All For The Winner: 28th Hong Kong Film Awards
April 20, 2009 at 7:12 pm 4 comments
Crocodile tears? Xu Jiao wins Best New Performer for CJ7
Just a quick note about this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, which took place this Saturday. Wilson Yip’s biopic Ip Man, about the martial arts legend, took Best Picture, with Ann Hui winning Best Director for The Way We Are, her docudrama about the New Territories town of Tin Shui Wai. The Way We Are, with its mostly non-professional cast, also won three other awards including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay. Nick Cheung (The Beast Stalker) nabbed his first Best Actor statue, adding it to his award from the Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society. Cute little girl Xu Jiao won Best New Performer for her crossdressing turn as Stephen Chow Sing-Chi’s son in Chow’s sci-fi blockbuster CJ7. Unfortunately, according to the Golden Rock’s liveblog she gave a horribly fake acceptance speech that included fake crying. I guess child stars are the same all over the world.
Carina Lau & Tony Leung burn up the red carpet, HKFA 2009
Interestingly, in a repeat of the Golden Horse Awards last year, John Woo’s lavish epic Red Cliff was shut out of the major acting and directing awards (including Tony Leung Chi-Wai’s failure to win his sixth Best Actor award). Red Cliff did clean up in several creative categories such as Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects, winning five awards. Apparently this year’s nominations were only for Red Cliff 1—Red Cliff 2 will be eligible again next year so maybe then it will make out a little better in the major awards. Ironically, Red Cliff is probably the only film among the award winners that will receive international distribution.
Simon Yam in brown satin, Hong Kong Film Awards, 2009
Poor Simon Yam, nominated for Best Actor for Johnnie To’s Sparrow, went home empty-handed again. But he got to wear a natty two-toned sharkskin suit, white spats, and a spider-motif tie, and looked way too dashing for a man in his fifties. Sadly, Sparrow also lost (to Red Cliff) for Best Film Score, which just goes to show that not everyone appreciated its awesome Martin Denny/Michel Legrand/Henry Mancini homage.
For a full listing of the awards go here.
For lots more pix of celebrity finery go here.
For a great liveblog of the event go here.
And here’s the trailer for Sparrow, for a sample of its excellent soundtrack:
Entry filed under: hong kong, movies, nick cheung ka-fai, simon yam, Uncategorized. Tags: ann hui, carina lau ka-ling, cj7, hong kong film awards, hong kong films, ip man, john woo, johnnie to, movies, nick cheung ka-fei, red cliff, simon yam tat-wah, sparrow, stephen chow sing-chi, the way we are, tony leung chiu wai, wilson yip.
beyondasiaphilia 
1.
dleedlee | April 21, 2009 at 11:10 pm
So far, I’ve only seen The Way We Are so I was glad to see it won a slew of awards. I’m looking forward to seeing Ann Hui’s companion film Night and Fog.
2.
valeriesoe | April 28, 2009 at 5:38 am
Hey D,
Here’s hoping that both The Way We Are and Night & Fog get some play in the U.S. I’m a big-screen kind of person so hopefully some local festival will see fit to show one or both.
v.
3.
wongsaurus | April 23, 2009 at 1:59 am
Hi V –
Simon may be middle-aged but I must say he is probably one of the few Chinese men who can pull off such a wardrobe with panache. It probably helps that he was a male fashion model in his younger days. Considering how often he’s donned a cop uniform for the PTU sequels, this opportu;nity to parade some style was a chance for his fans to see him out of costume. I sincerely hope that Simon’s talent will no longer go unappreciated and that he will be honored with a major award soon. BTW, hope to see you weigh in on a couple hot topics over at LHKF(unmade movies and child actors.
4.
valeriesoe | April 28, 2009 at 5:59 am
Hey W,
Simon always cuts a great figure, whether in uniform or in a tux. FWIW the red carpet footage for the premiere of Exiled is full of good-looking guys in formal wear (except Anthony Wong, who’s wearing jeans and high-heeled cowboy boots). Roy Cheung is especially striking in a white tux jacket with a red boutonniere! And of course both Simon Yam (with his gorgeous wife) and Francis Ng look great–they keep themselves in pretty good shape for old guys. It helps to be tall and skinny. Here’s the link if you’re curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwKqVo7qxNM&feature=related
RE: Simon Yam and awards–maybe Night & Fog will win it for him next year–here’s hoping!