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Thread: The Bund 《上海灘》

  1. #321
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ganryu View Post
    Didn't know Nicholas' father was in the showbiz. His father's image has glamor and money written all over him
    Patrick Tse Yin was Hong Kong's first modern male sex symbol. He was to 1950s and 1960s Hong Kong pop culture what his son has been to 1990s and 2000s Hong Kong pop culture...or what Chow Yun Fat was during the 1970s and 1980s. Mr. Tse was probably Hong Kong's first (non-martial arts) cinema superstar.

    During the 1970s and 1980s, he appeared in many TVB productions...typically as a dashing and elegant middle-aged character. Mr. Tse was cast in roles that required a touch of class to pull off. He typically played gentlemen of refined tastes who were also naturally casanovas with the ladies.


    Thanks i'll take note of it. Seems like we have another interesting character to look forward to.
    Like the wave motion suggested in the opening lyrics of the first series' theme song, there seems to be a pattern of succession in THE BUND series that goes Fung Ging Yiu ----------> Hui Mun Keung ------------------> Ding Lik------------------->Chang Gwai.

  2. #322
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    Frances Yip performing the classic theme song in Hong Kong during 2006. The song, and the series, are classics of modern Chinese popular culture...an icon of a generation.

  3. #323
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    I began rewatching the original series last night. Man, that scene of Hui Mun Keung taking the films back from Boss Wong was great! Hui Mun Keung was a complete bada*s! One man went in against an entire gang and they were helpless to stop him! :

  4. #324
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    I began rewatching the original series last night. Man, that scene of Hui Mun Keung taking the films back from Boss Wong was great! Hui Mun Keung was a complete bada*s! One man went in against an entire gang and they were helpless to stop him! :
    I been sidetracked by the Young and Dangerous series. HK gangster movies. I'll have to get back to Bund II. Yeah that scene was great. I don't think he even pulled a sweat. Try doing that in real life

    I'm still little bit disappointed there's no gangster chix. sigh. It's like guys can be multilayered and shades of grey but women cannot. I usually warm up to a series if they have some cool bad girls.

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    I began rewatching the original series last night. Man, that scene of Hui Mun Keung taking the films back from Boss Wong was great! Hui Mun Keung was a complete bada*s! One man went in against an entire gang and they were helpless to stop him! :
    Kiu Fung can do that as well


    QF
    有了你開心D乜都清心滿意鹹魚白菜也好好味

  6. #326
    Senior Member Ghaleon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by QF View Post
    Kiu Fung can do that as well


    QF
    But can KF do it with style?

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    But can KF do it with style?
    Its Kiu Fung dude...he can do anything...


    Drunken Style from Leung Ga Yan in DGSD '81, bad *** style from Felix Wong in DGSD 96.....you name it he can do it!


    QF



    Edit: Thats "BAD A-SS
    Last edited by QF; 03-10-09 at 04:28 PM. Reason: Didn't know you can't write A-SS
    有了你開心D乜都清心滿意鹹魚白菜也好好味

  8. #328
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    Some thoughts after viewing the first two episodes of the original series:

    We all know that Hui Mun Keung was a bada*s, but one thing that I've always wondered about (and that the series never really addressed) is *how* he became such a bada*s. For a guy whose previous background was as a university student and radical political activist, he sure knew how to fight well.

    Hui Mun Keung was a mysterious character in that we know nothing substantial about his early life. Who were his parents? What was his childhood like? Did he have any family (well, in THE BUND II, we learn that he had at least one younger cousin, but we had no idea about this until THE BUND II)? The series is curiously silent on Hui Mun Keung's early life in a way it isn't with Fung Ching Ching or Ding Lik. We knew Ching Ching's mother died early, and she grew up with her father and was sent to boarding school from a young age. We also know that Ding Lik's father was a drunk and a wife-beater who died early, and that Ah Lik struggled to grow up on the streets of Shanghai.

    What about Hui Mun Keung? Well, we know he was a student at Beijing University (which suggests that he had a privileged background, because not EVERYBODY could go to university in China in those days). By his own admission, he had never been anywhere other than Beijing and Shanghai (and later, Hong Kong). This makes you wonder where he got his worldly sophistication from.

    My guess is that he learned everything he needed to know in prison. Hui Mun Keung had been in prison for three years before he first showed up in Shanghai at the beginning of THE BUND. It's not a stretch to imagine that he developed his sharp survival instincts, his toughness, and his fighting skills while surviving in prison. His sharp eye and good eye-hand coordination and reflexes might be pure talent (remember that in Hong Kong, when the boy Hak Jai wanted Mun Keung to teach him how to throw a dagger, Mun Keung told him it was just a matter of practice). How prison would have taught him worldly sophistication, I don't know. I wonder what sort of people he met at the university, and what subjects he studied. Perhaps he got his sense of style from watching films, or from a foreign professor who taught at the university.

    Hui Mun Keung's background is a fascinating blank page that TVB, perhaps wisely, never filled...leaving it to our imaginations.

