We’re finally here. Day 7: The very last post of THE BEST 75 HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2010s, where one film gets crowned the winner, the others get berated as losers, and we all go home and immediately buy a copy of MEOW. Not because it’s going to show up in the Top 5, but because we’ve mentioned it so many times, you’ve been brainwashed into buying it.

 
“Take me home!”

Likewise, we’ve made so much fun of Stephy Tang you probably feel like getting all her movies. This is a much better than buying MEOW, because then you’d own THE EMPTY HANDS, TRIVIAL MATTERS, SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE MIST, and one day MY PRINCE EDWARD. You’d also own a majority of Patrick Kong’s works so, well, ha ha.

Also, we’ve mentioned Louis Koo so many times that you likely want to buy all his movies, too. But that’s not a big deal because you already own at least 60% of his filmography.

“I live rent-free. On your shelf.”

The standard boilerplate before we put this thing down: This list was compiled from votes by over 120 readers and passerbys of decomposing website LoveHKFilm.com, and we thank them for their contributions. Also, if you’re just joining this countdown now, by all that is holy go back to the beginning and start the countdown at #75. You could ask me why and question my methods, but then I’d employ common Internet rhetorical devices and tell you to go do your own research, you lazy Russian bot.

Links to previous entries in this series if you need them:
Numbers 75-61
Numbers 60-46
Numbers 45-31
Numbers 30-21
Numbers 20-11
Numbers 10-6

Okay, hit that jump and let’s put this thing to bed.

5. WU XIA (2011) - 341.5 points, 5 first place votes - LoveHKFilm Review

Donnie Yen scores a #5 rank with the film that will count as his personal best in this voting. Yes, that’s it for the Yenmeister in the BEST 75 HONG KONG MOVIES OF THE 2010s, unless you think ICEMAN, ICEMAN: TIME TRAVELER or SPECIAL ID have a chance at a Top 4 rank. Really, we hope you don’t think that because: A) it will not happen, and B) we guarantee at least seven people worldwide will immediately think less of you. Anyway, #5 is WU XIA (titled DRAGON in some territories by unimaginative marketing drones), which was directed by Peter Chan in another of his China-funded mass-audience efforts. WU XIA pairs DONNNIEEEEEE with TAKESSHHIIIIII for a period martial arts thriller not unlike David Cronenberg’s A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE - which is not a dig because A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE was all shades of awesome. WU XIA is terrific too; it’s a very entertaining blend of CSI-style investigation (from Takeshi Kaneshiro at his oddball best) and hard-hitting action (from Donnie Yen the star and action director). Also, the film features Tang Wei, Kara Hui and Jimmy Wang Yu in the supporting cast, which would be a class above “A+” if such classes actually existed. Fan love has been unceasing in the nine years since the film’s release. Casey Chan says that WU XIA is “Donnie at his best as an action director,” while LP Hugo of Asian Film Strike calls it “a clever and compelling mix of throwback and reinvention, of quirkiness and brawn, of Doooonnnnniiiiiieeee and Mr. Yen the actor.” Also of note: the impressive sound design, especially during that moment where Donnie Yen hugs Takeshi Kaneshiro in the middle of a forest and the bass delivers a long, low hum that threatens to disassemble your floorboards. We believe that’s what actually happens when Donnie Yen hugs someone.

4. GALLANTS (2010) - 364 points, 7 first place votes - LoveHKFilm Review

Ten years later, Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng’s GALLANTS is still surprising us. This low budget action-comedy, about a fading martial arts school and the ragtag group assembled to defend it, came out of nowhere in 2010 to charm fest audiences and ultimately won Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film awards over big budget fare like DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME and REIGN OF ASSASSINS. But in the years since, neither Kwok nor Cheng has soared as high as when their little-film-that-could took on the blockbusters and actually beat them. As such, it’s with some surprise that GALLANTS managed to beat every single Donnie Yen film, all but one Johnnie To film, and SWITCH to place #4 in the BEST 75 HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2010s. Okay, maybe beating SWITCH isn’t such a surprise, but it’s a testament to how enormously endearing and entertaining this film is that it’s lasted in the collective memory of Hong Kong Cinema fans for 10 whole years. Isaac Chambers of Far East Films calls GALLANTS “the funniest and craziest action comedy of the decade,” while Eastern Film Fans dubs it “old school entertainment for the new generation.” There’s still plenty to recommend it today, like its copious nods to classic martial arts films, the hilarious turn from Teddy Robin (who won a Best Supporting Actor Hong Kong Film Award) as the urbane Master Law, and ultimately the film’s message, which remains relevant even today. Given the situation in GALLANTS - a younger, better-equipped martial arts school with more resources versus an old, nearly-forgotten school from a beaten-down dojo - the outcome is fairly certain. But fighting isn’t about winning - it’s about being true to your principles, conquering your fears, and making the effort. There are worse fates than to fail with those things in your heart.

