Sunday, January 9th, 2011
Delusions of Grandeur — Seven Films to Save Hong Kong Cinema
While prepping some blog posts about a gaggle of promising Hong Kong films scheduled to be released in 2011, I remembered a piece I once wrote for the very first installment of my old “A Man Called Sanjuro” column for LoveHKFilm.com.
Way, way, way back in 2003 — perhaps in anticipation of what I presumed would be the long, slow death of Hong Kong cinema as we know it — I published a list of Hong Kong movies that I arrogantly believed would “save” the nation’s film industry in one fell swoop. Really, all I did was propose a list of movies that I would make if I had the power, connections, and/or talent to do so.
Interestingly enough, at least one of them is coming to pass — my proposed Monkey King movie — albeit not in any way influenced by me and to be shot in 3-D with a different cast and crew. As far as the other films on my list, I don’t think anything remotely resembling what I proposed is any closer to getting made.
Still, I personally think What Now? would be a great, if challenging concept for a romantic comedy in any country, as I think the genre is incredibly stale and almost offensive to watch in its contemporary iteration (Damn you, Katherine Heigl!). Also, a film in the vein (get it! Vein!) of The East Runs Red could be fun, especially in the wake of the vampire craze kicked off by Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. Some might say this movie has already been made, but I’m not sure that Vampire Warriors is exactly what I had in mind. Oh, and the less said about The Trouble with Twins the better.
As far as LoveHKFilm.com The Movie is concerned, it’s especially amusing to look at the main characters of this proposed in-joke of a film. Aside from Kozo and myself, you’ll probably be left wondering “Who the heck are these people? And what happened to them?” Honestly, I’d like to know myself.
Anyway, looking back, I think I would recast myself slightly younger and thus closer to my own age. Hmmm….