The lackluster May Day box office, Hong Kong films emerged as the biggest winner.

In a rather "dull" May Day holiday season, the "Hong Kong-flavored" film "Raging Fire" became the biggest highlight.

During the May Day holiday, "Raging Fire" not only earned 255 million yuan at the box office, ranking among the top three, but also received high ratings on Douban (7.5), Maoyan (9.4), and Taopiaopiao (9.5), making it the "highest-rated Hong Kong action film in the past five years."

In recent years, mainland Chinese box office records have continued to soar, from "The Wandering Earth" with 4.68 billion yuan to "The Battle at Lake Changjin" with 5.77 billion yuan, making the Chinese mainland film market surpass North America to become the world's largest film market.

Amidst a series of box office records, Hong Kong films with a glorious history have been absent. The best-performing film at the box office is still "Raging Fire," released in 2021, with 1.329 billion yuan.

Not only has the status of Hong Kong films plummeted rapidly, but even in Hong Kong itself, Hollywood productions have become increasingly dominant, and more and more young people in Hong Kong do not enjoy watching Hong Kong films.

Fast-food movies for quick profits

The topic of the "decline of Hong Kong films" could fill half a movie history.

There was a time when the entire Southeast Asia was immersed in the golden age of old Hong Kong films, from "A Better Tomorrow" to "Infernal Affairs," which are still the models for South Korean films.

Today, in Hong Kong cinemas, Hollywood blockbusters occupy the majority of screens.

The decline of Hong Kong films is due to the overall environment's decline on one hand, and the self-restraint of Hong Kong filmmakers on the other, as they have been stagnant for a long time, ultimately leading to a comprehensive collapse.

From a broader perspective, in 1997, Hong Kong was hit by the Asian financial crisis and began to decline from its peak. The "Asian financial center" began to shift to Singapore, causing heavy losses in the film industry.

In this environment, Hong Kong film companies began to tighten their belts and reduce budgets, leading to a group of well-known Hong Kong filmmakers, led by Johnnie To and Chow Yun-fat, venturing into Hollywood. However, when they left the soil of Chinese cinema, they lost their foundation, and it was clear that Eastern narratives were not as popular in the United States.

Apart from the overall environment, Hong Kong films have a serious "stubborn illness", which is the tendency to take shortcuts and make quick money.

Due to the overheated market and the temptation of quick profits, Hong Kong films have entered a "seven-day freshness" frenzy. Most films can be completed within a month, and popular stars have to rush to several sets in a day.

Even the well-known crime films like "Gunfire" directed by Johnnie To were completed in about 20 days, from production to shooting.

This fast-food style of film production has led to a situation in the Hong Kong entertainment industry where actors are not paid monthly or weekly, nor are they paid for the entire film, but rather by hourly wages.

However, fast-food films mean that they are completely formulaic, resulting in a large number of Hong Kong films being highly similar in terms of plot, settings, camera work, and scheduling. The climax of the films is either a gunfight or a car chase, with the male lead either busy fighting crime or shooting, occasionally finding time to defuse a bomb.

Even some "assembly line" films, apart from having different male and female leads, have completely "copied" the storylines and film cores, almost identical.

Hong Kong films have been repeating the themes of "drug busts, crime, gunfights, car chases, and gangsters", with overly repetitive content, reaching a bottleneck of typification, and are simply not a match for Hollywood.

Today, the Hong Kong film market has been completely dominated by Hollywood, with only two Hong Kong films, "Tomorrow's War" and "The Attorney", making it into the top 20 box office hits in Hong Kong film history, while Hollywood blockbusters account for 18 of them.

The decline of Hong Kong films

Apart from highly similar film productions, plagiarism and imitation have also become the mainstream of old Hong Kong films.

After the success of Chow Yun-fat's "God of Gamblers", a large number of films about "gambling" and "magic" quickly followed, such as "God of Gamblers", "Gambling Master", "Magic God", "Mahjong God", and "Mahjong Master".

For a long time, the entire Hong Kong film industry was filled with male leads in suits and ties, playing cool and suave while gambling.

Jackie Chan once openly stated that as soon as a film genre becomes popular, 100 films of the same type are immediately scheduled.

Undoubtedly, plagiarism and imitation easily destroy a director's talent, leading them into a formulaic quagmire, devoid of any vitality.

During the golden age of Hong Kong films, assembly line-style standardized fast-food films were still considered the pinnacle of old Hong Kong films. However, as Hong Kong films declined, these fast-food Hong Kong films became "crude and shoddy", "monotonous in content", and "haphazard in form".

