Unwritten Law (1985)

[STSH]

http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/images.mhtml ... ay_set=eng

Having uploaded these images, I see that they need to be stretched horizontally by about 20%. Any volunteers ?

+
Unlisted actors :
Chan Hiu x
Tsui Chi
Chu Wan Fung
Poon Kai Chung
Liu Ching Lan

Included on these clips :




Any idea what this credit is for ?


Are these lyricist and composers known ?


Goo Wai Jan does not appear.
She is in episode 3 (The Truth - Final Episode. Pics coming soon)

.... but High Cheekbone Cop does.

[kenichiku]

Any idea what this credit is for ?

'zhu chang/zyu2 coeng3' = is usually the primary 'sung by' credit i.e. lead vocals for soundtrack or theme song but unless I'm wrong, I recall that this credit went to Andy Lau in this film...perhaps for additional songs.

[Brian Thibodeau]

'zhu chang/zyu2 coeng3' = is usually the primary 'sung by' credit i.e. lead vocals for soundtrack or theme song but unless I'm wrong, I recall that this credit went to Andy Lau in this film...perhaps for additional songs.

Indeed, Lau sang two in this picture.

[kenichiku]

...then someone needs to check if this is a mr. or ms. So who may have either sang additional songs, female lyrics or dueted with Andy.

[kenichiku]

Well, we could, but since this site still doesn't allow us to post singer credits--a quintessential element of so much of Hong Kong cinema-

Well that doesn't make sense LOL, especially given the fact that you guys seem to be so proficient to include the name of every single street crowd extra, 2-bit stunt lackey or topless brothel flower vase who ever stepped in front of a camera with half a profile (former) or ever got bonked on-screen (latter 2). While being so comprehensive in this department, sometimes I find lacking in others like the occasional omitted key cast member like a lead actress or a veteran guest star. Even if it's an isolated oversight, why the selectivity with a vocal singer if that's the case?

C'mon don't tell me you guys haven't watched enough of these films. It should be easier as the films get newer; it's textbook New Wave Canto era movie-making like you said Bri. The TV/video influence on the then theatrical product was so strong at the time after the old-guard northern Shanghai showbiz Taipans & Dowagers retired, the young hot-shot TVB or Rediffusion Canto-grads (Wong Jing, Raymong Wong, Charlie Heung, Alfred Cheung, Ko Chi Sum, Stephen Shin, etc) 'rewrote the script' & churned out these compact 3-part 80 min. format 'moviellas' stretched out to 90 mins & some change. Some industry anthropologist should study this; you'll learn all you ever needed to know about the efficient show-biz product. You got one or two 3.5 min. theme songs that fill in the end of the 2nd act stanza with a repeated flashback collage (like an integrated music video interact to signal in the final act). Then after the carnage (or break-up to make-up) the same 3.5 minute theme song is repeated again with the end staff credits rolling with the obligatory commercial plugs as the curtain rises...okay done. That was a night out at the movies. Next, onto some won-ton noodles & boba drinks. This routine was okay then because IMO the honed-to-perfection post-Shanghai generation talent & star quality was so luminous that you overlooked the paper-thin narrative structure. A title going beyond 97 minutes was sacrilege! Can't get away with it nowadays as the moviegoer got smarter (& star quality dimmer) so the stake's have been raised but back then, Slam, Bam in the can! For us to record credits, no old magazines to rummage over for bilingual clues (so you do need a higher level of language proficiency now). It's tedious stuff but it's all there on a 10 dollar disc to screencap & document (5 if vcd, heheh).

Remember times have changed since the 1980s after the end of the old hierarchical studio system when nobody on the team other than the main member of a discipline even got credit, not even the original voice singer whom the stars lip-synched to. I usually list them over there yonder whenever I can because I know decades later many of them never received a red cent in royalties for their hard work so it's the least I could do. Now although film coverage in modern HK cinema got leaner, peripheral staff credits did achieve more parity as witnessed by more comprehensive on-screen credits. We're not only talking about the guy who held a boom mike, the craft-services lady who served the tea, guy who drove the van or lab who processed the prints. Some eager visitor browsing here may ask, who was that svelte voice who crooned that great catchy Canto-tune so that I can Google Buyoyo, Amazon or DDD to buy a copy & HKMDB can cut a deal with these E-tailers to respectfully earn some royalties for all the fine efforts here - nothing wrong with that. You guys might want to review your priorities.

