married folks in Hong Kong. So I guess that’s that.

I don’t really have anything else to say about it, except congrats to them and good luck on conceiving. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Fo’ realz?

But Andy Lau wasn’t the only one making news. In the media’s fervent attempt to find out the truth about his maritial status, they uncovered a lot of other secret Vegas weddings. The two big surprises were Miriam Yeung & PR exec Gary “Real” Ting (I kid you not) and Leon Lai & Gaile Lok. And that’s not all: it turns out that Vegas is the go-to place for HK weddings with couples like Liza Wang and Law Kar Ying [link updated]; Lau Ching-Wan and Amy Kwok; and Run Run Shaw & Mona Fong all tying the knot in Sin City. Hell, while we’re at it, I bet Ekin Cheng and his Gorgeous Locks got drunk and went to the Chapel O’Love during their last visit to Nevada.

At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Hong Kong remake of Honeymoon in Vegas in theatres just in time for the next Lunar New Year.