Tastemaker: Eric Tsang Chi-wai
Actor turned filmmaker Eric Tsang is on a mission to make people laugh and forget their problems, writes Rachel Mok
As rare as it is for an old fox of the entertainment industry to spill a secret during an interview, Eric Tsang Chi-wai is kind enough to let one slip. According to the veteran filmmaker, award-winning actor and popular TV show host, Shaw Brothers and TVB's latest Lunar New Year film, I Love Hong Kong 2013, is a contemporary Hong Kong version of the 1946 Hollywood blockbuster It's a Wonderful Life, a fantasy drama in which an angel shows a compassionate but frustrated businessman what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Whether you call it a "copy", "imitation" or "inspired by", Tsang believes it is essential to learn from good role models and develop something of your own from them. As a respected mentor of younger directors, including Pang Ho-cheung, Heiward Mak Hei-yan and Derek Kwok Tsz-kin, Tsang teaches them the same.
"I always tell them not to be afraid of taking elements from other films. That was what we did in the past. We love It's a Wonderful Life. It is a traditional, beautiful movie with a great backbone of a storyline. You will find I Love Hong Kong 2013 very similar to that film, but with contemporary and local elements."
I Love Hong Kong 2013 tells the story of two best friends, from the 1970s to present-day Hong Kong. The protagonists are played by TVB heartthrobs Bosco Wong Chung-chak and Michael Tse Tin-wah, and Tsang's best friends Alan Tam Wing-lun and Natalis Chan Pak-cheung, for respective eras.
As with the previous three I Love Hong Kong films, the 2013 movie revolves around family values, communication across generations, friendship and the collective memory of Hongkongers. Tsang, producer of all four movies, believes there is one golden rule in making what he calls a festive film: it must cater to everyone in the family.
"There are lots of folk who just go to the cinema once a year. The Lunar New Year is the only time of the year that parents will go to see a film with their children," he says. "So the 1970s backdrop is for the collective memory of the parents, and then we switch back to a contemporary setting with a cast that younger audience members can identify with."