3. DRUG WAR (2013) - 398.5 points, 4 first place votes - LoveHKFilm Review

Hey, remember when Johnnie To made a China-approved crime film that stripped away all nuance and edge in favor of an obvious “good guys win, bad guys lose” narrative? I do: It was called DRUG WAR, and it somehow placed #3 among the BEST 75 HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2010s. In DRUG WAR, Louis Koo plays an evil drug dealer who’s caught by righteous cop Sun Hong-Lei, and to get a lighter sentence he offers to help take down the region’s entire drug operation. Then the good guys stop the bad guys and everyone who’s bad is punished. Yay, that was totally predictable and totally deferred to Chinese censors, and apparently the censors were asleep or unable to understand movies because Johnnie To just made a devastating statement about how justice in China is actually kind of sick. To adhered to the superficial expectations of the China crime film, but successfully subverted those expectations by framing his cops as robots, his criminals as humans, and the pursuit of justice as chilling and ultimately quite cruel. He also served it up with cineaste-pleasing style and his trademark use of action over words (which is probably a big reason he was able to get away with so much). Valerie Soe gets it, describing DRUG WAR as “Johnnie To makes a Hong Kong movie in China without the censors realizing they’ve been pranked.” There has never been official confirmation that To was actually criticizing China, but China probably realized they’d been punked because Johnnie To has not made a China crime movie since DRUG WAR. To apparently has a few more opinions on China because he’s said that when he finally makes ELECTION 3, he’ll probably be unable to work in China again. So let’s look forward to ELECTION 3 being one of the BEST HONG KONG MOVIES OF THE 2030s. I would expect it sooner, but things are kind of dicey right now and maybe it’s best for Johnnie (and everyone else) to cool it with the anti-China stuff. I mean it, cool it right now. Seriously, they’re already at my door.

2. A SIMPLE LIFE (2011) - 433.5 points, 10 first place votes - LoveHKFilm Review

So if Ann Hui’s A SIMPLE LIFE ranks #2 among the BEST HONG KONG MOVIES OF THE 2010s, then you know what #1 has to be, right? But before we get to THAT MOVIE, let’s talk about A SIMPLE LIFE, a small film with a simple story that could be fodder for a hackneyed Hallmark weepie. However, Ann Hui’s flawless storytelling and character development, plus the pitch-perfect performances from Andy Lau and Deanie Ip, demand the sort of experience that only a cinema can provide. Ann Hui’s touch can be seen as distant and unforthcoming, yet it yields tremendous rewards in that it doesn’t tell audiences what to feel and instead immerses them in the characters’ lives. Actions and decisions are performed wordlessly, but words aren’t necessary because situation, mood and performance have led the audience to the same place as the characters. Isaac Chambers says that the film “turns a simple story about life into a triumph of movie storytelling,” while Emanuele Sacchi of Hong Kong Express calls it “a lesson of quiet and sober perfection.” A SIMPLE LIFE is also a shining exemplar of Hong Kong’s elusive “local cinema,” i.e., quality filmmaking that focuses on Hong Kong’s unique experiences and stories, and that doesn’t have to kowtow to other Asian territories or even mainland China to get made. A SIMPLE LIFE received the “quality marketing” treatment in Hong Kong, building slow buzz off Deanie Ip’s Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival in September 2011 before finally reaching HK cinemas in March 2012 - a long wait but one that prompted many people who normally don’t go to the cinema to do so. Hell, even my mother-in-law went. As for Ann Hui, A SIMPLE LIFE marked her fourth Best Director Hong Kong Film Award, a number that’s ballooned to six in the decade since. It’s arguable that the 2010s were really Hui’s decade, but it’s irrefutable that the entirety of Hong Kong New Wave Cinema owes her an incalculable debt. Thanks for all the great movies, Ann.

