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Transformation of Hong Kong Gangster Movies Before and After CEPA

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Hong Kong and Bollywood

Part of the book series: Global Cinema ((GLOBALCINE))

Abstract

Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement has been considered by Hong Kong people to be a panacea to vitalize the local economy and a key to the huge market in China. Almost two decades after the handover, Hong Kong still finds huge differences between Mainland China and herself in terms of culture and political systems, but also finds the economic benefits irresistible at the same time. Such an ambivalent mentality is evident in the local film industry. This chapter analyzes how Hong Kong gangster filmmakers strive for a balance between reflecting the concerns of Hong Kong people and making their films comply with rules in the Chinese Communist Party and be available to the Mainland market.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Hong Kong Film Development Council helped the Hong Kong film industry to gain access to the neighboring market of Guangdong province under CEPA. The Hong Kong film industry is reported to have been able to enjoy the “syncroni[z]ed release of Hong Kong films in the Cantonese version in Guangdong province as imported films with a maximum 25% share of the box-office takings” (Hong Kong Film Development Council, July 16, 2012).

  2. 2.

    Other Hong Kong films with the Mainland and Hong Kong versions include Running on Karma (2003, Dir. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai), Naked Ambition (2003, Dir. Chan Hing-Ka and Dante Lam), The Eye 2 (2003, Dir. Danny Pang and Oxide Pang), Twins Effect (2003, Dir. Dante Lam and Donnie Yan), AV (2005, Dir. Edmond Ho-Cheung Pang), and Election and Election 2 (2005, Dir. Johnnie To). For details, see Chan et al. (2007: 112).

  3. 3.

    In 2003, Brad Pit, as a producer, acquired the right to remake The Departed from Media Asia, the Hong Kong producer of Infernal Affairs. Media Asia was one of the coproduction companies, and the main production of The Departed was done by Warner Brothers, with direction by Martin Scorsese.

  4. 4.

    Many Hong Kong gangster movies have political subtexts, for example, Mr. Nice Guy (1997, Dir. Sammo Hung), Running out of Time (1999, Dir. Johnnie To), PTU (2003, Dir. Johnnie To), One Night in Mongkok (2004, Dir. Derek Yee), Breaking News (2004, Dir. Johnnie To), Divergence (2005, Dir. Benny Chan), and Sparrow (2008, Dir. Johnnie To).

  5. 5.

    “Our Home Our Country” is a program produced by the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education (CPCE). The program consists of six parts with the following themes: Our Home Our Country, Faces of China, Chinese Heritage, Our Country Our Glory, and Accomplishments of Our Country. They were broadcasted on TVB, ATV, and Cable TV on the National Day Celebration (October 1) between 2004 and 2009. In addition, the CPCE has also coproduced with the government-funded Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) a TV series Cultural Heritage since 2009. The 2009 installment features China’s nonmaterial cultural heritage, including paper cutting and Yixing clay tea wares. The 2011 installment features some of the country’s most spectacular railway journeys, and the 2012 installment showcases China’s magnificent rivers and mountains.

  6. 6.

    The Hong Kong people’s perception of ethnic identity has changed since the 2007 survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong on ethnic identity suggests that the percentage of correspondents identifying themselves as Chinese reached a record high in June 2008, just before the Beijing Olympics. The poll also indicates that during the same period, the percentage of correspondents seeing themselves as Hong Konger dropped to an all-time low since August 1997. According to the latest poll in June 2012, the percentage of correspondents calling themselves Chinese hit the lowest point since 1997 and that of correspondents referring to themselves as Hong Konger reached the highest point. The poll results had to do with the Hong Kong people’s resentment toward the implementation of a pro-Communist national educational curriculum in September 2012. Some commentators criticized the curriculum as a conspiracy to brainwash the Hong Kong youth. For details about the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Program, see http://hkupop.hku.hk/english/popexpress/ethnic/index.html.

  7. 7.

    Released in 1997, Andy Lau sung the song in a gala celebrating the 9th anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China.

  8. 8.

    Some scenes in Crazy Stone critique the misunderstanding between Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong people. Protagonist Bao (Guo Tao) represented the Chinese virtues of loyalty and sacrificing one’s personal gain for the common good. Mike (Teddy Lin), the burglar from Hong Kong, was a typical capitalist who relied on technology and acted independently. This can be seen as the Mainlanders’ strike back against the Hong Kongers and their rejection of the so-called Hong Kong spirit that often portrayed Mainlanders as backward and old-fashioned.

  9. 9.

    Antony Kam-Chung Leung, former Financial Secretary of the HKSAR, brought up the “Under the Lion Rock” spirit when he delivered the financial budget speech in 2004. At that time, the Hong Kong public was still struggling with the aftermaths of the SARS epidemic.

  10. 10.

    In the 1960s, Japan witnessed a widening gap between individuals under the rise of utilitarianism. Gangster movies played by Takakura Ken were produced in response to such a new cultural environment. The Japanese directors set out to strengthen the traditional image of brotherhood in order to make up for the declining role of men in society. This school of Japanese cinema has deeply affected Hong Kong directors like John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Johnnie To.

  11. 11.

    In Spring 2012, the number of the election committee members increased to 1200.

  12. 12.

    Tensions frequently break out between Hong Kongers and Mainlanders. In January 2012, Peking University professor Kong Qingdong called Hong Kongers bastards and dogs when he saw an online video clip that captured a dispute between Hong Kongers and a group of Mainlanders eating inside the subway train. In addition, large numbers of Mainland pregnant women have crossed the Chinese border to give birth in Hong Kong, and they were blamed for overcrowding the Hong Kong hospitals and exploiting the city’s public health-care system. On February 1, 2012, the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily published a full-page advertisement that described the Mainlanders as locusts, warning that the Hong Kong people bitterly opposed the influx of Mainland pregnant women. The advertisement was paid by numerous Hong Kong Internet users (Chow, February 1, 2012).

  13. 13.

    According to Faces, Silhouette and Montage: 1997–2007 Review, both Election and Election 2 recorded a box-office success of HK$15,895,622 (US$2,049,597) and HK$13,577,941 (US$1,750,753), respectively. Classified as category III (i.e., films to be viewed by people aged 18 and above only), these films performed reasonably well.

  14. 14.

    According to Szeto, the SAR New Wave referred to directors who are: (1) new directors coming of age and garnering serious local critical attention after Hong Kong has become a SAR, or (2) directors who joined the industry earlier and may have substantial experience but have only gained serious local critical attention and/or acclaim after 1997, but most importantly (3) directors who are consciously and critically aware of themselves as working from a local issues perspective with much greater Sinophone intra-local and inter-local awareness, and whose worldview departs from the chauvinist and xenophobic petit-grandiose Hong Kongism typical of pre-1997 Hong Kong colonial inferiority complex (2012: 122).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Yau Shuk-Ting Kinnia

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  1. Yau Shuk-Ting Kinnia
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pace University, New York, New York, USA

    Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

  2. Pace University, New York, New York, USA

    Satish Kolluri

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Kinnia, Y.ST. (2016). Transformation of Hong Kong Gangster Movies Before and After CEPA. In: Lee, JH., Kolluri, S. (eds) Hong Kong and Bollywood. Global Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94932-8_3

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