Kung Fu Hustle and 2046 Sweep

24^th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards

By Rich Drees

     While Stephen Chow’s action comedy Kung Fu Hustle was named Best Film at the 24^th Hong Kong Film Awards, the suspense thriller One Nite In Mongkok took the Best Directing and Script prizes and Wong Kar-wai’s romance 2046 swept the top acting honors. The awards were presented Sunday evening March 27, 2005. Including their high profile prizes, Kung Fu Hustle and 2046 earned a combined total of 12 awards.

     Kung Fu Hustle’s Best Picture win marks the second film in a row from writer/director/comic actor Stephen Chow to take the top honor. Chow’s previous film, Shaolin Soccer, won the award in 2001. Yuen Wah, who played a kung fu master posing as a landlord in Kung Fu Hustle, took home the award for Best Supporting Actor. Yuen Wo-Ping-- best known to western audiences for his work on the Matrix films, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)-- won his second Hong Kong Film Award for his Action Choreography. Hustle also won statues for Best Sound Effects, Visual Effects and Editing.

     Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi won the top acting honors for their lead roles in 2046, a sequel to director Wong’s In The Mood For Love (2000). 2046 also won prizes for Best Art Direction, Costume Design and Makeup, Cinematography, and Original Score.

     Chinese actress Bai Ling won the best supporting actress for the horror film Dumplings.

     One Nite In Mongkok, the story of an assassin from the Chinese mainland who meets a Hong Kong prostitute, is the second time actor turned writer/director Tung-Shing Yee has won both the Best Director and Screenplay awards for the same film. The first time was in 1994 for his film Endless Love (Xin buliao qing).

     The prize for Best Asian Film went to South Korea’s Old Boy directed by Chan-wook Park.

     Long time Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan was presented the Professional Spirit Award by director Ang Lee. The award is not given just in recognition of someone in the Hong Kong film industry’s body of work..

     “Outside of movies, this involves charity work… an actor’s professional conduct, being punctual, respecting elders,” Chan explained to reporters. “These are very important things. This is harder to win than a Hong Kong Film Award.”

     Ironically, Chan’s latest film, New Police Story, had been in competition with Kung Fu Hustle in several categories including Best Picture, actor, and action choreography.

     Kung Fu Hustle is scheduled for release in the United States in April 2005, while 2046 will hit American screens in the fall. Old Boy is currently in a limited theatrical release. One Nite In Mongkok is currently not set for American distribution.