1905 Movie Network Special Article 1993 was the "blowout year" of Hong Kong films, and countless classic Hong Kong films appeared on the big screen in this year.
Stephen Chow continued to dominate the Hong Kong film industry this year, launching his classic nonsensical and funny work "Tang Bohu Dots Autumn Fragrance";
Jet Li also achieved a breakthrough in his role this year, changing Wong Feihong's grandmaster aura and leading the cute and playful "Fang Shiyu" to the Hong Kong film stage.
"Fang Shiyu" stills
But there is such a movie, which broke out of the encirclement in the Hong Kong film industry when the strong people were like clouds, and ranked third in the box office list of Hong Kong local films in 1993, this movie is written and directed by Er Dongsheng, starring Liu Qingyun and Yuan Yuyi.
Stills from "New Love".
Ajie (played by Liu Qingyun) is a talented musician who moved to a dilapidated unit alone, and met Amin (played by Yuen Yuen), the daughter of a temple street artist, in the midst of hesitation.
Optimistic and strong, she inspires Applejack to regain her confidence and achieve success in her career. The two fall in love, but Amin's condition deteriorates, and although she has regained her strength, she eventually loses to the disease, leaving Applejack with eternal regrets.
In 1993, the movie "New Love" swept 31.16 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, what kind of concept is this?
In front of it are "Tang Bohu Dots Autumn Fragrance", which helped Stephen Chow achieve four consecutive box office championships in Hong Kong and received a box office of 40.17 million, and "Happy Events in the Flower Field", which was the box office champion of the Chinese New Year stalls starring Leslie Cheung, and the stars won 35.53 million box office.
Stills from "Happy Events in the Flower Field".
The movie behind it is the action comedy movie "City Hunter" directed by Wang Jing and starring Jackie Chan, Wang Zuxian, and Qiu Shuzhen, as well as another classic kung fu movie "Fang Shiyu" by Jet Li, who was in the limelight at the time.
A still from "City Hunter".
In addition to the box office success, "New Love" also has a good reputation. In 1994, the film swept the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards, winning a total of 6 awards for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
Er Dongsheng, who holds two Academy Awards
The director is an actor who has not yet had a big hit; The heroine is the fledgling newcomer Yuan Yuyi, who won the championship of "Sister Hong Kong"; The actor is Liu Qingyun, who has just switched from TV to the movie track.
Why did this romantic literary film, which is not a "family carnival", break through from the 90s, when it was still the dominant commercial comedy film at that time?
Behind its success, there is actually a bumpy creation story.
Director Er Dongsheng, who became famous in 1977 for starring in the Shaw Brothers martial arts movie "The Sword of the Three Young Masters", "New Love" can be said to be his most successful work since he transformed into a director in 1985.
Er Dongsheng in "The Sword of the Third Young Master" perfectly interprets the sword eyebrows and starry eyes
In order to make this movie well, Er Dongsheng poured all his heart and soul into it. In the year when kung fu comedy movies such as Stephen Chow and Jet Li were in the limelight, "New Love" was unpopular at the beginning of filming, and persuaded the investment predators in the film and television industry to quit, so that Er Dongsheng had to take out his savings for filming.
At that time, Er Dongsheng thought that the script of "New Love" was difficult to create without basis, and if he deliberately wrote it, he would not be able to write such a story. The character prototypes of Feng Baobao, Qin Pei and other old drama bones in the film all come from a singing family that Er Dongsheng knows.
Qin Pei's uncle Amin
Er Dongsheng, who is both a director and a screenwriter, lived with this family for two or three months in order to make the plot more real, watching how they lived, finding some touching materials, and adding the story of another character, before finally forming the script of "New Love".
It is precisely because of Er Dongsheng's serious creative attitude that the plot of the movie is ordinary and real and touching.
Such a serious director is said to often make young actors "dare not approach". These two newcomers to the film are Liu Qingyun and Yuan Yuyi.
The duo's performance in the first half of the movie showed the audience the infinite youthful passion and splendor of love.
Liu Qingyun has perfectly portrayed a talented but charming musician.
There is a wonderful saxophone fight in the movie, Liu Qingyun and Qin Pei are playing a rhythmic and elegant saxophone song, even if he is in a simple house, even if his forehead has blown fine beads of sweat, he still blows the saxophone emotionally.
Amin played by Anita Yuen was watching Applejack's performance on the side, and she was young and invincible at that time, and she specially cut her hair short for this movie, so that she had this playful short hair style, and her big eyes told the endless heartbeat of the girl's heart.
Applejack's talent and love of music, along with Amin's sunny smile and innocent personality, make up the vibrant and hopeful love story of the first half of the film.
If the key words of the emotional tone in the early stage of the movie are love and hope, then the emotional keywords in the later stage of the film are pain and separation, and the performances of the two actors have also staged a 180-degree change with the development of the plot.
Anita Yuen changed her previous playful and cute, and Amin, who was suffering from illness, became negative and sensitive, unable to bear the loss of her hair, she erupted in the corridor of the hospital, running wildly and recklessly, forming a strong contrast with the previous sunshine.
And Applejack, who was originally pregnant, had no talent, and the difficulties of his career development seemed so small in the matter of life and death, he became the party who encouraged and accompanied Amin.
At the end of the movie, Applejack, who returns from a shopping trip, looks at the doctors and nurses gathered in front of Amin's ward at the end of the dimly lit hospital corridor, and he seems to understand that he missed the last meeting with Amin.
Liu Qingyun's expression went from stunned at the beginning, to cautious guessing, to disbelief, and then to finally collapse and hide his face and cry bitterly.
The progression of layers of emotions touches the hearts of the audience all the time.
With her excellent acting skills in "New Love", Anita Yuen won the Best Actress at the Academy Awards in one fell swoop, creating the myth that her debut was the pinnacle; Liu Qingyun also successfully realized the change of track and became the favorite of Hong Kong directors.
A year after "New Love", the two renewed their relationship in 1994 and collaborated on the movies "The Rich House" and "Last Night's Long Wind". In 1995, he collaborated on the movie "Tricky King" and became an out-and-out classic screen partner in the 90s.
Stills from "The Tricky King".
In the subsequent film career, Anita Yuen had a smooth journey. After winning the Best Actress at the Academy Awards in 1993, she won the Best Actress at the 14th Academy Awards again with the movie "Golden Branches and Jade Leaves" released in 1994.
Stills from "Golden Branches and Jade Leaves".
And Liu Qingyun's tough guy image in a number of action movies and crime films has also won the unanimous recognition of the audience and film critics. The "Eavesdropping" series starring him has become a classic IP of Hong Kong crime movies, and he himself won the Best Actor at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards for "Eavesdropping 3".
Stills from "Eavesdropping 3".
In 2024, Er Dongsheng and Anita Yuen will reunite in a variety show, lamenting that this year is the 30th anniversary of "New Love", and Anita Yuen also joked with a smile that it was obviously a work ten years ago.
2024 is the 30th anniversary of the release of "New Love" and the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
The story of this classic film takes place in the unique historical context of Hong Kong, and at the same time, it also deeply reflects the changes in Hong Kong society and people's expectations for the future.
It not only tells a love story intertwined with emotions and fate, but also is the epitome of the golden years of Hong Kong cinema, and is one of the witnesses and recorders of the times.
Thirty years later, the love story between Applejack and Amin in the movie still moves us.
In this fast-paced era, we may have moved away from the romantic years of "slow carriage and horses", but the story of perseverance and struggle in "New Love" will forever be engraved in our memory.
The movie channel will premiere "New Love" on Saturday evening, June 29.