To me, Szeto Wah will be forever remembered as the one who called for the ban of Lie huo qing chun (1982). I remember one Sunday morning I was listening to CR2, and John Shum lashed out on Szeto for his call on banning the movie. Shum, if I remember correctly, defended the movie and by extension the director Patrick Tam, saying that Szeto had no idea how much Tam had spent on the movie and how Tam stood to lose a lot if the movie was banned. So on and so forth. The verbal assault was so vicious, vitriolic, violent and I guess so unbecoming, CR2 had to turn off his mic in the middle of the broadcast. Wow, I thought that was pretty cool. At that time, as a youngster I thought and still think Szeto wasn't cool to call for a ban on the movie.
UPDATE: 1/10/2011
Apparently there is some pent up demand for the movie. And not everybody is a search fiend. So at the risk or ruining my PG rating of this site, here is the, or one of the, controversial clips. Well if it's on YouTube I think it can't be that controversial.
Warning: Maybe inappropriate for young children or adults.
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John Shum made it a habit of launching into Szeto on the radio every Sunday morning in his feigned Chiu Chow accent in those care-free days of 1982/1983. Despite some impassioned recommendations from some 'youngsters' at that time, I didn't get to see the movie until it was free on tv a decade later. Looking back, it was so funny. By 1989, Shum and Szeto were the best of buddies.
ReplyDeleteYou know, thanks to Szeto I never got to see the movie in a theater and I guess I never will. But I think I won't miss any of it, I mean I didn't even see the latest eclipse, what do I care anyway?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I thought they became buddies too. Probably they found a common enemy or John showed him something better than liu huo qing chun or something. Rumor has it that they helped the 6/4 dissidents go overseas via Hong Kong.... Wow that must be pretty theatrical and cinematic, arguably more exciting than the boobs in lie huo qing chun....
No, it was not a rumour. More details of which emerged in Ming Pao two days ago. Fascinating stuff. I think Szeto should be in the Economist obituary. But it has a bias towards Caucasian males in the West. Too bad!
ReplyDeleteVL2011
I don't remember a thing about such a call by Szeto Wah. I don't seem to remember the Sunday morning talk show of John Shum, not to mention the claim that Uncle Wah was constantly assailed by Shum. [I blame it on presenile dementia.] Can anyone tell me the reason behind Uncle Wah's call for the ban of the movie?
ReplyDeleteWhere have you been in the 80s? The movie was talked about at that time because of a love scene on the upper deck of a tram that involoved 汤镇业 and super-sexy 夏文汐 (wow!). It was not banned. It went thruough with a cut version. Szeto was a Taleban before most of us know what a Taleban is. That was a blemish on his otherwise remarkable career. A bad call. I am glad that this blogger brought it out when the politicians of all stripes in Hong Kong are piling up accolades on him.
ReplyDeleteVL2011
I know 汤镇业 and 夏文汐 but I still don't remember the love scene and Uncle Wah being a Taleban. Alright, perhaps I was hiding inside the library of HSSC busy studying those thick books on human sexuality.
ReplyDeleteYou just thought the Summer/Soup is cold soup, not hot enough for you to bother. Youtube has the tram scene, judge it yourself.
ReplyDeleteI think it was not so much about the love scene itself but the fact that it took place at midnight on the upper deck of a tram on its way from Causeway Bay to North Point that caused a stir. It was revealed last week that Szeto's only love in life (a fellow teacher born in 1941) passed away in 1982. In retrospect, could this have casused Szeto to be so belligerent at that time? I have reason to believe that his love for her was never consummated. Then there was that movie about youngsterss making out like that. What horror!
ReplyDeleteVL2011
Can't find the tram scene on Youtube, pals. Tried Lie Huo Qing Chun but all I got were clips about Leslie Cheung's role in the movie. I also tried Xia Wenxi and Tang Zhenye and Liehuo Qingchun in Chinese in all kinds of combinations but still no luck.
ReplyDeleteThe 班主任 died in 1983 but uncle Wah only learned about the death 10 years later. The two events seemed to be unrelated given the 10-year time lapse.
ReplyDeleteWell at least it makes a good story (stringing the ban to his unrequited or unconsummated love). He should have more like Yum ....
ReplyDeleteIt dawned on me why Uncle Wah had called for a ban or boycott. I think a lot of folks, other than the Talebans, in HK would have supported Uncle Wah's call to arms. For parents, just imagine your daughter were Xia who made out with a bloke on public transport and went on to challenge a middle-aged onlooker by staring right back at him.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to the present day, no public transport company would say yes to Patrick Tam in today's Hong Kong. It is so politically incorrect even though the reality is: today's youngsters are generally a lot more promiscuous than their parents and their respectable uncles and aunties. Truth be told, a sizeable number of them are truly 'tram guys', though not of the same highlighted in the video.
ReplyDeleteVL2011