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The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will continue to screen some of Hong Kong's long-lost cinematic gems in the "Early Cinematic Treasures Rediscovered 2". Six early Hong Kong productions from the 1930s and 1940s will be screened at the HKFA Cinema from January 9 to March 27 next year, namely "Pretty Lady" (1938), "The Ghost Catcher" (1939), "Flames of Lust" (1946), "Where is the Lady's Home?" (1947), "The Crazy Matchmaker" (1948) and "Fishing Village in the War" (1948). The programme will also screen six reference films for comparison with the selected films to give audiences a better understanding of these early works. Also, the leading actress in "The Ghost Catcher", Lo Sai-kim, will meet the audience after the screening on January 10 next year.
These immensely precious nitrate films were donated by the owner of the Palace Theatre in San Francisco, Jack Lee Fong, and brought back to Hong Kong in 2012. The HKFA has successfully converted the nitrate prints into 2K digital copies after meticulous efforts in scanning, test screening and other repair work. The selected films have diverse characteristics in terms of genre, directing, plot development and innovations in film language and acting, showcasing the creativity of local cinema.
The young southern queen of the silver screen at the time, 17-year-old Nancy Chan plays clever village beauty Hao in "Pretty Lady", who falls in love with the handsome family heir (Kwong Shan-siu) but is later raped and impregnated by a wealthy heir (Wong Cho-shan). The film initially imitates a Western situation comedy and begins in light-hearted romance but later plunges into the abject misery of abandonment and betrayal.
Another tragic love story, "Where is the Lady's Home?", criticises the conservative views that hinder free love and seeks to redress discrimination against songstresses and actors. The film follows junior teacher Wah (Cheung Ying) who falls in love with famous singer Ping (Siu Yin-fei) but meets opposition from his family, and Ping makes sacrifices to raise money for saving her critically ill lover.
Wong Toi's "The Ghost Catcher" is a bizarre fantasy that mixes horror and sensual imagery from East and West, both ancient and contemporary. It tells of demons' scheme to destroy the human world and abduct the Hu family, which leads the family servant to the famous exorcist Zhong Kui for help. The early cult film combines the motifs of hell, demons and a damsel-in-distress, all of which were popular features of adult and children's comics, thus developing the amusing absurdities of Hong Kong-style comedy. Made during the Sino-Japanese War, the film slyly uses the demons as a metaphor for the real-life invaders, giving a moral boost to audiences at that time.
Mok Hong-si's "Flames of Lust" is the second post-war big production, featuring two male leads, Ng Cho-fan and Lee Ching, and two female leads, Lee Lan and Cheang Mang-ha. The film depicts the complicated love triangle involving a Shanghainese lady newly arrived in town, a painter and a Hong Kong actor, and also draws on the simmering clashes between the southern and northern cities in the 1950s and 60s. Lee Lan's seductive performance pushes the boundaries of decency for films at the time, while a stellar cast of Cantonese actors speaking Mandarin also highlights the language differences amidst the north-south conflict.
Adapted from a popular novel by Yi Hung-sang, "The Crazy Matchmaker" reflects the oppression of women in a patriarchal society, as well as alluding to the often messy relationships between men and women and the lack of law and order in the post-war era. Director Lo Duen stars as a bigtime blackmailer who seduces three women and uses them to swindle money. The cast impresses with brilliant performances including the pure and beautiful leading actress, Tsi Lo Lin, the wicked-looking Lo and Chan Yeuk-ho as a loose woman.
Directed by Wu Pang and written by Chun Kim, "Fishing Village in the War" is a realist drama about villagers' resistance against the oppression of a despotic landlord in a fishing village. Shot in Cheung Chau, the film documents the lives of fishermen at the time with a plot that involves multiple relationships among characters from two fisherman families. The stubborn and upright Kwan Tak-hing is dispirited by the hardships of life, whereas the seemingly inexperienced and timid Pak Yin shows strength in adversity. Chun breathed life into every character with his script, while Wu demonstrates a flair for fluid camerawork and dramatic restraint.
The six reference films are "The Idiotic Couple" (1956), a romantic comedy starring Yam Kim-fai, Tang Bik-wan, Law Kim-long and Cecilia Lee Fung-sing; Ling Wan's "Mirror of Revenge" (1966), a hybrid of Cantonese opera, suspense and horror film; "Heavenly Match" (1956) directed and scripted by "comedy master" Mok Hong-si, which depicts young couples returning from abroad to pursue a future in Hong Kong; "Wild Flowers Are Sweeter" (1959), an adaptation of Ma Si-tsang's Cantonese opera of the same title about an old-fashioned father who tries to stop his son loving a songstress but who ends up falling victim to the songstress' seduction himself; "Everlasting Regret" (1948), a tragic melodrama starring and directed by Lo Duen; and "The Fisherman's Daughter" (1956), depicting a love triangle between a fisherman's daughter, an heiress and a painter.
"Flames of Lust" and "The Fisherman's Daughter" are in Mandarin while all the other films are in Cantonese. "Flames of Lust", "Where is the Lady's Home?", "The Crazy Matchmaker" and "Fishing Village in the War" have Chinese and English subtitles, and the other films are without subtitles.
Tickets priced at $40 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries, please call 2739 2139 or 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/en_US/web/fpo/programmes/2016ect/film.html.
Ends/Monday, November 9, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:01
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