By | Published April 22, 2009

Producer Wong Bak-ming, director Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen accept their award for best film at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Producer Wong Bak-ming, director Wilson Yip, actor Donnie Yen and action director Sammo Hung, along with the rest of the cast and crew of Wing Chun biopic IP MAN scored an upset victory over John Woo’s epic RED CLIFF and other contenders at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards Sunday by taking home top honors with the best film and best action choreography awards.

RED CLIFF, which is reportedly the most expensive Chinese-language film to date, still managed to collect five awards for best visuals, art direction, costume and make-up, sound effects, and score.

The other big winner was arguably the smallest film. New Wave director Ann Hui beat Woo, Yip, Johnny To, and Benny Chan to win best director for her low-budget drama THE WAY WE WERE. The film also won best screenplay and Pau Hee-ching, sister of cinematographer Peter Pau, won best actress for her role as a middle-aged mother navigating a relationship with her adult son and elderly mother.

Arthur Wong took home best cinematography for his work on PAINTED SKIN and the film also won best original song.

A lifetime achievement award was presented to actress Josephine Siao, who martial arts film fans know best as Jet Li’s zany mother in Corey Yuen FONG SAI YUK films. Among her other acting achievements, she is also a former wuxia star who was frequently paired with Connie Chan in the 1960s as sword-fighting sisters in a string of hit wuxia films.

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  • Anonymous

    Thanks Mark–you are the man . . .

    I cannot wait for a chance to see any of these movies! Red Cliff and Painted Skin are unavailable from Blockbuster and the release dates listed as “Unkown” and “Very Long Wait” respectively. IP Man is in my Blockbuster queue (Release Date “Unkown”) and nowhere to be found on Netflix. Sigh . . .

    Speaking of Netflix, I watched “Exiled” instantly on Roku the other night. Pretty good flick considering it was a five-guy and one woman/infant buddy movie! I think that Johnny To did a good job balancing the character development of each of the main characters and this is what sets the film apart from many other buddy-films in general.

  • Milkyway

    As much as Ip Man was great and that I’m happy with the crew winning the price for Best Picture, Johnnie To’s “Sparrow” deserved that price more.

    All in all imo, Best Director should have gone to Johnnie To, Best Supporting Actor to Gordon Lam, Best Screenplay to The Beast Stalker, Best Cinematography to Sparrow, Best Editing to either Ip Man or Sparrow, and Best Original Film Score definitely to Sparrow.

  • gunswordfist

    This officially marks Hong Kong films’ return to their former greatness.

  • craig morejon

    Please forgive me.. But did the yip man movie even open here in the states? Ive been waiting for a long tiime for this movie to comed out in the theatres. When will it open here in the states? would someone please be so kijnd to respond wth an answer to my question? I am not a practitioner of wing chun but i am a fan of thge style. i look forward to a response soon. thank you

    Craig Morejon

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    Craig, as far as I know either no U.S. company has purchased rights to the film or a purchase hasn’t been made public.

  • Captain Boosh

    Between Sparrow and Ip Man for Best Score it’s really a toss up. I like the soundtrack to Sparrow way more and even shelled out $30 to obtain an actual CD release rather than crappy quality download, and it was worth every penny. Easily my favorite here.

    But on the flip side, the Ip Man score was an amazing classical piece by a famous Japanese composer and it truly felt epic. It doesn’t have the same flair as Sparrow, but it is the most movie like, most traditional.

    But the funny thing is, both of those scores were done by foreigners. Ip Man was Japanese, Sparrwo were 2 French guys. What does that say?

    My question is this, the guy raving for Johnnie To and Sparrow, his screen name is Milkyway. Umm? Just a fan here or what? Sparrow is my movie of the year, but my screen name doesn’t match Johnnie To’s production company.

  • Milkyway

    My question is this, the guy raving for Johnnie To and Sparrow, his screen name is Milkyway. Umm? Just a fan here or what? Sparrow is my movie of the year, but my screen name doesn’t match Johnnie To’s production company.

    Haha. That’s my username in the forums. And yes, I’m a fan of Johnnie To.

  • Captain Boosh

    I just laughed when I saw that thinking, “wait, did someone from the company come here to talk themselves up and forget to change their name?”

  • WuxiaFan

    Abosolutely loved IP MAN! One of Donnie Yen’s best, if not the best of his career. My only crit would be a little too much wire fu in some of the fights. Can’t wait for II and III.

  • Anonymous

    Hi
    Congratulations
    A lifetime achievement award was presented to actress Josephine Siao, who martial arts film fans know best as Jet Li’s zany mother in Corey Yuen FONG SAI YUK films. Among her other acting achievements, she is also a former wuxia star who was frequently paired with Connie Chan in the 1960s as sword-fighting sisters in a string of hit wuxia films.