Hong Kong 1990: From stuntman to King of Kung Fu

Chapter 109 Kowloon Walled City

Tangde Pictures is no longer a company that revolves solely around Tang Long.

Starting with "Reign of Assassins", Tangde Pictures established a publicity and distribution department.

It was quite rudimentary back then; we just set up a framework, and the main work still relied on the film studio.

As Tangde Film & Television began investing in films such as "New Endless Love" and "The Bride with White Hair," Tang Long and Cui Baozhu discussed and decided to thoroughly improve the company's structure.

A group of elite talents were poached from Golden Harvest, Win's Entertainment, and even film studios and Siyuan Pictures to supplement the publicity and distribution departments.

Jiahe didn't care much; they had plenty of talent, mainly because their core members hadn't been poached.

Yong Sheng didn't really say much, since employees in this field are frequently changing.

However, Tang Long still made a verbal apology over the phone, which was considered giving the Xiang brothers face.

As for the film studio and Siyuan Pictures, he had already spoken with Tsui Hark and Ng See-yuen beforehand.

They proactively provided some manpower to Tangde Film Studio.

With the addition of newly established public relations, legal, and screenwriting departments, Tangde Film & Television now has a complete departmental structure and is a medium-to-large-sized film company in Hong Kong.

Spurred by Cai Songlin's decision to spend 36 million to buy the Taiwanese rights to three films:

Tang Long and Cui Baozhu's ambitions inevitably grew much larger.

With the market so favorable right now, a large company can get a bigger slice of the pie.

Even if Hong Kong cinema collapses in two years, it doesn't mean we'll stop making movies altogether.

However, audience enthusiasm for watching movies has significantly decreased, and the number of blockbuster films has drastically reduced.

But if you can produce high-quality films, just like the current situation in mainland China, audiences will still buy them.

Moreover, we can expand northwards into the mainland in the future, so there's no need to worry about redundant staff as the company grows.

These days, Cui Baozhu has been busy with these tasks, and she's been extremely busy.

After Le Yiling joined the company, she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Both are strong women, and after more than a week of adjustment, Tangde Film & Television began to stabilize.

Meanwhile, the box office of "SPL: Sha Po Lang" continued its meteoric rise.

After taking in over HK$17 million in its opening week, "SPL: Sha Po Lang" raked in another HK$12 million in its second week.

The film's total box office revenue barely surpassed the HK$30 million mark.

At this rate, the film's final box office is very likely to exceed 40 million.

Choi Po-chu and Lok Yee-ling are currently focusing most of their energy on "SPL: Sha Po Lang".

Although the movie has been released for two weeks, piracy is definitely out of control.

But we can still promote it again to attract new audiences to the cinema.

If "SPL: Sha Po Lang" can eventually surpass 40 million, it will be a huge boost to Tang Long's reputation and Tangde Pictures' reputation.

After seeing the huge box office success of "SPL: Sha Po Lang" in its opening week, Tang Long stopped paying special attention to it.

"Serious Crime Squad" has been filming for four or five days. If Tang Long doesn't join the crew soon, Huang Zhiqiang will start cursing.

When he arrived at the film set, Huang Zhiqiang was filming a classic scene:

Kent Cheng plays Hung, and Christine Ng plays Ka-ka, a dancer, who walks from the elevator all the way to the underground parking lot.

Tang Long watched Huang Zhiqiang finish filming the scene quietly, and couldn't help but frown.

"Director Huang, isn't this a bit too much?"

He had no idea how Huang Zhiqiang had persuaded Wu Yongwei.

"Mr. Tang, the movie 'Serious Crimes Unit' focuses on realism and violence, and adding a bit of sex would make it even more impactful."

After watching "SPL: Sha Po Lang," Huang Zhiqiang indeed felt that Tang Long was the most suitable male lead for "Crime Story."

Moreover, he is the boss of "Crime Squad". Huang Zhiqiang has personality but is not brainless. When facing Tang Long, his tone was much gentler and more patient.

"Director Huang, you don't necessarily have to use sex to increase the impact of a movie. If the content is too explicit, it's easy to get it rated as Category III."

As a film investor, Tang Long certainly needs to consider future commercial revenue.

Moreover, they have already received more than 10 million yuan from Cai Songlin. If the film's box office performance is poor due to its rating, it will only damage Tangde Pictures' reputation.

Don't assume that movies with explicit scenes will attract more viewers.

While this might attract some erotic viewers, it will keep more family-friendly audiences away.

Otherwise, erotic films from Hong Kong would have already swept the box office charts.

To date, the highest-grossing Category III film is "Sex and Zen: The Art of Sex and Zen," released in 1991, which only grossed over 18 million Hong Kong dollars.

This is also the highest-grossing erotic film in Hong Kong, and no subsequent film has surpassed it.

Even from an actor's perspective, this shot wasn't really necessary.

He had to consider commercial viability, while Huang Zhiqiang considered artistic merit.

On their first day together on set, before filming even officially began, the two had a disagreement.

Finally, at Tang Long's insistence, Huang Zhiqiang compromised and agreed to delete the footage.

However, the same thought arose in both of their minds:

There will be plenty of arguments in the future.

Tang Long is not the kind of person who is very assertive. He usually respects the director on set.

