Sunday, January 16, 2011

Gallants Wins HK Film Critics Best Film Award

The Hong Kong Film Critics Society held their 17th Annual Awards on January 10 and awarded the surprise packet film of 2010, Gallants (打擂台), the Best Film Award. The kung fu comedy starring a bunch of 65 year old veterans has outshone bigger budgeted and better promoted movies to be a hit with critics and the public alike.

Gallants plays tribute to the kung fu flicks of the 60s and 70s but updates its storyline in a modern setting. It was made by two relatively inexperienced directors, Derek Kwok and Clement Chong, but backed by two big name actors, Andy Lau and Gordon Lam. The Hong Kong Critics also named their 2010 Top Five films. Joining Gallants were Love in a Puff, Crossing Hennessy, La comédie humaine and The Stool Pigeon.

One of the stars of Gallants, Teddy Robin Kwan (泰迪罗宾, pinyin: Tàidí Luóbīn) was named Best Actor. Best-known as a singer-songwriter whose career was at its greatest heights in the 60s with his band Teddy Robin and the Playboys. He then moved on to film composing, winning a Golden Horse Award in 1982. He has also acted in several movies, usually in supporting roles. Nick Cheung (playing a detective in The Stool Pigeon) and Chapman To for his comic turn as a movie-loving hitman in La comédie humaine, were both short-listed for the award.

In the Best Actress category Cantopop singer and comic actor Miriam Yeung (杨千嬅, pinyin: Yáng Qiānhuà) finally broke through for her first acting award in a career that has spanned 15 years. While she has picked up awards for her singing, she has been previously overlooked for her screen performances. A comedy specialist, the 35 year old won for her performance as a cynical wedding planner in the romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Yeung beat mainland actress Tang Wei starring in another romcom, Crossing Hennessy, and rising Taiwanese star Guey Lun-Mei (The Stool Pigeon).

A list of winners can be found at this Wikipedia entry.

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