The Hong Kong crime film "Trivisa" took home five awards, including best film, at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night.
Johnnie To and Yau Nai-hoi produced "Trivisa" that marked the directorial debuts of newcomers Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong. Apart from best film, it also scooped the awards for best director, best screenplay, best actor for Gordon Lam and best film editing.
"It really doesn't matter how old you are or what your attractiveness is when you act. What's the most important is to act with passion. I'm very proud of being a Hong Kong actor as it's been nurturing me so much for so many years," said Gordon Lam as he accepted the best actor award and tried to hold back tears. He played mobster Kwai Ching-hung in the film.
Johnnie To originally produced the film as a training exercise for younger directors without any intention to win awards. The film is a fictionalized version of a story about three real-life notorious Hong Kong mobsters in 1997.
"Mad World", directed by Wong Chun on a small budget of HK$2 million provided by the government, took three awards, including best supporting actor for Eric Tsang and best supporting actress for Elaine Jin. The director, born in 1988, won best new director award while Jin won her fourth best supporting actress award, a prize for which she had been nominated 10 times before.
"I hope this film can make some changes for Hong Kong, and can speak what we filmmakers want to say to the audiences, and let audiences think more, this is more important than money," Wong said.
The film tells a mentally ill stockbroker struggling to be reconciled with his estranged father and his worried ex-fiancée. It is being shown in Chinese mainland theaters in the original Cantonese version.
Eric Tsang won the best supporting actor for his role in "Mad World" for which he performed free of charge.
"It would be great if both of us could win," he shouted to his son Derek Tsang, whose film "Soul Mate" gained 12 nominations, but only got a minor award for Best Original Film Score. Its actresses Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun, who were highly expected to win as they did at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards, lost out to veteran actress Kara Wai for her role in "Happiness".
Another major snub involved "Mermaid," directed by comedy superstar Stephen Chow, which did not win anything though it had received eight nominations and is the biggest grossing film ever in China (US$525 million).
Winners list of the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards:
Best Film
Johnnie To, Yau Nai-hoi — "Trivisa"
Best Director
Frank Hui, Jevons Au, Vicky Wong — "Trivisa"
Best Screenplay
Loong Man Hong, Thomas Ng, Mak Tin Shu — "Trivisa"
Best Actor
Gordon Lam — "Trivisa"
Best Actress
Kara Wai — "Happiness"
Best Supporting Actor
Eric Tsang — "Mad World"
Best Supporting Actress
Elaine Jin — "Mad World"
Best New Performer
Tony Wu Tsz-tung — "Weeds on Fire"
Best Cinematography
Peter Pau, Cao Yu — "See You Tomorrow"
Best Film Editing
Allen Leung, David Richardson — "Trivisa"
Best Art Direction
Alfred Yau — "See You Tomorrow"
Best Costume Make-up Design
Kenneth Yee, Dora Ng — "The Monkey King 2"
Best Action Choreography
Tung Wai — "Operation Mekong"
Best Original Film Score
Peter Kam, Yusuke Hatano — "Soul Mate"
Best Original Film Song
"Anthem Of Shatin Martins" — "Weeds on Fire"
Composer: Day Tai
Lyrics: Saville Chan
Performer: Supper Moment
Best Sound Design
Kinson Tsang, George Lee — "Cold War 2"
Best Visual Effects
Luke Jung, Kim Sung-hoon, Kim Chan-soo, Kim Chul-min — "The Monkey King 2"
Best New Director
Wong Chun — "Mad World"
Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan
"Godspeed" (Taiwan)
Lifetime Achievement
Fong Yim-fun
Professional Achievement
Yuen Tai-yung
Source: china.org by zhang rui
