#hk drama

[xinyuehui]

Can you distinguish what's true and what's false?

新聞女王 The Queen of News · 2023

[heretherebedork]

Stay Still (Ep 0)

Oooo, new BL out of Hong Kong? And with the neat young man cleaning up his space and then talking about his ex boyfriend while he's sloppy drunk passed out in the hallway? You know what, I'll take it. @absolutebl Episode 0 setting everything up!

And thanks for the tags in the post about this, @blmpff! I'd seen it hovering around the edges of my recommendations and that got me to finally watch it.

[don-dake]

河國榮 Gregory Charles Rivers

(30 April 1965 — 2 February 2024)

Posted this on my Insta Stories a couple days back but decided I'd do a post here too because I realised I'm still feeling saddened by Mr Rivers's passing.

For people of certain older generations, especially those who grew up in the 1990s watching Hong Kong TVB series, Mr Rivers, aka 河國榮 (Ho Kwok-Wing) to HK TV viewers, was an easily recognisable and familiar face, having been (at that time) the only foreign/Caucasian face to appear consistently in HK television armed with an impressive fluency in Cantonese.

I guess his passing has affected me more than I thought it would because firstly, I'd admired him for his proficiency in Cantonese and subconsciously looked to him as an inspiration.

As someone who grew up being terrible at Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin) and got teased for being “the banana” (i.e. yellow on the outside but white on the inside), the constant presence of this Caucasian guy on TV who could speak better Cantonese than I, partly spurred me on to learn Cantonese better myself.

Secondly, he represented an age when HK and by proxy, Cantonese, was flourishing; Mr Rivers's story of coming to Hong Kong purely motivated by his love for Cantopop and the Cantonese language is (sadly) not the kind of story one will hear very often again…

With his passing, it's like yet another bit of the shine of “Golden Age” HK being taken away…and this “Golden Age” was part of my childhood, so it means another part of my childhood is gone…

Anyway, I'll end this post with this video of an interview Mr Rivers did (c. 2007), sharing briefly his thoughts on his experiences as a foreign actor in HK.

河生，對於學緊廣東話嘅我嚟講，

您畀咗我唔少不知嘅鼓舞。

呢一點，我會喺心裏永遠默默感激。

希望您而家搵到了安寧，同妻子一路走好！

[itmethanh]

dicky cheung brought back '96 sun wukong for his Macau concert. I was GEEKING because 1. the lightsaber 金箍棒 was such a cool design, 2. SIDE PART BANGS FOR WUKONG?? 3. I literally saw this in a dream so I think I manifested it

鬥戰勝佛 looking like a rockstar has this hint of irony and suitability that is also TOO good. It's extra special to me to be able to hear this 1996 theme song again

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Nicholas Tse Ting Fung 謝霆鋒

Harper's Bazaar China - December 2022 (2/2)

I was so crazy about his Hua WúQue 花無缺, the urge to rewatch some episodes is bugging me.

[ramyeonpng]

Currently watching: Heart of Greed 3 -- 33/40 :)

[about27th]

okay this has gotta stop

the stupid puns just go on and on damn😂

[outragedtortilla]

the rippling blossom

[ramyeongif]

Ali Lee

[lindalung]

Meet the Lungs: TVB’s Very Own Roy Family

I’m not sure how many people watch both Succession and Come Home Love: Lo and Behold, but I wanted to write about the similarities between the Roy family and the Lung family on the respective shows. In fact, I’ve made 4 parody trailers featuring clips from Lo and Behold paired with the audio from Succession trailers, and they fit pretty damn well. (See below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVCL2G43zbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDacsg3rnGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_brbg6kLDu4&ab_channel=lotuspond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMFx2EFAccI&ab_channel=lotuspond

At first glance, it is pretty easy to spot the striking similarities between the two families. The Roys have Waystar Royco, the fictional American media conglomerate powerhouse, while the Lungs have Zip Lung, a company that started out as the Wai Lung Department Store, and now has ventures in practically every industry. Both companies are spearheaded by the paternal figure, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and Lung Kam Wai (Law Lok Lam) respectively. Even their family names are meant to reflect power — Roy, deriving from “Roi” meaning “King”, and Lung, meaning Dragon, the symbol of imperial power in Chinese culture.

