AFM Films in Focus By Sara Stokoe Chinese Odyssey 2002 This comedic film was directed by multi-talented Jeff Lau, who acted in and screen-wrote “A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box,” as well as acted in part two “Cinderella.” Included in the cast is star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who played in the 2002 Oscar nominated film “Hero,” and “Infernal Affairs,” which was recently picked up by Warner Bros. for remake in the United States. Tony Leung (LINK TO BIO) stars as Li Yilong, a local bully notorious for his ugly demeanor. Vicki Zhao plays Phoenix, Li’s eccentric sister who enjoys dressing as a man. This odd couple runs an inn together in the town. Meanwhile, on the other side of the social spectrum, Princess Wushuang, longs to experience the real world for herself, and runs away from the palace. After she is mugged in the streets, she crosses paths with Li who mistakes her for a man; a man quite suitable for his cross-dressing sister. However, the Princess has set her sites on him. The Emperor, the Princess’ brother, uses her disappearance as an excuse to also temporarily escape from the palace under the guise of searching for her. His experiences while out in the real world bring sheer comedy to the screen. This is an all out hysterical and wacky comedy about finding love where one would least expect it. According to a review on http://www.lovehkfilm.com “joke after joke gets laid upon the audience with little time for breath.” Three In contrast to the outrageous comedy of “Chinese Odyssey 2002,” Fortissimo Films presented “Three,” at this year’s AFM. According to a review on http://lovehkfilm.com “Three” is an “artful, intelligent horror” anthology. This film, as the name suggests, presents three distinct stories, each directed by Kim Jee-Woon (“The Quiet Family” and “The Foul King”), Nonzee Nimbutr, and Peter Chan Ho-Sun respectively. The cast is made of an array of actors including Eric Tsang, Kim Hye Soo and Pattama Jangjarut. Leading off the set of the three stories is Kim Jee-Woon’s “Memories,” which has been described as a “chilling” and “genuinely haunting” short film. Jung Bo-Seog plays the husband, who wakes up to find his wife missing and his mind filled with dark visions of his wife’s potential gruesome demise. Then we see the wife, played by Kim Hye-Soo, who suddenly awakes in a street, stricken with amnesia and lost. Without a clue as to her identity, she attempts to find her way home, and all the while dark visions (memories) increasingly creep into her mind. “Kim tells his story in a spare, quiet manner, and relies on meticulous cinematography and stark composition to unnerve his audience.” “But the payoff” is “genuinely haunting,” according to www.lovehkfilm.com. The Wheel: Nonzee Nimbutr’s “The Wheel” is the second story in the set, and did not receive the positive reviews that Jee-Woon’s story received. Nimbutr tells the tale of Thai puppeteers, whose lives are successful and envied by many. But because of this, their puppets are cursed so that anyone who covets them will be stricken with an “undesirable” fate, to say the least. In another review from http://www.lovehkfilm.com, the writer stated that ““The Wheel” provides little more than a front row seat to watch Nimbutr’s various unlikable characters do themselves in.” It was deemed “the weakest” of the films stories by http://www.lovehkfilm.com. Going Home: Directed by Peter Chan, “Going Home” is a poignant, sad and emotional movie in stark contrast to the previous two “scary” movies. The film stars Eric Tsang, Leon Lai (LINK TO BIO), and Eugenia Yuan. Tsang plays a policeman, whose son moves into a dilapidated old apartment. The neighbor, played by Leon Lai, is a Chinese “medicine man”, living with his presumed to be paralyzed wife. “This story is touching because it touches on the subject of death and rebirth,” according to a review by Diva of http://www.forbiddenroute.com. The writer of the lovehkfilm.com review stated that it “ranks as the best of the three films, as it actually manages to tell a story.” Overall, “Three” did not receive rave reviews. Diva of http://www.forbiddenroute.com used the word “blah” to best describe this film. However, at the 39th annual Golden Horse Awards, the film received awards for Best Actor for Leon Lai Ming’s performance and Best Cinematography for Christopher Doyle’s work on “Going Home.” The film is currently available on DVD as a three disc box set in Cantonese, Thai and Korean. But for those of you who don’t speak any of these languages (like myself), don’t worry because there are English, as well as Chinese subtitles! Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family This film represents an exciting new venture at Fortissimo Films, as it is the first documentary they have handled. The film, which was directed by Mabel Cheung and Alex Law, documents the intensely personal background of international superstar Jackie Chan, who discovered that his family wasn’t exactly who he had always believed they were. Jackie always knew his father as Chen Jiping, but recently Chen revealed the secret he had been keeping from his son for the last forty-something years; that he was born Feng Daolong and has two older sons by a former wife in China. His mother Lee-lee also revealed to her son that she has two step-sisters as well on the Mainland from her previous marriage. Chan’s mother Lee-lee passed away about a year ago, so her role in the film is minimal as she sadly was wheelchair bound and mute. Chan’s father however, takes a starring role in the film as he tells story after spell-binding story to his shocked son, often in the Australian countryside while puffing on his pipe. The true story that Jackie never knew, was that Fang had worked as a spy for the Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT during the 1930’s and 1940’s. After surviving two assassination attempts, and finding most of his family dead after the Sino-Japanese War of 1937, eventually settled down and had two sons. But when his wife passed away in 1947, Fang left his sons behind to flee from the Communists. It was then in Shanghai that Fang met Lee-lee, who already had two daughters, and her own tumultuous life story. The two married and soon little Jackie was born. Fang tells Lee-lee’s story, and shocking family secrets don’t seem to end for Jackie, who has been living his entire life blind to his historical family background and half-siblings. This is undoubtedly an emotionally charged film and a great insight into one of the biggest international Asian super-stars of all time. These three films only represent the Asian films presented by Fortissimo Films at the AFM, however there were many more Asian films featured at the event this year. These films include, “My Tutor Friend,” “The New Option,” “Red Trousers: The Life of HK Stuntmen,” “Unborn but Forgotten,” and “Yesterday.” You can view the trailers for most of these films at http://www.afma.com.