Literary biopic 'Golden Era' garners 5 Hong Kong film awards

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HONG KONG (AP) — "The Golden Era," a biography of Chinese novelist Xiao Hong, won top honors at the Hong Kong Film Awards, with its director Ann Hui claiming her fifth best director trophy.

A trailblazer for female filmmakers, Hui became the record holder for women in the best director category at the Hong Kong Film Awards with her victory Sunday night. She previously won for "A Simple Life," ''The Way We Are," ''Summer Snow" and "Boat People."

The 67-year-old director said that she has her actors, especially leading lady Tang Wei, to thank for that. "'A Simple Life' is a film that I know how to make and I know what kind of effects to go for. I don't think any director knows how to make 'The Golden Era.' So I'm very thankful to Tang Wei because she's got a tough job. I wasn't really sure how to tell this story. It was hard. I think all the actors were struggling "

"The Golden Era" also won for cinematography, costume and makeup, and for art direction.

Financial thriller "Overheard 3" won three awards including best actor, supporting actor and screenplay.

Best actress winner Zhao Wei of "Dearest" has had success with directing and said that to be able to do both is a blessing. "I feel very lucky because both of them are something that I'm very interested in. When I get to do them both, it really helps me to improve," Zhao said.

Best actor award winner Lau Ching Wan was asked if he would appear in a film directed by Zhao, and he was quick to say "Yes."

"If I get a chance, let's have some fun," Lau said, to which she responded: "Thank you."

"The Golden Era" and Hui have been honored at other film award events in Asia, and it was Hong Kong's submission to the Academy Awards foreign language film category, though it wasn't one of the final five nominees.

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WIE MÄNNER ÜBER FRAUEN REDEN Actor Frederick Lau Nominated for German Movie Award 2015

Dear Companists,

We are very happy for our leading actor Frederick Lau, who has been nominated for this year's German movie award in the category of "best male lead" for his performance in "Victoria." We will keep our fingers crossed for Frederick and hope he will win this year's German movie award just as he did in 2008 (when he received the award for the best supporting actor).

"Victoria" has also been nominated in the categories of "best directing," "best female lead," "best cinematography/best image editing," "best original score," and "best sound editing."

Of course, we are happy not just for Frederick Lau, but for the entire "Victoria" team. "Victoria" is special in that it was shot using a fixed camera angle and was not cut at all. Indeed, the camera constantly filmed the actors in real time during the entire filming process. The fact that "Victoria" has been nominated for the German movie award proves once again that German moviemakers are ready to leave the beaten path when turning a screenplay into a movie.

We believe that this is a very good sign, and it shows that our way of producing movies independently has been the right decision. In the video below, you may watch Oliver Korittke and others explain why WIE MÄNNER ÜBER FRAUEN REDEN is special too:

The people at Berlin radio station RadioFritz have also become aware of our project and spontaneously invited us to their studio last Saturday. During this visit, we were able to present our campaign and to provide listeners with behind-the-scenes information on WIE MÄNNER ÜBER FRAUEN REDEN. But listen for yourself (German only):

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Film review: Lost and Love - Andy Lau plays a driven father

Fourteen years after his two-year-old son was abducted, Anhui farmer Lei Zekuan (Andy Lau Tak-wah) is still doggedly searching the length and breadth of China for him.

Riding an old motorcycle to which he's attached large flags bearing his son's face and some information about him, the weather-beaten father refuses to give up on the search because, as he tells a sympathetic stranger, "Only when I'm on the road can I feel like I can face my conscience".

It's easy to feel for this character especially since the movie is reportedly based on a true story — there are tens of thousands of child abduction and trafficking cases on the mainland annually.

Where Lei's story stands out from that of other traumatised parents such as the distraught mother (Ni Jingjang) seen in the opening scenes, and also those in another film about child abduction, Peter Chan Ho-sun's Dearest, is the duration of his search, even though the chance of success diminishes with every passing day.

