TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong (黃秋生) stunned the crowd at the Hong Kong Film Awards when he indirectly called out fellow actor Jackie Chan for his statement last month that there was no longer a distinction between Hong Kong films and Chinese films.
During a speech given before announcing the nominees and winner of the Best Screenplay Award at Hong Kong's version of the Oscars, Wong made a number of cryptic comments about the process of script writing, that Hong Kong media has interpreted to be a jab at Jackie Chan's comments about Hong Kong film essentially being absorbed into Chinese film.
According to Hong Kong's Apple Daily, Wong said, "My real identity is a screenwriter. I talked to an old friend about the most important elements of screenwriting. The first one is that a surprise happens, and another element is that it is reasonable." He went on to explain that there is a surprise, "that is reasonable, but you did not expect it."
Wong then sarcastically asked, "Will there be a Hong Kong film in the coming year? This is a surprise, that you didn't expect. Reasonably, but unexpectedly, we have Hong Kong movies every year, that makes sense! Doesn't it?" The audience reacted with deathly silence.
On March 5, when asked about the development of Hong Kong film while attending the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, Chan said, "There is only one kind of film, it is called 'Chinese film,' Hong Kong films are also Chinese films."
The Apple Daily article interpreted Wong's speech as alluding to Jackie Chan, who was present in the audience, and his comment at the CPPCC that Hong Kong film is no longer being distinguishable from Chinese film. However, Wong did not directly mention Chan by name or any other individuals in the speech.
Wong's name appeared on a blacklist of 55 entertainers released in late 2016 in China’s entertainment industry which included entertainers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
Wong met his long-lost twin brothers for the first time this year in a video report released by the BBC on March 27.
