[2026.07.09] THE LAST DANEC TEAM "RETURNS" TO 1971

Dayo Wong (center) and Michael Hui (right) collaborate again and are happy to work with THE GAME OF THRONES' Iain Glen

Michelle Wai (left) and Karena Lam (right) work together for the third time
courtesy of mingpao.com

The Emperor Motion Pictures' 2024 release, THE LAST DANCE (POR. DEI YUK) has surpassed HK$ 170 million at the box office to become the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in the history of Hong Kong film. It has even won five awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards. This year the original team "returned" to begin production on the new film "1971" (tentative title), and invited the Berlin Best Actor, the "Game of Thrones" Iain Glen as a surprise addition; recently a production start ceremony took place and attendees included the chairman of the Emperor Group chair Albert Yeung Sau Sing, director Anselm Chan Mou Yin, Dayo Wong Tze Wah, Michael Hui Koon Man, Michelle Wai Sze Nga, Iain Glen, Carlos Chan Ka Lok, Tommy Chu Pak Hong, Alex Fong Chung Shun, Philip Ng Wan Lung and so on.

The film would be Director Chan Mou Yin personally written all new story, focusing on the historical turning point of Hong Kong's official establishment of monogamy in 1971, as well as the humanity and emotional interweaving of the changing times. He said, "After THE LAST DANCE, I always wanted to make a film set in the 1950s and 60s; so the team and I worked hard to find interesting propositions from the period, until I thought of "monogamy." In the eyes of modern people like us, this type of marital relationship has been taken for granted; but 60 years ago the 'Great Qing Dynasty laws' still existed and allowed men to have three wives and four concubines, so the process of transforming from the concubine system to the present-day monogamy is the direction of the story I want to create this time." Yeung Sau Sing said in support, "The subject of 1971 is unique and the script is full of depth, and I have full confidence in this new work."

Tze Wah described the role in the new film would be drastically different from before, could be said to be unfathomable and even more complex. He needed to constantly explore it with the director, "This time my relationship with Hui Koon Man could be said to be the complete opposite of THE LAST DANCE. Whether it was the relationship between the two characters, to the structure of the whole film have gone to another level. As for working again with Director Chan Mo Yin, our chemistry is getting better and better; and from general obedience to full obedience. Because the last time we collaborated, everyone's opinions were slightly different and the director's idea brought great results. So Hui Koon Man and I fully surrendered this time and believed in the director's choice." He also played coy and said that this time he was very pleased and satisfied, because he did something that he has never tried before in his film career. He might wish to do more. Hui Koon Man said, "Every collaboration has a different spark. Working with Director Chan and Tze Wah again, it would not be a repeat but to go to another level. This time, the work pattern is larger, full of a sense of the times. The cast and the crew are very involved. This type of growth is the most interesting part of creating. I believe the audience would not only definitely gets a sense of freshness but also experience the sincerity of our entire team."

Chan Mou Yin felt that the enjoyment would be greater than the pressure in this production, as he believed that every filmmaker would have a dream of making a period store. The process has been very pleasant and his collaboration chemistry with Wong Tze Wah and Hui Koon Man is even deeper. With THE LAST DANCE team and great actors, a group of friends who like to act gathered to act. He said that being able to invite Iain Glen to join the team was his and the team's honor, saying that Iain Glen's role was very special Iain Geln praised the 1971 production was very excellent. Shooting every scene, stepping onto each production location have left people in awe. This experience has left him with beautiful memories and an incredibly lucky and happy time.

Lam Ka Yan and Wai Sze Ngan both faced "license test" from Chan Mou Yin and admitted that the pressure was not light. Lam Ka Yan put all of her effort into her role. "The director asked the actors to perform in British English. Because the character was in the 1960s and had an upper class society background, she also had to have certain level of education. I have to handle the unique demands of the character." Lam Ka Yan said that the director paid attention to details and tested her immediately response, which felt very exciting to her and was a great challenge. He was very honored to work with Hui Koon Man for the first time. She has known Wong Tze Wah for over a decade but they would collaborate on a movie for the first time. Both Wai Sze Nga and Lam Ka Yan played lawyers in the film, and their relationship was like that of a mentor and a friend. "This time would be our third collaboration. I like my character respect Lam Ka Yan very much, on the set privately we would exchange acting tips."

The fourth time to participate in the work of Chan Mou Yin, Wai Sze Wing in this era film played the role of professional lawyer. She joked that she too was taking the "license test", the pressure was not light but also full of freshness. She was grateful to the director every time to give her some new challenges.