While the Roy children and the Lung children aren’t exact equivalents of each other in terms of birth order, the core three (if you don’t count the Connor Roy (Alan Ruck), who has a different mother than the other Roy kids)— Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Siobhan aka “Shiv”  (Sarah Snook) can be compared to Max (Hoffman Cheng), King Fung aka “Fung Siu” (Andrew Chan), and Linda (Mandy Lam). There is also the difference wherein the Lung siblings have different mothers, and therefore come from competing “Chambers”, but the comparison still stands nonetheless. They also have similar characteristics as the narcissistic and power-hungry son who desperately wants to inherit his father’s position at the company, but in reality, lacks the skill underneath. Roman may not actually be the youngest sibling, but he exudes the energy of the youngest child. He is the comedic relief with a lack of interest in taking over the company compared to the other siblings, and is actually suffering beneath the jokes and happy go lucky attitude, just like Fung Siu. Lastly, although Shiv isn’t the eldest daughter like Linda, being a woman with great leadership qualities yet the only daughter in the men’s business makes them both targets of misogyny. Both fathers also have a history of treating their wives (plural) and women in their lives poorly. Though Linda has a younger sister Vivian (Katherine Ho), she’s both written out of the show and was never interested in the family business. All three children in both shows crave their father’s approval and validation more than anything, due to the lack of love received from him growing up. In both cases, their father loved the company more than they loved them, which is why they want to become CEO so badly.

(Side note: I’ve written about Linda and her father’s relationship previously https://medium.com/@doneforme/daddy-issues-face-and-filial-piety-in-come-home-love-lo-and-behold-42014bbaeaf ).

Shiv and Logan’s relationship reminds me of Linda and her dad, though perhaps there is more genuine love between the latter due to the nature of the sitcom. Still, every time I watch a scene in Succession where Shiv feels powerless as she seeks attention from her dad, or gets ignored or belittled as the only woman in the room, I can’t help but be reminded of Linda. Both Shiv and Linda have to fight their way to the top, to prove that they are just as, if not more capable than their brothers. Linda and her husband Sung Shui Fai (Jack Hui) aren’t exactly the “fail marriage” trope like Shiv and Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden), but there are still some similarities especially early on in the relationship. Tom and Fai both come from lower status backgrounds, and marry into a powerful and rich family, where their wives have more success than them (at least in the beginning for Tom). Both men are frequently seen as accessories of their wives rather than their own person. Fai dips into his darker side briefly, but ultimately Fai and Linda’s genuine love is far less toxic than what Tom and Shiv have going on. Fai would do anything for approval from Linda’s father, but his goal is to be accepted into the family so he can marry Linda, not so he can gain the position of CEO. On the other hand, Shiv had a career in politics and initially didn’t want to get into the family business, whereas Linda was vying for a leading position at Zip Lung since birth. In the final season, Shiv also feels trapped in her unexpected role as a mother, something that she did not ask for. There, Shiv being reduced to a daughter, a wife, and now a mother, is the show’s way of showcasing the misogyny against her. The lighthearted sitcom is different, portraying Linda as a caring and willing stepmother to Fai’s young son Philip (Dylan Leung).

Succession asks the question of whether the cycle of generational trauma and toxicity can be broken. Even after Logan’s death, the siblings are still haunted by his looming presence, afraid that he’s still upset with them for every move they make. They’re so afraid of becoming their father, whether as a leader or as a parent. In the end of Succession, Tom becomes CEO of Waystar, and Shiv is merely the one next to him. Linda always assumes that her chances of being successor to Zip Lung are slim due to her gender, because her father has always favoured sons over daughters. While Lo and Behold hasn’t reached that point in the storyline (yet), there’s no telling what may happen to the future of Zip Lung. Fai may be the Head of the Restaurants department, but I could not see him leading Zip Lung. Of course, there is no telling what will happen and I guess we will have to wait and see…

[skullsandwineglasses]

My interests in specific types of cdramas can be traced back to the HK dramas that I watched growing up. Specifically, xianxias and historical romances. 

