West News Wire: The fan favorite movie on late Cantopop singer Anita Mui lost to the action-packed police thriller “Raging Fire,” which also took home three other trophies and best film at the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday.
The biggest COVID-19 pandemic in the city caused three postponements, and the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards finally took place on Sunday. The awards ceremony was also held in person for the first time since 2019.
Donnie Yen, an action hero, plays an uncorruptible policeman in “Raging Fire. He eventually squares off against Nicholas Tse’s character, a former mentee who is out for vengeance after Yen’s character placed him in jail.
It serves as the final film directed by Benny Chan, who passed away from cancer in August 2020 while it was still in post-production.
Chan posthumously won the Best Director Award on Sunday. “Raging Fire” also won for Best Editing as well as Best Action Choreography.
The film that took home the most awards for the night was “Anita,” a biographical drama film about Mui.
“Anita,” which was the highest-grossing Hong Kong film in 2021, bagged a total of five awards for Best Costume and Design, Best Visual Effects as well as Best Sound Design.
The film topped the box office in Hong Kong upon release, eventually grossing $18.5 million in total box office sales. It topped the Hong Kong box office upon debut, grossing some 61 million Hong Kong dollars ($7.8 million) in about seven weeks.
“Anita” also earned more than 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) on its opening day at the Chinese box office.
Louise Wong, who played Mui in the film, won Best New Performer.
“Honestly, it wasn’t a day (or) overnight that I could play the role Anita,” said Wong. “I’m grateful for the team’s support and encouragement.”
“They helped me gradually understand Anita and the role,” she said. “I’m very grateful that I could experience her life.”
Malaysian actor Fish Liew, who played Mui’s sister Ann Mui, won Best Supporting Actress.
Another big winner at Sunday’s awards was crime thriller film “Limbo” which is based on the novel Wisdom Tooth by Chinese author Lei Mi. The film follows two policemen in their efforts to hunt down a serial killer.
The film won Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.