In the era of "the death of Hong Kong films," the only highlight left was the 2002 film "Infernal Affairs."

It broke 30 million Hong Kong dollars in just two weeks. Ultimately, "Infernal Affairs" became the annual box office champion of Hong Kong films in 2002 with a box office of 55.05 million Hong Kong dollars.

This was the last "glimmer of hope" for Hong Kong films, providing a breathing space for the Hong Kong film industry and nurturing a new generation of talent, such as Edison Chen and Shawn Yue. It's a pity that one left the entertainment industry, and the other loved the fashion industry more than movies.

The "disappearance" of Edison Chen and Shawn Yue reflects the serious generational gap in Hong Kong films.

In recent years, the main actors in Hong Kong films have been the same few people, such as Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Louis Koo, Simon Yam, and Francis Ng, with the same old veterans always in charge.

Even Simon Yam couldn't help but joke, "Hong Kong films not only lack new blood, but are dominated by the old guard."

Not only are there no male actors who can carry the box office, but even one of the "Big Three Awards" in China, the Hong Kong Film Awards, has become an "old folks' home."

In 1990, the average age of the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor Chow Yun-fat and Best Actress Maggie Cheung was 30;

In 1995, the average age of the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor Tony Leung and Best Actress Anita Yuen was 28;

By 2023, the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor Sean Lau is 59, Best Actress Sammi Cheng is 50, Best Director Derek Yee is 61, Best Picture winner Ann Hui is 73, and Best Supporting Actor Paul Chun is 80.

The Hong Kong Film Awards perfectly reflects the current state of Hong Kong films, emphasizing aging and nostalgia.

The failed road to self-rescue

Hong Kong films have not failed to consider self-rescue; on the contrary, they have been actively trying to save themselves.

In 2003, Hong Kong and the mainland signed the "Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement," encouraging cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong film companies, with Hong Kong directors and stars heading north.

This cooperation model is also known as "co-production." Essentially, mainland companies provide funding, while Hong Kong companies provide talent.

The co-production model has been extremely beneficial for Hong Kong films, allowing them to leverage their decades of popularity and experience to take the lead in projects.

After all, in 2003, the fame of the "Four Heavenly Kings" far surpassed that of mainland actors. Even Cannes Film Festival winners Tony Leung and Ge You paled in comparison in terms of influence and appeal.

Co-productions did inject new life into Hong Kong films, and as a result, the mainland market became a lifeline for them. Hong Kong filmmakers began a large-scale trend of "heading north for co-productions." Since then, the mainland has become the most important market for Hong Kong filmmakers, and even critics of co-productions, such as To Kei-fung, were once part of this movement.

Initially, co-productions featured a Hong Kong male lead + Hong Kong female lead, paired with a mainland male supporting role + mainland female lead. Essentially, the Hong Kong film industry took on all major roles, from the lead actors to the directors.

Even "A World Without Thieves," controlled by Huayi Brothers and directed by Feng Xiaogang, featured Andy Lau + Rene Liu as the leads, while mainland actors Ge You and Wang Baoqiang could only play supporting roles.

It can be said that in the co-production model, the mainland has taken very good care of Hong Kong films. However, Hong Kong films, holding onto the "beginning of a good hand," have once again become addicted to the old model, continuously cycling without progress. Instead of advancing, they find themselves constrained by mainland censorship, and even the "Hong Kong flavor" has been lost.

For a long time, co-productions have been criticized for their nonsensical plots and severe lack of Hong Kong style. For example, John Woo's "Red Cliff" is a typical representative of co-productions. Although the box office was decent, the word of mouth was very poor, especially in Hong Kong where it was ignored.

The wheels of time do not stop turning because of a glorious history.

While Hong Kong filmmakers are still entangled in the concept of "pure Hong Kong films," China has already signed film co-production agreements with 20 governments including South Korea, India, Singapore, Belgium, and France, and the number is still expanding (2018 data).

Stimulated by the mainland market, Hollywood is also attempting to use Chinese elements to explore co-productions. Filmmakers from around the world have set their sights on the Chinese film market, hoping to get a piece of the pie.

At the same time, Chinese film companies have reached strategic cooperation agreements with overseas film companies, giving Chinese film companies more say, and the presence of Chinese actors is not just for show. In terms of subject matter, various fresh themes such as fantasy, war, and romance continue to emerge.

For thirty years, Hong Kong films have been immersed in the "golden age of Hong Kong cinema," but instead of catching the tailwind of Chinese films, they have gradually fallen behind and become a member of "niche films."