[Fan]

Any idea what this credit is for ?

It writes 主唱 (Sung by) 蘇芮 (Su Rui)

Not sure about how accurate it is but the search results indicate the song "Dear Kids" is originally sung by Su Rui and remade by Andy Lau for the movie.

http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~yangzw/cd/4.htm

[Brian Thibodeau]

Well that doesn't make sense LOL, especially given the fact that you guys seem to be so proficient to include the name of every single . . . . . . . Even if it's an isolated oversight, why the selectivity with a vocal singer if that's the case?

C'mon don't tell me you guys haven't watched enough of these films. It should be easier as the films get newer; it's textbook New Wave Canto era movie-making like you said Bri . . . . . . For us to record credits, no old magazines to rummage over for bilingual clues (so you do need a higher level of language proficiency now). It's tedious stuff but it's all there on a 10 dollar disc to screencap & document (5 if vcd, heheh).

Some eager visitor browsing here may ask, who was that svelte voice who crooned that great catchy Canto-tune so that I can Google Buyoyo, Amazon or DDD to buy a copy & HKMDB can cut a deal with these E-tailers to respectfully earn some royalties for all the fine efforts here - nothing wrong with that. You guys might want to review your priorities.

Well said.

See here for previous talks (not sure why Harlock felt the need to delete his posts, but hey, politics )
http://hkmdb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=45183

This site needs so many overhauls, but I remain as patient as I can, and I've got nowhere else to go. I'm no expert in web site architecture, but I'd like to think that at least some of the suggestions put forth in a thread like this one, which was started in October of last year:
http://hkmdb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=47518
could have come to fruition by now. But no luck. Sometimes I wish Bob had an assistant. (if you can't access that thread, let me know)

Trust me, I've made this case about the music before, though perhaps not as angrily as I should have. I try to source out song singers for every single Hong Kong movie I watch that lists them in the credits. It's often an arduous task, especially if the singer isn't in the movie, and I have to scour for the correct Chinese characters until I can put together a full name, but I'm often surprised with what I uncover. I've had offline assistance on occasion, but I don't like to be a pest.

The top singer names are easy (often because they're actually in the film itself), but the lesser-knowns can be quite an adventure for this non-Chinese reader/speaker. In fact, over the years, it's gotten to the point where I've become geekily possessive of the stuff I have figured out, and would be tempted to keep it for my own selfish enjoyment should this oversight never be rectified.

In the past, I've known a couple of people among my personal acquaintances (physical beings outside of the web, and no one from this site) who professed a love for Hong Kong cinema but couldn't stand the music. Though I never bothered to challenge them on it, it frustrated me all the same. I mean, how can you NOT at least appreciate or understand the near-ubiquitous integration of the two? One of these folks would groan and/or fast-forward whenever a schmaltzy montage ballad would start up, and all I could think was "man, what a way not to get the full experience". As hokey as the music sometimes is, it was obviously an integral, important element of the moviegoing experience for Cantonese audiences then and now, so my attitude is why not embrace it as they did/do and learn more about it. Find out who wrote the songs. Find out who sings them. To this day, I can't believe that prop men rate inclusion whereas singers -- who are usually the biggest stars of the industry -- do not. I'm also a bit surprised that veteran watchers of this stuff still don't recognize the singer credit when it shows up.

Hate the music all you want, love the music all you want--I choose to love it and have over 2000 personally selected tracks on my ipod as a result, even more on the CDs that I didn't feel were as worthy--but at least try to understand it's importance to the bigger picture.