My interest in historical romances stemmed from watching TVB’s 2003 Perish in the Name of Love, based on the 帝女花 opera. To an 8-year old, that was the angstiest drama I’d ever seen. The second angstiest drama was when I watched Drive of Life in middle school, also starring Charmaine Sheh. She honestly ruled my childhood. 

But my interest in xianxias stemmed from 2 specific dramas: TVB’s The Journey to the West (my mom used this drama to teach me about reincarnation lol) and Whatever it Takes starring Benny Chan and Annie Man. 

There were 2 stories in The Journey to West that were memorable to me, and both included Angie Cheong, though she played different characters. The stories are all a blur to me and I barely remember any details from them, but I think in Journey to the West I, she played the spider demon named Shishi whose lover was reincarnated but they ended up dying in a fire. According to TV tropes: 

“Spider Demoness Shishi was sentenced to death via fire but her scholar husband Yushu refused to accept it, and carried her to perish in the fire together, although Shishi inadvertently survived. The arc ended with a reincarnated Yushu (as a Centipede Demon) sentenced to death via fire, but Shishi carried Yushu to perish in the fire together, this time killing both for real.“ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/JourneyToTheWest1996

In Journey to the West 2, she played a snake demon. I remember nothing from that arc, except she was also scorned by her lover. 

I also remember nothing from the 2001 drama Whatever it Takes 天子寻龙, except that I was especially in love with Annie Man’s angelic character, and it was probably my first exposure to story about a fairy falling in love. My only faint memory from the drama was how ethereal and elegant she was as a fairy, and my kindergarten self wanted to be her. But here’s the MDL summary if you’re curious. It’s also not the first TVB drama that featured a fairy/angel who falls in love with the mortal she’s been tasked to help. Jessica Hsuan played a fairy who’s come down to earth to help Deric Wan’s love life in the 1995 drama A Good Match from Heaven 天降奇緣. 

Whatever it Takes (2001): 

A Good Match from Heaven (1995): 

I feel like TVB xianxias walked so that cdrama xianxias could run. 

Bonus: Dicky Cheung (who played the Monkey King in Journey to the West I), mocks the tropes in modern cdrama xianxias (at the 1:40 mark in the video). He says that back in the day, deities and spirits and fairies could wear whatever colourful clothes they wanted. Nowadays, the heavenly realm in xianxia dramas seem to have a dress code where everyone needs to wear white. 

Back in the day, there was also a Shi Fu 師父 in xianxia dramas, but back then, your Shi Fu was nothing but your Shi Fu. Nowdays, your Shi Fu is your lover. Brutal. 

Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rWjN96VIc8 

Anyway, thanks for joining me as I took a trip down memory lane. 

[xinyuehui]

Man Wai Sam ♕ QUEEN ambitious, charismatic, leader Chui Hiu Mei ♖ ROOK devoted, sensitive, efficient Hui Si Ching / Cathy ♗ BISHOP cunning, outgoing, competitive Jeung Ga Yin ♛ QUEEN curious, rational, creative Lau Yim ♞ KNIGHT righteous, outgoing, focus Leung Ging Yan / George ♟ KING PAWN paranoid, social, confident Ku Siu Wa / Kingston ♚ KING? unknown

新聞女王 The Queen of News · 2023

[tobaitfishwith]

[don-dake]

第二、五、七集 ↑

第十二、十四、十五集 ↑

散截圖，王菲 (當年又名 「王靖雯」) 飾演 「唐毓文」

《壹號皇庭 II》 (1993)

[itmethanh]

(WIP) i saw someone mention dicky cheung would’ve been the tvb pick for wei wuxian so i’ve been designing a 90s version of chen qing ling. this would be an early 90s production bc i think their styling is more fun. stuck on a more faithful costuming or what tvb would’ve probably put him in

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Nicholas Tse Ting Fung 謝霆鋒

Harper's Bazaar China - December 2022 (1/2)