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A BETTER YESTERDAY – EP.7 – HANDOVER BLUES
Enough of the nonsense—this episode is serious. Ross O’Brien talks with Bey Logan about Hong Kong cinema in the years leading up to Britain’s handover of the colony to China in July 1997; debate ensues.
For the most part, the business of cinema in Hong Kong carried on as usual, delivering carefree comedies and punch-em-ups in search of box-office return, even as Hong Kongers become more anxious about the return to the mainland China. But slowly, things were changing: Hong Kong films began to portray mainlander characters less as rustic rubes and more as a serious, sympathetic figures (see My Father Is a Hero, or Bodyguard from Beijing).
The conversation also traces changes in film financing: the decline of overt triad involvement after the 1990 kidnapping of Karina Lau, the rise of business-backed companies like Media Asia, and the promise of a growing mainland market
Peter Chan’s Comrades: Almost a Love Story is the launching-off point for the discussion of the Handover Blues: exploring migration, ambition and Chinese identity in Hong Kong and America. Ross and Bey discuss Maggie Cheung’s expressive performance, take opposite views on Leon Lai’s acting chops, and consider the film’s use of everyday markers of Western consumer culture.
The meat of the ep, however, is an examination of the incomparable Wong Kar Wai. Wong’s distinctive sensibilities, apparent even in early efforts such as the conventional gangster film As Tears Go By, quickly formed into an auteur-ish playbook where a meditative focus on character and neon-and-pop music soaked atmosphere takes the place of plot. Careful archiving (and a keen head for merch!) will ensure Wong’s place in world cinema.
Join the pair in Bey’s seaside dojo for another ramble round Hong Kong cinema history. As always, you can find Bey’s books ‘n things at www.reeleast.com. This episode was edited and produced by Mark Haskins at postopmedia.com
Films mentioned
First Strike (1996)
My Father Is a Hero (1995)
Treasure Hunt (1994)
Bodyguard from Beijing (1994)
Drunken Master II (1994)
Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996)
Fallen Angels (1995)
As Tears Go By (1988)
Days of Being Wild (1990)
Chungking Express (1994)
2046 (2004)
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
The Grandmaster (2013)
Ashes of Time (1994)
Butterfly and Sword (1993)
Long Arm of the Law (1984)
Seven Swords (2005)
Viva Erotica (1996)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
YOUR HOSTS
Bey Logan (A Better Yesterday)
Bey Logan is a Hong Kong-based screenwriter, producer and martial arts film historian. His films include Jackie Chan’s ‘The Medallion’ and ‘The Twins Effect’, Sammo Hung’s ‘Dragon Squad’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny’, which starred Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh. He has produced documentaries about Bruce Lee, as well as a book entitled ‘Bruce Lee and I’. Bey’s recent publications include the two-volume ‘36 Chambers of Kung Fu Cinema’.
Ross O’Brien (A Better Yesterday)
Ross O’Brien writes about technology and economics in Asia from a fishing village on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Most evenings he stares out at the South China Sea, fretting about what the salt air is doing to his comic books and Del Rey paperbacks. He has no film credits to speak of, unless you count the voice-overs he did for Vidal Sassoon shampoo commercials when he was hard up in Singapore in the 1990s.
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