With A SIMPLE LIFE downed, THE BEST HONG KONG FILM OF THE 2010s is obviously:

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1. PARASITE (2019) - 2046 points, 0604 first place votes - IMDB page

Well, this was a surprise! Congrats to Bong Joon-ho and his masterpiece combo of black comedy, home invasion thriller, social critique, disaster porn, songs as mnemonic devices, and Song Kang-ho acting clinic. He and his film deserve every award they receive. However, I have a question: What the hell, people? Seriously: Hong Kong is not Korea. Chinese are not Koreans. Some film bloggers have actually said their favorite genres are action, anime and Asian - dude, “Asian” is not a genre and Koreans and Chinese should not be grouped so indiscriminately. I find this sort of reductionist Western thinking to be exceptionally problematic and alarmingly pernicious. It’s current year and I can’t even. Also, a message to Korean Cinema: Stay in your lane, bro. You’ve already taken all the film fest attention and hypnotized those Oscar people - leave Hong Kong alone and muscle in on Japan’s turf. Make a TORA-SAN movie or something and steal their shine instead of ours. This isn’t to take away from how good PARASITE is - yes, it’s a great film and I get that many people liked it, but leave some space for other people’s work. I mean, it’s more than a little weird to crown a Korean film the BEST HONG KONG FILM OF THE 2010s. And as long as we’re being honest, the original 1982 PARASITE starring Demi Moore was a whole lot better.
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Sorry, I do this every time because I have to amuse myself somehow. Otherwise it feels just like a job and I already have one of those. As expected, THE BEST HONG KONG FILM OF THE 2010s is:

1. THE GRANDMASTER (2013) - 542.5 points, 21 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

Give it up for THAT MOVIE. At one point during the exquisitely gorgeous and artful THE GRANDMASTER, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai’s Ip Man describes how the Chinese characters for kung fu are composed of the “vertical” and the “horizontal.” This refers to the outcome of a fight, when one combatant stands vertically as the victor, while the other lies horizontally as the defeated. Well, in the 2010s Wong Kar-Wai and his opulent martial arts drama achieved the vertical, forcing all other Hong Kong films to take a horizontal dirt nap thanks to the overwhelming love accorded this long-awaited and vaguely over-hyped modern classic. In short: People like THE GRANDMASTER. According to this site’s reader votes, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai has starred in the best film from each of the last three decades, and Wong Kar-Wai would have done the same if not for that meddling INFERNAL AFFAIRS. More significant is how Wong has subtly matured as a filmmaker. Most Wong Kar-Wai movies are preoccupied with the self and all its narcissistic, pathetic, and painful excesses. In THE GRANDMASTER, the struggle is to achieve not by besting your foes, but by resisting self-gratification and passing your philosophies on. Ip Man is not the Grandmaster because he gets the girl and the chip - it’s his humility and sense of responsibility that enable him to quietly and selflessly achieve immortality. That’s an idea worthy of THE BEST HONG KONG FILM OF THE 2010s. As for the filmmakers, let’s call it now and say that the BEST HONG KONG MOVIE OF THE 2020s will be whatever film Wong Kar-Wai and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai collaborate on in the coming decade. I’m hoping it’ll be another sequel to DAYS OF BEING WILD but whatever it is it’ll probably open Cannes, win the Golden Bear, end hunger, and find Jimmy Hoffa’s remains. Well, maybe not all those things, but everyone will love it because they always do. Statistics say so.

And that’s all she wrote for THE BEST 75 HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2010s. Sorry for all the crappy jokes and please don’t cancel me. I’d like to thank my wife, my children, and also my agent for getting me this gig. I’m firing my agent next week, though, because that’s what you do when you level up in life: Get rid of all the people currently around you so you can go on to bigger and better things. I believe this is one of life’s rules. Seriously, it’s in the Bible.

LoveHKFilm.com will now return to its indefinite hiatus of no new reviews or anything else, but check back in a bit (maybe a few days or a week) for a full list of voting results, including ties, just-misses, and the sad final fate of GOLDEN JOB. We’ll also throw in nifty facts and statistics because they’re free.

Thanks again for stopping by and always remember: Sometimes you must step on the gas, and sometimes you must step on the brake. This is me stepping on the brake.

“Thank you and goodbye!”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020 at 9:11 am and is filed under Best HK Movies of the 2010s, Reader Votes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.