A young, old romantic
Director Patrick Kong's one true passion is romantic dramas and he stays faithful in his new productions
Patrick Kong Pak-leung makes the kind of films he likes to watch. "I don't like war or action films. I don't like sci-fi. As a viewer, my interest is in love stories, ones involving relationships. My favourite director is Woody Allen. So when I became a film director, I also directed love stories mostly."
Kong has made eight romantic movies in the past eight years or so. His latest is A Secret Between Us, about a young couple who drifted apart after a tragic sequence of events in the girl's life, but reunite in happier circumstances years later.
Since it really happened in my life, I can say this movie is more personal than the films before
A scriptwriter before he turned his hand to directing, Kong's portfolio seems heavy on romantic comedies, including the film he first worked on - Shu Kei's Love, Amoeba Style (1997), about two young men involved in separate love triangles. He made his directorial debut in 2004 with My Sweetie, a romantic comedy he co-scripted.
Two other rom-coms are in the pipeline: The Best Plan is No Plan, which is due out in October, and another scheduled for release in 2014.
But many of Kong's movies are more likely to leave audiences teary-eyed rather than have them rolling in the aisles.
Take, for example, the second film he helmed, Marriage with a Fool (2006), which offered a new take on this ancient institution.