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| Michael Hui, Sean Lau, Raymond Lam, Aaron Kwok and Neo Yau compete for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor nominees. The former two are the favorites |
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| Best Supporting Actress nominee Jo Koo hopes PAPA's "family of three" would win the Hong Kong Film Awards together |
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| Maggie Li after over 60 years in film competes for Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actress for the first time with ALL SHALL BE WELL and leaves a beautiful memory in her show business career |
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Lo Chun Yip with MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD is competing for Best Supporting Actor and says that he does not mind being an also ran courtesy of mingpao.com |
The 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony will be held tomorrow
(27th) at the Cultural Centre. The Best Actor competition has been
considered between THE LAST DANCE (POR.DEI YUK)'s Michael Hui Koon Man
and PAPA's Sean Lau Ching Wan, ROB N ROLL (LUM SI GIP ONG)'s Aaron Kwok
Fu Sing and TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI
WAI SING)'s Raymond Lam Fung are also quite prominent and are regarded
as dark horses; THE WAY WE TALK (HONG NGOR GUM TIN JUM MOR SUET)'s Neo
Yau Hawk Sau faced the strong competition from elders, and his chances
of winning the award has decreased outside. Lau Ching Wan has won Best
Actor in the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards and the Asian Film
Awards, and is confident about winning the award again. The Best Actor
at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Annual Awards this year, Hui Koon
Man feels normal about the awards, saying that the most important thing
is to enjoy the scenery along the way. Kwok Fu Sing and Lam Fung both
also feel normal. Yau Hawk Sau says that the nomination has been a
great encouragement.
Hui Koon Man ascended to the Best Actor throne at the first Hong
Kong Film Awards with SECURITY UNLIMITED (MOR DUN BO BIU). After 43
years, he would compete for Best Actor with THE LAST DANCE. In the film
he put away his true colors as a comedy craftsman to play the role of
the Namo master Kwok Man with superb acting skills. The movie has been
well received and regarded as the favorite. He said, "Acting in a film
with no comedy elements at all this time has been truly very difficult.
During the performance I didn't have much confidence. Winning an award
before doesn't necessarily mean winning another award. After making
this film, I realized that the most important thing in life is to enjoy
the scenery along the way."
Lau Ching Wan gives delicate and touching performance in PAPA.
He says, "I have always had confidence in myself. I would not regard
my opponents as enemies, and I dare less to compare with the great elder
Hui Koon Man. He is a comedic giant, having made many hit comedies.
This time his performance in THE LAST DANCE is outstanding." Lam Fung
says that he has done his best to act in TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS:
WALLED IN, and he is honored to be nominated. If he won the award, it
would be the icing on the cake. Kwok Fu Sing said that he must have
confidence as an actor, but at the same time he has also learned to
face awards normally.
In terms of Best Supporting Actress, PAPA's Jo Ko (Kok Cho Lam)
would compete against LOVE LIES (NGOR TAM DIK NA CHEUNG LUEN OI)'s
Stephy Tang Lai Yan, ALL SHALL BE WELL (CHUNG GUM YI HAU)'s Maggie Li
Linlin and THE LAST DANCE's Rachel Leung Yung Ting and Rosa Velasco
(Wai Law Sha). Kok Cho Lam won the Best Supporting Actress at the Hong
Kong Film Directors Guild Annual Awards, and her pre-race buzz is the
highest. Nominated for the first time after 20 years in the industry,
she says, "Many people praise me for acting well, because they see a
very different me and Lau Ching Wan. No one deliberately design the
roles, and everyone fought hard to act. I am overjoyed that many people
accept my interpretation method. My look has a heavy sense of life,
suitable for playing a role like 'Kam Yin'." She reveals that she has
doubted whether she knows how to act. Now she has finally been
recognized, which has given her a shot in the arm. She expressed her
confidence that she would win, "The award does not represent me, I
represent the award. Whether I win the award or not my confidence won't
be affected. I would be very happy to be able to win the award, because
I would have the opportunity to go on stage and thank the people I want
to thank; but I haven't thought about the award speech yet. Thank you
so much for voting for me. I am an individual, without the support of
the company, getting one vote would have been truly rare."
Kok Cho Lam says that after watching the nominated movies, she
felt that the opponent are excellent, their performance are great, and
she would be happy for whoever would win the award. She joked, "Of
course I want to win myself, the best would be for my 'husband' Lau
Ching Wan and 'son' So Man To to win together as a family of three;
Ching Wan has perfectly demonstrated that acting can be like this, So
Man To is an acting genius and not a 'fluke'. After the director
finishes telling him, he has made progress in every scene and fully
meets the director's requirements. For example the scene of describing
the murder of his mother in court, he is so bland but also creepy."
Away from the screen for more than 30 years, Maggie Li Linlin
has been nominated for the comeback movie ALL SHALL BE WELL. She is
both surprised and delighted, saying that she has never thought about
being nominated. This is the first time she has been nominated after
more than 60 years in film, which is very meaningful and a good memory
of her acting career. She says that she has agreed to play "Wu Bik Yuk"
without considering the sexual orientation of the character. Instead
she has found it challenging and a little trembling, worrying that her
acting style is outdated and not good enough; which would tarnish the
whole movie. "My previous acting method failed, but under the guidance
of the director I found that acting was not too difficult. For me not
to act would be difficult, it is a good experience." She smiles and
says that fortunately her comprehension ability is not weak and she is
able to meet the requirements of the director. However she has neither
the confidence nor the extravagance to win the award, saying that the
nominees are all young actors. They have their own achievements for the
voters to see,. Instead she is like a newcomer.
In terms of Best Supporting Actor, MONTAGES OF A MODERN
MOTHERHOOD's Lo Chun Yip is sandwiched between TWILIGHTS OF THE
WARRIORS: WALLED IN's Louis Koo Tin Lok and Philip Ng Wan Lung, and THE
LAST DANCE's Tommy Chu Pak Hong and Paul Chun Pui. Lo Chun Yip says
with a smile, "MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD has just been released,
and in the face of two movies with a box office of over 100 million it
is already well worth the price of admission. I've watched both films,
and I'm very impressed by the performances of my opponents. I'm already
happy to be a part of them." He says that he has been in film for more
than 10 years, but the outside has only noticed him last year when he
competed for Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards with TIME STILL
TURNS THE PAGES (NIN SIU YUT GEI). Actually with SUK SUK, this is the
third time he has been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards. "I have
encountered a great production team that is very high quality." He does
not mind being accused of being an also ran, thinking that the most
important is to get to run. "The opponent's performances are really
exciting, like in THE LAST TIME Chun Pui doesn't have many scenes.
When he appears in the mourning hall for Hui Koon Man, you can see that
he misses his friends and his regret. He is very powerful."
Chu Pak Hong won the Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film
Directors' Guild Annual Awards and is the favorite. Ng Wan Lung and Koo
Tin Lok played "Wong Gau" and "Tornado" in TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS:
WALLED IN. They have recently become popular in Japan. Chun Pui is a
frequent guest at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and in THE LAST DANCE has
fewer scenes. No one knows if that will affect the score.