It was a time before Hong Kong's economy took off; a time when people lived a tough life but kept their chins up, striving for a better tomorrow under the colonial regime. It was the 1960s, a time that director Alex Law Kai-yui wanted to recreate on film and a positive spirit he wants to rekindle among today's youth.
'We never complained back in those days. We just thought of how to overcome the obstacles we faced, or come up with an alternative solution,' Law said yesterday after returning to the city with a Crystal Bear award for his movie, Echoes of the Rainbow, from the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.
'Because of all those social issues like the post-80s generation and the negative energy haunting society in recent years, I had a great urge to make a film telling a story based on my childhood experience,' said the writer-director, saying he was very excited and surprised by the win.
Echoes, which Law made with his producer wife Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting for less than HK$12 million, beat 14 feature films in the Children's Jury Generation Kplus section over the weekend. It is the first time a Hong Kong film has won the trophy since the Generation category - divided into Kplus for young children and 14-plus for teens - was begun in 1978.
Echoes, a heart-warming tale of a shoemaker's family told through the eyes of a child played by eight-year-old Buzz Chung, captured the hearts of the 11-member jury, which praised the film for creating a special atmosphere and for its attention to detail, atmospheric lighting and emotional music. The jury also gave high credit to the film's cast and moving story.
Law said the story was largely based on his childhood. 'I have been writing diaries since I was little, so the [writing] of the script began decades ago,' said Law, who co-wrote 1987's An Autumn's Tale, a Hong Kong-made romance directed by his wife.
'I don't think of which audience I have to please when making a film,' Law said. A film could touch anyone's heart regardless of its origin, as long as the emotions it portrayed were sincere. He also believed Hong Kong films had to carry a local flavour.