The second difference happens at the end of the movie--it just ends with no sense of what happens to the characters in the time after the credits start to roll. Especially in Triad themed movies, most of the cast is killed off as happens in a lot of 19th century Italian opera, for example, or especially in the English revenge tragedies. Unlike these forms, though, in which there is a final chorus, aria, soliloquy or apotheosis to tell the audience which of the survivors entered a convent, become the Duke of Alba or married his her true love, HK movies simply stop. Sometimes it is with a set up for a sequel--"Women on the Run" with Farini Cheung and Tamara Gau driving away; others it is just the end, as in "Fox Hunter" with Jordan Chan expiring on a stretcher, the camera panning upward and the final titles shown.
Related to the last point but a matter of content rather than structure is the profligate way in which leading characters are killed off. In Hollywood movies leading good guys and gals almost never die--or if they do it a noble death. Buddy movies generally end with both buddies still breathing. In crime movies the order of death of the characters is often the inverse of the order of the actors' salary but the leads are remain alive. In HK film, although some people are very hard to kill--Micheal Wong absorbs so many bullets that he wouldn't be able to move from the added weight but still doesn't die until he is thrown off a balcony--many more featured characters die than in Hollywood movies.
HK's fascination with penis jokes is probably unrivaled anywhere.
Hollywood, and many of the countries that ape it's storytelling style, goes overboard - constantly - trying to wrap up every loose end as if the audience can't be trusted to use their imaginations.
-hongkong movies always try to entertain you and keep you interested. with hongkong movies i feel as if i'm really getting what i want.
-hongkong movies usually somehow have an innocent feeling - even "sex and zen" (i only know the first part)!
yeah, you often notice with many film makers outside of hollywood that they have been damaged by hollywood and accidently do stuff like that . probably even people like us would be a little more imaginative if we would live in hongkong.
Brian Thibodeau wrote:-
So true. At least for us true fans! There's not a lot of "fat" in Hong Kong movies. In fact, I'd take a chance on some zero-budget, shot-on-video Hong Kong junk I picked up in a Chinatown bargain bin before I'd blow six bucks on the latest Hollywood hit from a video rental store. Sure, the low-budget, shot-on-video Hong Kong picture might blow chipmunks, but the fact remains I probably couldn't have predicted it, something I've grown increasingly able to do with "popular" American movies...
Ka-Kui wrote:-in (popular) hongkong movies you never feel as if the director didn't care about the project and is making fun of you
Ka-Kui wrote:-hongkong movies usually somehow have an innocent feeling - even "sex and zen" (i only know the first part)!
Watch parts 2 and 3. 2 is darker, 3 is much darker. That seems to be the trend with Cat III sequels - another is the Erotic Ghost Story series.
Brian Thibodeau wrote:... In fact, I'd take a chance on some zero-budget, shot-on-video Hong Kong junk I picked up in a Chinatown bargain bin before I'd blow six bucks on the latest Hollywood hit from a video rental store. Sure, the low-budget, shot-on-video Hong Kong picture might blow chipmunks, but the fact remains I probably couldn't have predicted it, something I've grown increasingly able to do with "popular" American movies...
Ka-Kui wrote:but movies like the first part of sex and zen are wonderful because they show, that sex szenes and black humor can be completely harmless.
Ka-Kui wrote:thanks!
@STSH
where can i get those movies?
Brian Thibodeau wrote:You could probably add THE FRUIT IS SWELLING to that list too. More of a cutesy sex comedy, but definitely has that only-in-Hong-Kong flavour.
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