The Straits Times / Equal parts bone-cracking, sidesplitting and heartbreaking, “Gallants” is the sort of Hong Kong martial arts comedy you wish got made more often.
In fact, it took writer-directors Clement Cheng and Derek Kwok 10 years to get the movie made. It was a long journey involving countless rejections by countless producers, a breakneck 18-day shoot on a shoestring budget and a fairy godmother — okay, godfather — in the form of Heavenly King Andy Lau.
Recalling the rejections, Cheng, 36, says in a telephone interview from Hong Kong: “Nothing was harder than this. Nobody wanted to give us the money to do this.”
The movie went on to win four Hong Kong Film Awards in April, beating the Tang Dynasty mystery “Detective Dee” to the Best Film statuette. “Gallants” opened the Hong Kong Film Festival in Singapore on Thursday.
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