Hong Kong 1990: From stuntman to King of Kung Fu

Chapter 100 Grand Celebration Banquet, Shy Lan Jieying

As we enter August, the summer movie season is still in full swing.

On the first day of August, Xu Guanwen brought his down-to-earth comedy "The Divine Calculator" to Xinbao Cinema.

On its opening day, it easily raked in two million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, making a strong entry into the fray.

Xu Guanwen, the king of comedy before Stephen Chow, is still as sharp as ever.

In the late 1980s, due to a dispute with Golden Harvest, Hui Kwan-man left with Hui's Film Company.

At that time, the film market was changing rapidly, and his urban comedies were becoming somewhat outdated.

Although several films were released, their success never reached the heights of the 1970s.

It wasn't until 1990, with the release of "The New Half Catty Eight Taels," which ranked third at the annual box office, that he regained his sense of presence.

"The New Half Catty Eight Taels" may seem like a rehash of old material, but in fact, the quality of this movie is quite good.

The shrewish boss, reminiscent of Xu Guanwen, remains the soul of the entire film.

The film satirizes celebrity scandals, cosmetic surgery, breast augmentation, and gossip media, offering a sharp critique of the entertainment landscape of the 1990s.

However, at that time he encountered Stephen Chow, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The films "God of Gamblers" and "God of Gamblers II" firmly overshadowed "The New Half Catty Eight Taels".

There is a scene in "The Banquet" that has been widely circulated.

This scene takes place at the end of "The Banquet".

The two men sat at a roadside food stall, simultaneously picking up a piece of meat with their chopsticks, and began arguing about whether it was the "chicken head" or the "chicken butt."

The debate.

Although it lasts only a few dozen seconds, it is considered a classic scene in Hong Kong film history, depicting the famous "passing of the torch between two generations of comedy kings".

However, it is clear that Hui Kwan-man has not yet given up. Two years later, he brings us another comedy with a strong Hui-style flair, "The Divine Fortune Teller".

The film tells the story of Xu Huaigu, a fortune teller played by Xu Guanwen, who deceives people by reading their expressions. After an accidental injury, he gains the superpower to foresee the future by touching their hands and feet. He is forced to cooperate with Qiu Haoji, a tax bureau investigator played by Li Ming, and they eventually solve a major case.

The film is full of Xu Guanwen's down-to-earth wisdom and dry humor, focusing on the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, and is both funny and poignant.

This is Li Ming's first time acting in a comedy.

He is currently still an idol, the most popular of the Four Heavenly Kings.

However, he delivered a rare comedic performance in the film, and his pairing with Xu Guanwen, one old and one young, one serious and one humorous, was very refreshing.

This is clearly reflected in the box office.

After grossing over two million Hong Kong dollars on its opening day, the daily box office never fell below two million in the following days.

It grossed over HK$15 million in its first seven days.

This result is even better than that of "Swordsman II".

However, the movie "The Fortune Teller" was Xu Guanwen's last peak.

He never released any influential works after that, and with Hong Kong films declining in popularity, he was practically semi-retired.

He only occasionally appears in roles, such as the landlord in Jackie Chan's "Rob-B-Hood" and Dayo Wong's "Breaking Bad".

Brother Wen in the story.

In fact, Hui Kwan-man and Wong Chi-wah had a history of interaction.

Wong Chi-wah is one of the screenwriters for the TV series "The Fortune Teller".

This is Wong Chi-wah's first time participating in film screenwriting since he rose to fame with stand-up comedy, and he contributed a lot of laughs.

He once joked that the role of tax bureau investigator Qiu Haoji was originally tailor-made for him, but he ended up choosing idol actor Leon Lai.

"The Fortune Teller" continues to be a hit in theaters, while "Justice, My Foot!", the most anticipated film of the summer season, has officially ended its run.

The film was released for 33 days, and its box office finally settled at 49.6 million.

This successfully broke the box office record of HK$48.8 million set by "All's Well, Ends Well".

Metropolitan Films, the production company, sent out invitations to host a grand celebration banquet.

Even after Shaw Brothers ceased production, Shaw Brothers never lost interest in film.

In 1986, he quietly established Metropolitan Films, using this guise to invest in films.

However, the response has been lukewarm over the years, and the only notable achievement is the investment in Tang Long's debut novel, "The Blade".

This made Shao Daheng lose face and feel a bit discouraged, as he felt that he was really outdated and couldn't keep up with the trend.

This film, "Justice, My Foot!", is the last movie that Shao Daheng was preparing to make.

He managed to invite Stephen Chow by relying on past connections and his own influence.

Then they brought in TVB's trusted lieutenant, Johnnie To, to direct, and Wong Jing to produce, though he was essentially doing the work of a production manager.

Although I expected "Justice, My Foot!" to do well at the box office, I didn't expect it to be this good, actually breaking the box office record.

This immediately made Shao Daheng feel powerful again, and he generously threw a grand celebration banquet for once.

Tang Long, who also received a share of the family fortune from Shao Daheng, was naturally invited to attend.

Shao Daheng generously booked the largest banquet hall at the Peninsula Hotel, his favorite place to go.

When Tang Long arrived, many guests had already gathered in the banquet hall.