Andy Lau (left)

However admirable we regard the protagonist's search, the film soon becomes boring and not even having a genuine Hong Kong superstar playing the role of the stoic, unglamorous father does much to enliven it. (Tony Leung Ka-fai and Sandra Ng Kwan-yu also feature in this drama, but their parts are too small to lift the action significantly — apart from upping this otherwise modest movie's celebrity quotient.)

Perhaps recognising this, writer-director Peng introduces a second, livelier main character: a young motorcycle repairman (Jing Boran) who fixes Lei's bike following an accident in the Wuyi mountains.

It turns out that the repairman, Zeng, was abducted from his home at the age of four and he asks the older man to help him track down his own biological parents.

There are scenes involving the two that take on a lighter tone and almost feel out of place in what is otherwise a movie intent on focusing attention on the lasting psychological scars of the victims of child abduction — parents as well as children.

And although Zeng's is the secondary story, it's actually the one that supplies the film's most cathartic and potentially most redemptive, moments.

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China Lion to Release Andy Lau's 'Lost and Love' in North America, Australia

The movie will open day-and-date with mainland China later this month.

China Lion has bought the rights for Lost and Love, written and directed by popular novelist Peng Sanyuan and starring Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, from IM Global for Australia, New Zealand and North America, and will release the film later this month.

The film will open on March 19 in Australia and New Zealand and on March 20 in the U.S. and Canada. It will be a day-and-date release, allowing audiences in both parts of the world to experience the film in the same weekend as mainland Chinese audiences.

READ MOREChina Monthly Box Office Tops U.S. for First Time Ever

East West Bank will be the official sponsor of the North America release. The film tells a true story from the Hubei province of China about a father’s search for his long-lost son after a suspected child abduction. After losing his two-year-old son, Lei, he begins a 14-year-long quest in search of his missing child.

The film also stars Jing Boran, who co-starred in Rise of the Legend, The Guillotines and Love in Space, and features special appearances by Sandra Ng and Tony Leung Ka-fai.

The film is produced by Wang Zhonglei, Chan Pui-wah and Zhang Dajun and by Huayi Bros., Beijing Yuanhesheng Entertainment, Chongqing Film Group, Xiamen Navigation Media and Good Friends Entertainment.

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Handsome Siblings [The Movie] DVD (1992)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Wuxia fantasy as low comedy. Very low comedy...

By Celeste Chang on May 9, 2010

Andy Lau and Brigitte Lin star in this Chinese style sword-and-sorcery movie loosely based on a novel by Gu Long. Both of them were too old to be convincing as 18 year old kids, but that's not so much of a problem (I always enjoy watching Brigitte Lin.) Bigger issues are Andy Lau not being very funny (he tries, but in my opinion he doesn't quite carry it off) and his character not being likeable enough. Ng Man-Tat and Deannie Yip steal the show as Andy's foster parents Big Mouth Lee and Sissy To.

The plot goes something like this: 8 of the 10 Villains (once the 10 heroes until 2 of them went bad and framed the others) were chased to the Villains' Valley (supposed to be a sanctuary for evil-doers) by the head of the Flower Palace sect who happens to hold the current Champion of the Martial World thingy which gives her the right to pursue villains. Her husband (baby in hand) shows up to stop her, divorces her (no lawyers needed!) and fights her off, but is left a vegetable. The 8 villains raise the baby ("Fishy"), training him in "villainous" martial arts, sending him to the once-every-18-years-Champion-of-the-Martial-World tournament. His main opponent is an orphan (Brigitte Lin) raised by the Flower Palace. (For some reason, her name came out as "Eva More" in the subtitles! It actually means "Flawless Flower", with "Flower" as her surname.) Wacky hijinks (and romance and filthy jokes and backstabbing evil and vengeance) ensue.

My problem with this is that Fishy comes off as a lying manipulative jerk, who is perfectly willing to go along with a plan to use a super-date-rape drug and rape his opponent (to spoil his/her reputation and disqualify him/her), and he suddenly has a turnaround and is supposed to be the good guy!

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