- Director Ray Yeung’s first Chinese-language feature, Suk Suk tells of an affair between two elderly men; along with top prize, it earns best actor for Tai Bo
- Derek Tsang named best director for Better Days, his second feature, while screenwriting award goes to My Prince Edward, debut feature of Norris Wong
Melancholic gay romance drama Suk Suk has been voted the best Hong Kong film of 2019 by a panel of critics, the Hong Kong Film Critics Society announced on Monday.
The first feature directed by filmmaker Ray Yeung in the Chinese language, Suk Suk was previously nominated in five categories at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, even though it came home empty-handed on that occasion. The film tells of the affair between two closeted elderly men " played by Ben Yuen Fu-wah and Tai Bo " who are both married and have families.
Tai Bo is one of two actors recognised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society: he shared the best actor honour with Terrance Lau Chun-him, a theatre and television actor making his big-screen debut in Beyond the Dream.
Beyond the Dream is the second feature from director Chow Kwun-wai, one of the five filmmakers behind 2016 Hong Kong Film Awards best picture Ten Years . An ambitious and convoluted story of love, lust and mental illness, the film revolves around a schizophrenic patient (Lau) and the psychological counsellor (Cecilia Choi Si-wan) he has fallen for.
Choi, a model and actress who made quite an impression in the recent Taiwanese horror hit Detention , was named best actress for her part in Beyond the Dream.
The best director award went to Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung for his poignant bullying drama Better Days , which was a blockbuster success at the Chinese box office in late 2019 after encountering well-documented issues with Chinese censors earlier in the year.
The best screenplay honour went to new director Norris Wong Yee-lam for her directing debut My Prince Edward, a thoughtful drama that muses on the nature of marriage and happiness through the unhappy home life of a 30-something woman (played by Stephy Tang Lai-yan).
Apart from Suk Suk, the society also named its six recommended films of 2019:
Bamboo Theatre (directed by Cheuk Cheung)
My Prince Edward (dir: Norris Wong Yee-lam)
The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes " The Greatest Jail Breaker (dir: Toe Yuen Kin-to and Matthew Chow Wing-siu)
The New King of Comedy (dir: Stephen Chow Sing-chi)
Beyond the Dream (dir: Chow Kwun-wai)
Better Days (dir: Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung)
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