The just-concluded 41st Hong Kong Film Awards is the biggest awards ceremony in Hong Kong in the past five years.
Judging from the group photo posted before the award, the stars gathered.
In the evening, many media and audiences stayed at the Hong Kong Cultural Theatre, waiting to watch the red carpet.
First, Zheng Xiuwen made a sexy appearance in a black backless dress.
She was smiling and had a great temperament, as if she knew the results of the awards in advance, shining on the red carpet.
In addition to Zheng Xiuwen, Oscar newcomer Michelle Yeoh also made a surprise appearance on the Academy Awards red carpet.
Michelle Yeoh was wearing a golden retro dress, walking out of the star passage, her body was shining gold, and the buff of the "shadow queen" could be described as the largest.
In addition to the two actresses, there are many "old faces" who have not been seen for a long time, and they also appeared on the red carpet of this year's Academy Awards.
For example, Karen Mok and Juji Gu, who attended as award presenters.
The two wore the same color dress quite tacitly, and on the podium, they also complemented each other and matched each other very well.
From the perspective of state alone, it is hard to believe that Gu Juji is 51 years old, and Mo Wenwei is 53 years old.
In addition, Liang Yongqi appeared competently with short hair.
Liang Yongqi is in a beautiful state, and the design of the trousers and the wrap and mop plaid skirt shows the superior body curve and shoulder and neck line, which makes people marvel beautiful.
As one of the few "continental elements", the crew of "The End of the Sea is a Prairie" also came to the Academy Awards red carpet.
Ayunga is heroic, and Masu wears a black bandeau evening dress.
The young actor Luo Yichun is even dressed in a Snow White costume, white and lovely.
Compared with previous Academy Awards, this year's red carpet stars compete for glory and climax.
More than 50 superstars from both sides of the strait and three places gathered, including many big names such as Andy Lau and Liu Qingyun.
As one of the three major awards for Chinese films, the Hong Kong Film Awards have always been the vane of Chinese films.
But as Hong Kong films gradually declined, the influence of the Academy Awards gradually disappeared.
Whether it is a red carpet ceremony or an awards ceremony, from the beginning and end of the 41st Academy Awards, Pico saw a triple "joy and sorrow".
And between tragedy and joy, it seems to indicate a bright future for Hong Kong films.
Just brushed the award process of the Academy Awards and know all the results, Pico may wish to talk to you first, where is the "joy" and where is the "sadness" of this Academy Awards.
The first joy: 22 years of running with him, 10 times shortlisted, after Zheng Xiuwen finally won the film, Andy Lau personally presented the award
During the red carpet session, Pi Ge had a hunch that Zheng Xiuwen might be going to take the queen.
Because throughout the ceremony, Zheng Xiuwen's face flashed with the confident light of "the prize luck has arrived".
Audiences who know Hong Kong movies and know Cheng Xiuwen know that Cheng Xiuwen is to the Academy Awards what Little Plum is to the Oscars.
In the past 22 years, Cheng Xiuwen has been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards a total of 10 times, but he has always been empty-handed and accompanied him all.
The biggest suspense of this year's Academy Awards is whether Zheng Xiuwen can win the crown.
The official is also very interesting and arranged Andy Lau to be the guest of honor for the best actress.
The moment he saw Andy Lau on the red carpet, Pi Ge also secretly murmured in his heart: Zheng Xiuwen is afraid that he is stable this time.
In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, there is a relationship called "Cheng Xiuwen and Andy Lau".
The two have more than one friend, and they are one of the best male and female friends in the whole of Hong Kong.
On Zheng Xiuwen's 49th birthday in 2021, 60-year-old Andy Lau celebrated his birthday with flowers and cakes, looking at the entire entertainment industry, no one can have such treatment as Zheng Xiuwen.
In 2018, Andy Lau canceled the concert due to loss of voice.
At the lowest, Zheng Xiuwen was the first to come out to speak for Andy Lau, and its speed moved the fans of Tianwang.
In 2012, Andy Lau had a daughter, and at his daughter's 100-day banquet, Andy Lau only invited five friends who were important to him to attend the family banquet, one of which was Cheng Xiuwen.
In 2005, Zheng Xiuwen was depressed due to the play and "disappeared" for three years.