He doesn't interfere just because he's a film investor; he simply does his job as an actor on set.

Therefore, Tang Long and Huang Zhiqiang successfully completed the filming of the police station scenes over the next few days.

After spending the last few days with Tang Long, Huang Zhiqiang's impression of him has changed.

He was genuinely worried that Tang Long would interfere with the filming of the movie like he did on the first day.

If this happens frequently, he'll definitely quit.

However, just as his impression of Tang Long had improved, the two had disagreements again during filming.

Huang Zhiqiang seems to have a particular fondness for violence, and he films scenes of people being beaten to death in a particularly bloody manner.

Tang Long felt that he should restrain himself a bit.

Because it is too bloody, it is also likely to be rated as Category III.

This time, Huang Zhiqiang backed down, but not completely.

He insisted on keeping some of the necessary violent and bloody scenes.

Tang Long understood that applying pressure relentlessly was not the right approach; both sides wanted the film to be a success, they just had different perspectives.

The two moved to Kowloon Walled City amidst their disagreements, arguments, and eventual compromise.

Kowloon Walled City is known as a scar on Hong Kong.

It was once a military fortress of the Qing government, a refuge for refugees after World War II, and is also known as a notorious lawless place.

Kowloon Walled City is located near Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon District, Hong Kong. It covers an area of ​​only 0.026 square kilometers, about the size of four football fields.

This area is home to approximately 5 residents, resulting in a population density of 190 million people per square kilometer based on its area.

It is arguably the most densely populated place in the world.

Its uniqueness stems from the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory signed between the Qing government and Britain in 1898.

Li Hongzhang added a clause to the treaty at the time: "All Chinese officials currently stationed in Kowloon City may continue to perform their duties within the city."

This led to a peculiar situation:

Hong Kong Island and the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula were ceded, and the New Territories were leased, but this 0.026 square kilometer walled city, which was legally still Chinese territory, was completely surrounded by British leased territories, becoming a country within a country.

After World War II, the mainland was unable to manage this enclave, and the Hong Kong government wanted to manage it but had no legal basis.

As a result, none of the three parties took any action, and thus the legend of "no one taking any action" was born.

In reality, Kowloon Walled City was not the lawless place that everyone imagines it to be, a place rife with crime and where all sorts of filth and scum roamed.

This is the visual memory that Hong Kong films have left for audiences.

A series of gangster and police films, such as "Crime Story," "Long Arm of the Law," and "To Be Number One," portrayed the Walled City as a breeding ground for crime.

Yellow signs line the streets, drug dealers trade in dark alleys, and machetes and bloodshed are ever-present.

This spread of the word has created a fixed impression among the public.

However, before the 1980s, the Walled City was not entirely negative in Hong Kong films.

Classics like "The House of 72 Tenants" showcase the heartwarming side of the struggling people at the bottom of the Kowloon Walled City, helping each other and struggling to survive.

In the recent film "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City," director Cheang Pou-Soi offered a fresh perspective.

Although the walled city here is cramped, the milk tea in the ice room, the barber shop in the neighborhood, and the kites on the rooftop make it a self-governed utopia full of human warmth.

This also aligns with the memories of many former Kowloon Walled City residents:

Although outsiders say this place is a crime haven, the people living here rely on the trust and mutual assistance of their neighbors to get by.

Although Tang Long had been in this world for almost three years, this was his first time visiting Kowloon Walled City.

He still found this demonized place quite novel.

The environment in Kowloon Walled City was indeed not very good.

There are no proper streets, only narrow, dark alleys and corridors, where sunlight never reaches the ground.

Water pipes and electrical wires were tangled together like a spider web, and the buildings relied entirely on wire mesh to intercept the garbage thrown down from upstairs.

The sudden roar of the plane almost deafened him.

Looking up, a huge airplane flew overhead.

He was terrified; if the plane crashed, everyone would be doomed.

However, the area has a large number of unlicensed dentists, workshops, and snack shops, forming a completely self-sufficient underground economy.

It was only after inquiring that I learned that most of these unlicensed dentists came from mainland China.

The Hong Kong government does not recognize mainland academic qualifications, so they cannot obtain licenses and can only treat low-income residents in Kowloon Walled City.

Not only people inside the walled city, but also many people outside the walled city come here for medical treatment.

"It's a pity that such a good place is going to be demolished."

Wong Chi-keung lamented that Kowloon Walled City was a slum rejected by reality, but for artists like them, it was a rich source of inspiration for film art.

For directors like Huang Zhiqiang, who have a penchant for crime films, it is a treasure trove for artistic creation.

"Are they really going to demolish it?" Tang Long was unaware of this.

He knew that Kowloon Walled City would be demolished in later years and replaced by a garden-style park, but he never expected it to be demolished now.

"If it really has to be demolished, the Hong Kong government and the mainland have reached an agreement to start demolishing the Kowloon Walled City next year, and the residents inside the walled city have already begun to relocate."

"There's nothing to regret. We couldn't stop the Kowloon Walled City from being demolished, but we can leave something behind."

"What does Tang Sheng mean?"

"We're filming here, so we can also shoot a documentary."

Record the environment, culture, life, customs and other things of Kowloon Walled City.

"In the future, when we create films that involve Kowloon Walled City, we'll have a solid basis for everything, from set design to scenes of daily life there."

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