    Sets:

    To this day, I'm most impressed with the set that TVB built for the interiors of Fung Ging Yiu's palatial mansion. The place was *huge*, with multiple rooms on both the ground and second floors. TVB put an extraordinary amount of detail into getting the French rococo decor of the place right...down to the furniture and various ornaments. They really succeeded in lending a grand atmosphere to Fung Ging Yiu's house, even though they had to build that set from scratch with limited resources (they didn't have an actual mansion to work with; they had to build it in their studio lot).

    Amazingly, this set wasn't seen too much after THE BUND. I think TVB might have reused it for one or two other series from the early 1980s, but it was torn down after that. We never saw it again after maybe 1982. Such a shame. It was an excellent set.

    This being TVB, of course, even on the Greatest Series Ever...and one of their best sets ever, the cheapness sometimes amusingly showed through. During the grand ball/banquet at Fung Ging Yiu's house in Episode 2, the floor tiles were clearly *not* fastened down securely when Ding Lik and a girl he met at the party danced on them. The floor tiles moved! Come on: this is the palatial abode of Shanghai's wealthiest and most powerful man. He would have MARBLE floors in his home, and marble floor tiles *don't* move when people dance on them!

  9. #329
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    We all know that Hui Mun Keung was a bada*s, but one thing that I've always wondered about (and that the series never really addressed) is *how* he became such a bada*s. For a guy whose previous background was as a university student and radical political activist, he sure knew how to fight well.
    hai.
    In my opinion this is simply because of a slightly sloppy written script :P I too wondered the same question. Couldnt think of any reasonable answer. Would prison life really make you that good with handling a gun, like he did in the scene when he reclaimed the film roll..?..hmm. But still I ignore this fact, because CYF is soo cool that I don't really care hehe.

    Also I want to comment the early commercial logo in the first episodes, I wonder why these didnt have the flying logos, at least not the logo shown at around 25 minutes. It wasnt until the later episodes that the flying logo started.

    Another shocking scene that I have to comment, and that really got into me, is the the flashback scene of CYF demonstrating in Beijing. And when his girlfriend (?) got hit in the head by the police, and the sad theme started. Ouch, there was something about that scene that really got into me, maybe how she just bled to death from the beat, and nobody cared... The pain we see expressed in her face at the moment is unforgettable, and how CYF couldnt do anything to save her.. Nothing that I have ever then seen in another TVB series..cold, brutal, unhuman, and deeply emotional. Probably the thing that changed Hui Man Keung's life and personality, but still doesnt explain how he got so "talented" with his criminal and tactical skills.
    Last edited by NetDragon; 03-12-09 at 10:25 AM.

  10. #330
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    Quote Originally Posted by NetDragon View Post
    In my opinion this is simply because of a slightly sloppy written script :P I too wondered the same question. Couldnt think of any reasonable answer. Would prison life really make you that good with handling a gun, like he did in the scene when he reclaimed the film roll..?..hmm. But still I ignore this fact, because CYF is soo cool that I don't really care hehe.
    In a sense, I think maybe we were never really meant to know. The mystery of Hui Mun Keung's background adds to his ethereal cool. He seemed to appear in the world fully formed...like a demigod among men.

    I've had theories about his past, however. It's possible that Hui Mun Keung had some military or espionage training in the past. Particularly during the episodes when he's playing mindgames with the Japanese spy Kyoko Yamaguchi, he seems to be a man with experience in military and espionage matters. Perhaps he was with the Chinese intelligence services at some point (the question being at WHAT point).

    The SHANGHAI GRAND movie (1996) actually made that into a plot point. In the film's continuity, Hui Mun Keung was an ex-KMT intelligence officer and Chinese army soldier, which goes a long way to explain where he acquired his skills and instincts from. It's one of the few things I liked about the movie.

    Here's another mysterious plot development that isn't adequately explained in the series: Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik started off as cinema bosses. Hui took over Lee Mong Kei's cinema after conspiring to murder Lee and Lee's original # 1 man, Ah Bing. By the next episode, however, Hui and Ding's cinema had mysteriously become a gambling club and a nightclub.

    I've always wondered about this unexplained change of businesses. It's very possible that Hui Mun Keung sold the cinema business not long after acquiring it and used the money from the sale to start up the nightclub business, but I wish the series had shown some of this happening instead of it just happening in the background. Not a big deal, but still...

    In 2007's Chinese production SHANGHAI BUND, the script let Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik run the cinema for a time before having them move into the nightclub/casino business.

    Also I want to comment the early commercial logo in the first episodes, I wonder why these didnt have the flying logos, at least not the logo shown at around 25 minutes. It wasnt until the later episodes that the flying logo started.
    That was how it was in the original 1980 broadcast too. The flying logo wasn't introduced until sometime halfway through the series.