Only Andy Lau asked her to dinner, enlightened day and night, untied her heart knot, and let her be born again.
There are too many stories between the two, and each story is a note on their friendship.
Many melon-eating people have hoped that the two will achieve positive results, but they are always in a state of "lovers are not full", and the relationship is like relatives.
This award ceremony can say that many people's wishes about Andy Lau and Cheng Xiuwen.
Winning the Academy Award is definitely the most important moment in Zheng Xiuwen's life, and when he gave his acceptance speech, Zheng Xiuwen cried and blushed.
But standing next to her, presenting her with an award, always with a smile on his face, it was Andy Lau.
After taking the stage, Zheng Xiuwen also hugged this friend for the first time.
The two hugged each other in the light, I don't know how many people were moved.
The moment they held the trophy together was also the most moving and crazy moment at this year's Academy Awards.
Hua Zi even shouted with red eyes: Zheng Xiuwen, I love you.
Zheng Xiuwen got his wish, Hua Zi as the closest witness, the friendship between the two is also destined to add another rich stroke to the history of the Academy Awards.
The second joy: "Seaweed" won the best Asian Chinese film, remembering the predecessors and showing humanity
The predecessor of this "Best Asian Chinese Film" is "Best Cross-Strait Chinese Film", which commends outstanding films from both sides of the Straits and the three regions.
The 41st Best Asian Chinese Film, directed by Er Dongsheng, won "The End of the Sea is a Grassland" produced by Bona Films.
When Ma Su and Ayunga appeared on the red carpet, Pico had a secret excitement, feeling that this year's Academy Awards, films in the mainland would win.
In the end, it really lived up to expectations, and when Liang Yongqi pronounced the name, I don't know how many mainland viewers who watched the live broadcast on the Internet filled the expectations.
The director is also very naughty, and the first time "The End of the Sea is a Grassland" won the award, the camera cut to the face of director Er Dongsheng.
Director Er also smiled slightly, as if to show that for himself, winning the Academy Award is a small meaning.
Before the award was announced, this year's Academy Awards also had a particularly heartwarming part, that is, to pay tribute to the deceased filmmakers.
Among them are composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as "Guan Yu" Lu Shuming, both action director Xu Zhongxin, and Wu Yaohan, who recently died.
Although it is a remembrance link, but to have such a link, can not talk about the region, not the country, only the movie, for Pico, it is also one of the great surprises brought by the Hong Kong Film Awards.
I hope that this humanistic care can continue in the future.
The third surprise: Wu Zhenyu is full of firepower, it turns out that Feynman's sense of humor has a source and roots
The hottest day of "Quasi-actor" Wu Zhenyu was when he was on "Where Is Dad Going".
After that, Wu Zhenyu's son Feynman often broke out on the Internet, and everyone was thinking that Wu Zhenyu, such a serious actor, could have such a funny son.
After watching this year's Academy Awards ceremony, the source of Feynman's sense of humor was finally found.
If arranging Andy Lau to present an award to Zheng Xiuwen is an official surprise, then arranging Wu Zhenyu to present an award to actor Liu Qingyun is to base the happiness of others on the pain of "steamed fish".
As the award presenter, Wu Zhenyu was full of fire on stage and "bombarded" the Academy Awards:
"Thank you for inviting me to award this Best Actor, so that I, who has passed by this award six times, have the opportunity to touch this dream."
Looking at Wu Zhenyu, who looked aggrieved, the reason must be clear to everyone.
Wu Zhenyu career award 6 mentions 0, the last "Turbid Water Drifting" was 11 mentions 0, can be described as the king of the run, the male star "Zheng Xiuwen".
And this humorous and witty self-mockery also instantly detonated the atmosphere of the scene, and the audience and celebrities in the audience laughed one by one.
This is not the end, before the award, Wu Zhenyu also ridiculed Liu Qingyun, an "ordinary citizen" who wrote three movie kings:
"The reason why Hong Kong movies are green and yellow is because Liu (Qing) Yun is still taking on the play."
At this moment, we even saw a little embarrassment from Liu Qingyun's face.
The new actor seemed to be silently thinking in his heart: Blame me?
Wu Zhenyu's humor also made the most heavyweight award atmosphere reach a climax, everyone is very happy, Feynman naturally also has to ridicule his father:
This picture, Pico really can't help it.
