[2011.03.02] CONNIE CHAN'S YOUTH IS DIGITALLY RESTORED

courtesy of singtao.com

courtesy of mingpao.com

Nancy Sit Ka Yin, Wu Fung, Connie Chan Bo Chu

courtesy of takungpao.com

The 1996 release, Connie Chan Bo Chu and Josephine Siao Fong Fong starred youth musical COLORFUL YOUTH (CHOI SIK CHING CHUN) after Hong Kong Film Archive's material arrangement and digital restoration two nights ago held a screening at the Cultural Center theater. Actors Chan Bo Chu, Wu Fung, Nancy Sit Ka Yin, Stephen Chan Chu Kwong and Yam Pak Kong attended the event.

Chan Bo Chu said that the film was the only modern film that she and Siao Fong Fong worked together on. After the restoration, she took time to enjoy it. "The restored visual quality is very pretty, but due to some missing footage, the story is partially disjointed." She said that a scene with her father and a large scale musical scene could not see the light of day again. For the musical number she recalled the she practiced hard at home for two days. "Brother Sau and other actors had dance backgrounds so it was easier for them. I remember Brother Sau danced like a rascal back then. Being able to work with sisters Siao Fong Fong, Sit Ka Yin and Cheng Ming Ming was rather rare back then."

Brother Sau said, "Back then dancing in leather shoes was rather tough, but it was worth it. COLORFUL YOUTH's first run box office was over 700,000, the second run was over 400,000. At the time ticket was 70 cents to HK$1.2. Many viewers watched and watched again, it was the most popular." Wu Fung said that when Chan Bo Chu started, he played Bo Chu's father. Later when Bo Chu made young girl films, he played Bo Chu's boyfriend. They had countless collaborations.

Sit Ka Yin said, when she made COLORFUL YOUTH she was only 15 or 16. It was also the representative youth film of the era. She said, "At the time I was still attending secondary school. At the shoot, fans waited outside the school gates for autographs, my mother was worried that my education would be affected. However, back that the film required me to ride a motorcycle. Because I was too young to get a license, I was forced to ride without one. Luckily I studied karate and knew how to fall to reduce injury. However every time the motorcycle was off screen I fell, everyone suffered a lot of injuries."