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Since its opening in January 2001, the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) has organised various thematic film programmes with hundreds of screenings, exhibitions, seminars and publications. Into its third year, the HKFA will continue to dedicate itself to the preservation of Hong Kong's film heritage. In the forthcoming January programme "Archival Treasures, Spring 2003", nine rare films including Fei Mu's masterpiece "Spring in a Small Town" and King Hu's "The Valiant Ones", all with remarkable stories of acquisition and conservation behind them, will be screened.

Organised by the HKFA of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the films will be shown from January 4 to 26 at the HKFA cinema. Of the nine archival treasures, some prints were retrieved from overseas, sound and picture quality of some films had been restored to differing degrees while some had just re-emerged recently.

Having been voted one of the best films in the History of Chinese Cinema, director Fei Mu's masterpiece "Spring in a Small Town"(1948) coalesces a complex but subtle emotional entanglements of five people into an essay of love and desire. With exquisite use of glances, mannerisms, body language, simple and the richly nuanced images, the film protrays a quietly compelling psychological drama. The sound of the film was restored by the Center De Documentation sur le Cinema Chinos in France from a print originated from the China Film Archive. Courtesy by Elisabeth Cazer, the betacam video of the restored version will be shown.

Directed by Fei Mu's brother, Fei Luyi and starred by superstar Hsia Moon, the influence of "Spring in a Small Town" can be clearly seen in the "Romance in the Boudoir" (1960). The film depicts a love triangle with neo-classical European architecture of Macau as the backdrop. Hsia Moon plays a woman trapped in a loveless marriage with her stone-cold physician husband but she was stirred with ripples of passion with the arrival of a family friend. Audiences may draw some interesting comparisons by viewing the two films in the same series. The copy is being screened the first time since its acquisition by the HKFA.

One of the best pictures of film master King Hu, "The Valiant Ones"(1975) integrates both martial arts and traditional value of loyalty. Its theme of valiant sacrifice going unrewarded is an elegy to none other than King Hu himself. The great action scenes underscore the heroic nature of the film itself, bolstered by great ensembles acting and memorable martial arts choreography. From the negatives donated by the director a month before his death in 1997, the HKFA was able to create this beautifully digitally restored new print.

Two archival films "An All-Consuming Love"(1947) and "Orioles Banished from the Flowers"(1948) starring Zhou Xuan, who was known for her beautiful singing, will be shown. Both with popular appealing songs, "An All-Consuming Love" portrays a wartime romance while "Orioles Banished from the Flowers" is a melodrama. Director Wong Kar-wai has compiled a footage of Cantonese movies based on the theme song of "An All-Consuming Love".

The original nitrates of the two films had been left inside a rooftop shed above a factory building for many years, the retrieved copies were sent to the British Film Institute for restoration and transferred to safety film. Some of the music in the "Orioles Banished from the Flowers" was found missing in the retrieved copy. A more complete version was loaned by the Center De Documentation sur le Cinema Chinos in Paris as a reference for restoring the film to its former glory.

"General Kwan Seduced by Due Sim under Moonlight"(1956) is a restored Eastman colour print of a Cantonese opera film from the negatives discovered in the Rank Laboratories of London, with the addition of English subtitles. It stars martial arts master, Kwan Tak-hing as General Kwan, the legendary "God of War". The central seduction scene is a fitting introduction to the opera film and an important genre of Hong Kong cinema.

When a fire broke out in Yung Hwa Studio, many movies were lost, the lone surviving copy of "Our Husband"(1949) was repatriated from World Theatre in San Francisco. With a story set in Shanghai, the huge meticulous sets and wonderful costumes were truly stunning by local homegrown cinema's standards. Another production of Yung Hwa, "Soul of China"(1948) is a restored print repatriated from the British Film Institute. An epic spectacle budgeted at one million dollars, with 72 sets, a main cast of 20 and as many as 1,500 extras, the production scale of the film on Song Dynasty loyalist Wen Tianxiang is considered as unprecedented in the history of China Cinema.

"A Baby for Everybody"(1949) is the first colour production after Grandview Company re-opened after the war. It is also one of the earliest locally acquired Hong Kong-made colour films of the HKFA's collection. The film is also an early example of the implication of the 3-prime colours-negative cinematography of the local cinema.

All films are in Mandarin or Cantonese while "Spring in a Small Town", "General Kwan Seduced by Due Sim under Moonlight" and 'The Valiant Ones" will have English subtitle.

Tickets for "Archival Treasures, Spring 2003" screenings are priced at $30 each and available for sale at all URBTIX outlets. Half-priced concessionary tickets are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients.

Enquiries can be made at 2734 2900 or browsing the website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp. Reservations can be made at 2734 9009 and internet booking at www.urbtix.gov.hk.

End/Thursday, December 19, 2002

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