SOME say you do not know where you are going unless you know where you are coming from. Those who are crazy about today's pop music might find it interesting to learn more about the history of local music.
The film Hong Kong Graffiti , starring Raymond Tso Wing-lim, Kevin Cheng Ka-wing and newcomer Zoe Chan Ngan-ming, presents audiences with the different phases of the music business from the '60s to the present.
Caught in between this music evolution are the good-natured Cheung Ka-wing (Cheng), the opportunistic Ko Chi (Tso), Leung Ching-yi (Chan), the daughter of a nightclub manager, and entertainer Johnny K (Teddy Robin).
Realising that his career is dying, Johnny K devotes all his energy to teaching Cheung and Ko, helping them to form a hot band but only to see their popularity destroyed when the two musicians split up because of a feud caused by their love for the perky Leung.
Kevin Cheng explained that the nightclub, which forms the centre of the film, is a metaphor of the whole music industry in Hong Kong, the past and the present.
'The film depicts the course of Hong Kong's music from the bands phase to Mandarin songs and finally to Sam Hui's [who does not appear in the movie] power in arousing public interest in Canto-pop music,' said Cheng, who will be releasing his first greatest-hits-collection CD later this month.
The film, which took about a month to shoot, gave Raymond Tso a good time while hanging around Cheng and Chan, especially when his still-green acting is put on trial.