The sense of humor of father and son seems to be innate.
After watching the triple "joy", Pi Ge had to reorganize his thinking and sort out the decline that this year's Academy Awards showed intentionally or unintentionally.
And the triple deep "sorrow" is bred in this "decadence".
The first tragedy: The documentary "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me" won the best controversy
Among the nominations for Best Film at this year's Academy Awards, there are four heavyweight films, namely "The Corridor of Justice", "Tomorrow's War", "Detective Wars" and "Narrow Road Dust".
But in the end, the award was a documentary called "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me".
There is no problem with the quality of the film itself, and there is even a score of 8.5 on Douban.
Not to mention that as a documentary, "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me" is not eligible for best film, even if the film quality is excellent, the controversy behind it does not seem to support it to win this award.
The film spent ten years recording the growth stories of several girls, but since the film was screened, it has been accompanied by many "uncertain factors".
On February 2, 2023, after the film was released, it attracted criticism from the two protagonists in the film, as well as Hong Kong cyclist Lee Wai-sze.
Because they all said that they initially agreed to shoot and appear in the film because the film owner promised to only "use it for school screening or fundraising purposes", and there was no release plan.
Moreover, some plots in the film are secretly filmed, which violates the morality of the film.
Today's release obviously goes against the original intention of several heroines, and they even need to find a psychologist to intervene because of the potential problems of this film.
Subsequently, the Hong Kong Education Bureau followed up in time, and the film party also made it clear that it did not obtain the consent of the protagonist before the release, so four days after the film was released, it was hastily released and made a mess.
On February 9, the Academy Awards nominations were announced, and "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me" was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Editing.
However, because of the previous controversy, the school involved, Yinghua Girls' School, issued a statement, saying that after careful consideration, the film withdrew from the selection of the Academy Awards.
The film itself has problems, the film side has clearly stated that it will withdraw from the selection, and the Academy Awards will also award the heavyweight award of "Best Film" to "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me", which is obviously contrary to common sense.
In terms of quality, the other four films, especially "The Corridor of Justice", have the full strength to win the best film.
I don't know why the Academy Awards are so paranoid about it.
This operation also raises questions from the audience: Where is the (traditional) value of personal privacy and will in Hong Kong films?
This selection also seems to bring more uncertainty to the selection of future Academy Awards.
The second sadness: the elderly group won the award, the newcomers were all hidden, where is the future of Hong Kong films
A closer look at the winners of this year's Academy Awards will find a poignant rule: those who win awards are "old people".
After the film, the best original song "Double Award" Zheng Xiuwen, 10 nominations, 22 participation, is 51 years old this year.
Actor Liu Qingyun, nominated 15 times and called emperor 3 times, is 60 years old this year.
Best director Wei Jiahui is 61 years old this year.
The best actor Xu Guanwen, is already an old man in Hong Kong, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award last time, and is 81 years old this year.
Best Actress Wang Yanzhi is the youngest of all the heavyweight awards, but is also 43 years old.
The average age of the winners of the five Academy Awards is 59.2 years.
What does this prove? It proves that the filmmakers who support Hong Kong films, to this day, are still the post-60s generation.
The prime time of their generation was the 1980s and 1990s.
Wu Zhenyu said that Hong Kong movies are green and yellow.
It seems to be a joke, but it is actually talking about the current situation of Hong Kong films.
Moreover, it is not difficult to see from the list of winners of this year's Academy Awards that the so-called "green and yellow" is still lighter.
Because today's Hong Kong movies have actually been completely "broken".
The post-80s and post-90s talents who should be the mainstay of today's Hong Kong movies have completely disappeared, and the post-00s have not been able to emerge, and Hong Kong movies are still supported by the old guys who used to be.
Stephen Chow re-followed the routine in filming, Andy Lau was saved by the Relations Bureau, Jackie Chan put a flower in the main film, and Chow Yun-fat could only use banknotes to light cigarettes and sell feelings...
But the "old guys" are destined to grow old, and one day they can't move, they can't shoot, and where should Hong Kong movies go?
Of course, it's not just young people, Hong Kong's film talent has been losing since the 90s.
Some of them went north, some went abroad to develop, and the young people left behind were either incapable of mediocre, or they were blocked by the old people and completely lay flat at home.