They are all familiar faces from the big and small screens.

Tang Long came alone.

Rosamund Kwan was busy filming "Once Upon a Time in China III", while Joey Wong and Lau Ka-ling were both filming Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of Time".

No, that's not right. "Ashes of Time" has been temporarily suspended. They're currently filming "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" starring Liu Zhenwei.

Fortunately, they were all busy, otherwise Tang Long really wouldn't know who to bring along.

Tang Long glanced around but didn't see anyone he knew, so he found a seat and sat down.

As more and more guests arrived, the banquet hall became increasingly lively.

"Mr. Tang, are you all alone?"

Tang Long was eating a small cake when a sweet voice suddenly rang in his ears.

He looked up and saw a beautiful figure standing gracefully in front of him.

Tang Long was immediately struck by her beauty and lingered on her stunning face for a few more seconds, causing her pretty face to blush slightly.

"So it's Miss Lan. I'm all alone."

Lam Kit-ying was touched by Tang Lung's warm smile, and her tense mood eased somewhat.

"A big star like Mr. Tang shouldn't lack female companions, right?"

"Do you think I have a female companion?"

"no."

"Would Miss Lan be willing to be my date?"

"OK."

Lan Jieying blurted out, then met Tang Long's meaningful gaze. A blush spread across her face to the roots of her neck, making her look even more alluring.

Tang Long didn't want Lan Jieying to remain embarrassed, so he changed the subject: "Ms. Lan, speaking of which, we almost crossed paths back then."

"I understand. I should have taken the lead role in 'The Blade' in the first place."

When the matter was brought up, Yammie Lam became extremely distressed.

In 1990, she was already a top star at TVB. For a small production like "The Blade" that required filming in mainland China, she offered a high salary and declined the production team's invitation.

But unexpectedly, the unknown nobody at the time has grown into a kung fu star who is famous throughout Hong Kong in just two years.

The martial arts masters he once looked down upon have now become figures he needs to look up to.

If I had agreed to star in "The Blade" back then, everything Liu Jialing has now might be mine.

Every time she thought about this, her chest ached with regret.

Especially when she tried to secure some film opportunities, she found it wasn't that easy at all.

She's very popular in television, but in the film industry, without connections or hard work, she can't even get a small role.

It was then that she realized how foolish she had been to reject the lead role in "The Blade".

At the celebration party for "Justice, My Foot!", she received an invitation thanks to her role as a member of the cast and crew of the wildly popular "The Greed of Man".

Upon entering the banquet hall, she dared not venture into the central, core area.

I was just looking for a corner to stay in, but I unexpectedly saw Tang Long.

In order to reconnect with the relationship that she had severed two years ago, she finally mustered up the courage to go back.

"Even if you were willing to act, we probably couldn't afford your fee."

Liu Jialing's salary was lower than yours, and she even lowered her own salary before we dared to cast her.

Upon hearing this, Yammie Lam couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It seems that the female lead in 'The Blade' is destined to be out of my reach. Compared to Liu Jialing, I still lack the determination and ruthlessness to go all in."

"Everything is predestined. Even though you weren't involved in 'The Blade,' you're now incredibly famous thanks to 'The Greed of Man.'"

"But that's only in the television industry. I don't want to act in TV dramas now. I really want to act in movies, but nobody is asking me to make movies."

"Has your contract with TVB expired?"

"It expires at the end of this year."

"So you still dare to make movies on your own?"

"I was just trying to see if I had a market, but I didn't expect the result to be so disheartening."

"You can sign with a talent agency. With your popularity, no company should be unwilling to sign you."

"Can I sign with your company, Mr. Tang?"

"cannot."

Seeing that Lan Jieying's expression visibly collapsed, Tang Long explained with a smile, "My company doesn't sign people; it only invests in the production and distribution of films."

"Oh, I thought you looked down on me, Mr. Tang."

"With your looks, who wouldn't be interested in you?"

"Mr. Tang, that's not what I meant by 'taking a fancy to'," Lan Jieying quickly explained.

"I understand, I was just joking with you."

"Tang Sheng, you're so wicked."

"Hahaha...," "Ah Long, what are you doing here?"

A sudden sound interrupted Tang Long's laughter, shattering the wonderful atmosphere he had carefully created.

His brows furrowed slightly. He turned to look at the person who had come in, and when he saw that it was Liu Qingyun, that good-for-nothing, he became even angrier.

If it weren't for the person next to him, I would have given him a good beating.

"Oh, Jieying, you're here too."

The two had just finished working together on "The Greed of Man" and were also former TVB colleagues, so they had a good relationship.

"You only just noticed someone this big?"

Sensing the unfriendly tone in Tang Long's voice, Liu Qingyun smiled wryly.

He had obviously seen Yammie Lam long ago, and seeing the two chatting and laughing, he knew it wouldn't be good to go up and disturb her while she was picking up a girl.

But there was no other way; the person next to him kept urging him on, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and come over.

"Didn't I put all my effort into you, sir?"

"I don't believe you."

"Ah Long, let me introduce you to a friend."

Er Dongmu, formerly a leading man at Shaw Brothers, is now transitioning from a comedic actor to a director.

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