Even the HKFA lists singers and songs, ferchrissakes. They're far from complete, but at least they try. I've found the (very) occasional thread at other discussion forums on the subject of songs and their singers, but they tend to favour the top-shelf talent, the easiest detective work as it were. Thus, when I'm sourcing the vocalists on some piece of DTV fare or lower-shelf non-studio 80's picture I picked up, I'm generally on my own.

Sigh.

My fingers remain crossed, though.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Not sure about how accurate it is but the search results indicate the song "Dear Kids" is originally sung by Su Rui and remade by Andy Lau for the movie.

I'd have to scan through that movie again (which could be a chore ), but I don't recall any female voices or duets that would warrant Julie Su's name in the credits. But now I've got to know . . .

[dleedlee]

Not sure about how accurate it is but the search results indicate the song "Dear Kids" is originally sung by Su Rui and remade by Andy Lau for the movie.

I'd have to scan through that movie again (which could be a chore ), but I don't recall any female voices or duets that would warrant Julie Su's name in the credits. But now I've got to know . . .

1. I wonder, is Andy Lau on the music credits? If not, that would seem odd.
2. Could Julie Su be somewhere else, e.g., on the radio, incidental background?

Sigh.

My fingers remain crossed, though.

Well, the 'temporary' stop gap is to add notes to the Summary section. It would be a shame not to capture the information anywhere for want of an official spot. Light a candle/Curse the darkness, as it were.

[STSH]

1. I wonder, is Andy Lau on the music credits? If not, that would seem odd.
2. Could Julie Su be somewhere else, e.g., on the radio, incidental background?

1. Surprisingly, no.
But remember, this was Andy's premiere as a movie actor. I'm guessing he had already established as a singer, and HKers insist their singers to become actors and vice-versa. So I'm further guessing that Andy would not need to have been credited as singer, because everyone in the then-audience would already have known it. Remember, HK is a small place.

2. Don't know, but it'd be interesting to find out.
I haven't properly watched the movie yet. I just ripped through it, sound off, to get the pics.

Well, the 'temporary' stop gap is to add notes to the Summary section. It would be a shame not to capture the information anywhere for want of an official spot. Light a candle/Curse the darkness, as it were.

Best we can do in the meantime is add the credits as pics.

[Brian Thibodeau]

But remember, this was Andy's premiere as a movie actor.

It was?

I've always wondered about that "[intro]" tag beside his name in the DB entry for this film, since he'd appeared in several before it.

Does it have something to do with the film being his debut as a "leading" man by Canto-cinema standards? Does some kind of "And introducing . . ." tag appear near his name in the opening credits? I honestly can't remember, and I also wonder if the tag in the DB simply dates from the early days of the site, when perhaps his filmography was much less complete than it is now.



.

[STSH]

But remember, this was Andy's premiere as a movie actor.

It was?

I've always wondered about that "[intro]" tag beside his name in the DB entry for this film, since he'd appeared in several before it.

You're right. Scrub out all of what I said under #1.
I do remember reading that it was his premiere movie on more than one other web source. But that is obviously wrong. His role in Boat People, though not the lead role, was at least an important support. Though I haven't seen it, Home At Hong Kong seems to be a lead role.

Intro tag deleted.[/quote]

[Brian Thibodeau]

You're right. Scrub out all of what I said under #1.
I do remember reading that it was his premiere movie on more than one other web source. But that is obviously wrong. His role in Boat People, though not the lead role, was at least an important support. Though I haven't seen it, Home At Hong Kong seems to be a lead role.

Intro tag deleted.

One small itch scratched. Thanks for that. I've always suspected that it simply got added in "the old days" before a complete Andy Lau film list was available to the non-Chinese fans of the era. Almost seems like a Weisser-ian slip, though I doubt such a film would show up in his books or magazines to even be repeated here!


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[Teddy Wong]

Switched your Felix Lok to Lee Gwok-Lun
Identified real Felix Lok
Identified Andy Dai

[Michael Kistner]

Corrected Cheung Sek-Aau image ID - role name still correct?