The entire Hong Kong film is like a pool of stagnant water, except for one or two high-looking "female vases" dressed in revealing clothes occasionally, the excellent actors of the middle and new generations are almost extinct.
This is also why Pico believes that "Hong Kong movies will only get worse".
Of course, without a successor, for Hong Kong movies, it is not the most terrifying.
Because the next "sadness" is likely to kill Hong Kong movies.
The third tragedy: self-style, enclosure, Hong Kong films without pattern, there is no life
On the red carpet of this year's Academy Awards, everyone noticed a Pakistani boy, Lin Nuo.
He also won the title of "Best New Actor" as he wished.
Many people wonder, when did Hong Kong films begin to have such an "international vision"?
In fact, Lin Nuo's movie "Daylight Youth" is a thoroughly Hong Kong film, which has nothing to do with "international".
Over the years, the Hong Kong Film Awards have always had three very strict entry criteria (at least 2 of which are met), that is: the director must be a permanent residence in Hong Kong, at least one of the production companies is a Hong Kong company, and at least six project staff are permanent residents in Hong Kong.
This also means that the Hong Kong Film Awards can only be produced within the scope of "Hong Kong films", and other films cannot be squeezed in.
Even films shot on the mainland cannot escape this exception (such as "The End of the Sea is a Prairie").
Over the years, this rule has not changed.
In the 80s, when Hong Kong films swept Southeast Asia and entered the era of Hollywood, the Academy Awards with the "Hong Kong Film" blood as the selection criterion can also be called "the first award for Chinese films".
But today, when Hong Kong films are in decline, this kind of harsh requirements has become the shackles of Hong Kong films.
Without the introduction of new blood, Hong Kong films have completely fallen into the dilemma of enclosure and self-hiding.
At this year's Academy Awards, this most acute question has actually been laid out.
Wu Zhenyu's "green and yellow do not connect" is the best proof.
On the one hand, the old people who control the core resources of Hong Kong films cannot let go of the once glorious arrogance of Hong Kong films, and have a condescending attitude towards films from other regions.
But their ability to tell stories has long been out of step with the times.
Especially after suffering the impact of Hollywood movies, they became cautious and eager to achieve quick results, and their works gradually became shallow and ugly.
On the other hand, Hong Kong films that have been self-styled have always used Hong Kong people to tell Hong Kong stories, and many films that are considered excellent by Hong Kong people are shown in other regions.
In the face of the vast market of the mainland, Southeast Asia and even Europe and the United States, Hong Kong filmmakers can only sigh and regret, and complain that the audience does not understand movies and Hong Kong.
The blockage of communication has triggered audiences around the world to look down on and even boycott Hong Kong films.
Most mainland audiences, including those who make a living from movies, hardly see a few Hong Kong-made films released every year.
New directors and actors seem to be growing wildly in Hong Kong, but there are very few who are synchronized outside Hong Kong.
This gap, if the Hong Kong films represented by Hong Kong filmmakers do not try to fill the adaptation, then the pattern of Hong Kong films will only get smaller and smaller, and finally lock itself in Hong Kong's 1114 square kilometers of land.
In fact, the road of Hong Kong film development, the 80 golden generation of Hong Kong stars, has already jumped out.
Wang Jing said well, there are no Hong Kong movies, only Chinese movies.
Hong Kong has the heritage of Chinese culture, which means that Hong Kong films have the ability to tell good stories, and Hong Kong also has the talent and technical base for film industrialization, which means that Hong Kong films have the level of shooting mature genre films.
This is the "sexy" element that Hong Kong films have given the audience a glance at for 10,000 years and cannot be forgotten.
As long as these two "sexy" are not lost, coupled with the development path of opening up the pattern and opening up ideas, "going out and bringing in", giving young people opportunities, giving newcomers trust, and giving rookies a rising channel, Hong Kong films may still have a chance to usher in glory again.
But if you continue to be like this year's Academy Awards, you will be self-sufficient, stagnant, self-hiding, self-reducing the pattern, relying on a bunch of 60-year-old old men to support the scene.
Even if there are 100 Academy Awards, 1,000 or even 10,000 stars gathered, they will not save Hong Kong movies, and such awards are just self-deception of false prosperity.
In this way, it may not be far from the real end of Hong Kong movies.
Text/Pipi Film Editorial Department: Ephemera
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