    Another shocking scene that I have to comment, and that really got into me, is the the flashback scene of CYF demonstrating in Beijing. And when his girlfriend (?) got hit in the head by the police, and the sad theme started. Ouch, there was something about that scene that really got into me, maybe how she just bled to death from the beat, and nobody cared... The pain we see expressed in her face at the moment is unforgettable, and how CYF couldnt do anything to save her.. Nothing that I have ever then seen in another TVB series..cold, brutal, unhuman, and deeply emotional. Probably the thing that changed Hui Man Keung's life and personality, but still doesnt explain how he got so "talented" with his criminal and tactical skills.
    The black-and-white, grainy film footage they used for those flashback scenes to Mun Keung's past was a really great, thoughtful touch. It lent the right atmosphere to those flashbacks.

    The actress who played Chan Hiu Dong (Hui Mun Keung's first girlfriend) was great in those few scenes that she appeared in during THE BUND. She had fewer than five minutes of screentime, but she realy made the most of them. It's too bad we didn't see that actress get any bigger roles at TVB because she looked like she had some potential.

    Some observations after three episodes:

    I'm developing a new appreciation for the minor character Chan Lin San (Chan Hon Nam's father). The guy isn't a major character in THE BUND (although SHANGHAI BUND 2007 greatly expanded his role), but he represented that rarest of personalities in 1930s Shanghai: the honest businessman. There weren't too many businessmen of honor and integrity in the Shanghai of that era, but Chan Lin San was one of them. He was the only guy in Shanghai at the time who was willing to stand up to Fung Ging Yiu.

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    Just finished The Bund II, and I have to say that in general this was quite a badly written sequel.

    The only thing about the end I liked are the incidents involving Chan Gwai. Although I cannot really grasp the image of Liu Kai Chi playing the role he was playing, because of his weird looks hehe. Funny that he tries to be like CYF, with the match/toothpick (?) in his mouth, and the hat, the way he walks and how he reacts just like Hui Man Keung. Maybe it is because the first time I saw him in a series, is in the TVB sitcom "Mind our own business". So he is always stucked in my mind as a comedian. But the end kind of tied the plotline up, and it seems finished and wrapped up.. Oh, and before I complained about the suspense theme from Bund I not being used too much. I was wrong, the suspense theme certainly appeared a lot in Bund II, which is good. Oh, and Patrick Tse's character, geez, why the heck does he exist in The Bund II to begin with, I really don't get it. He seems significant, but he is actually not, in my opinion. He seems just tagged onto the storyline, so that we have a real villain. Hehe, and funny to see how the confrontation with him in the end is quite similar to what we see in the Bund I, you'll know what I mean when you see it :P

    So I've started on the Bund III, and not surprisingly, the atmosphere of Bund I seems to be totally gone now. Hey, and man did I spot the lame comedy scenes (that is so usual to later tvb series) slowly creeping into Bund III.. Also according to the opening credits, it seems like the producer/director of part III is different from part I and II. Am I right? Maybe that's why it kind of feels very loosely connected to the previous ones.
    Last edited by NetDragon; 03-12-09 at 05:03 PM.

  12. #332
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    Quote Originally Posted by NetDragon View Post
    Just finished The Bund II, and I have to say that in general this was quite a badly written sequel.
    The Ding Lik/Dik Wan Tze/Chu Yin Yin love triangle really wasn't that compelling. The two new characters seemed too relatively old compared to Ding Lik. Patrick Tse was already in middle age at that time, and Gigi Wong was clinging to the last of her youthful years. Coming after the youthful dynamism of Chow Yun Fat and Angie Chiu, the two new co-leads were a letdown. That's not to say that they weren't fantastic actors...or that they didn't perform their roles well. It's more that these characters and their story weren't well thought through by TVB and didn't catch fire with an audience that had just been left stunned by the greatness of the first BUND.

    The only thing about the end I liked are the incidents involving Chan Gwai. Although I cannot really grasp the image of Liu Kai Chi playing the role he was playing, because of his weird looks hehe. Funny that he tries to be like CYF, with the match/toothpick (?) in his mouth, and the hat, the way he walks and how he reacts just like Hui Man Keung. Maybe it is because the first time I saw him in a series, is in the TVB sitcom "Mind our own business". So he is always stucked in my mind as a comedian.
    Liu Kai Tze has spent most of his TVB career in comedic roles (or heavy villainous roles). The way he looks does lend itself to comedy, and he is quite a good comedic actor. Occasionally, he's a bit awkward in more serious roles.

    But I thought he handled the role of Chang Gwai well, especially in THE BUND II. During THE BUND, Chang Gwai was such a likable character: everybody's favorite little brother. In THE BUND II, however, his transformation is shocking: he becomes one of the most brutal gangster heads ever seen in Shanghai - far more vicious than Ding Lik. And yet, like you said, he seemed to have copped some of Hui Mun Keung's mannerisms. It's almost like Chang Gwai inherited Mun-gor and Lik-gor's dark sides distilled into a purer form of evil...which is astonishing and dismaying as we remember what a good soul Chang Gwai had during the original series.

    I thought that was the best part of THE BUND II: Chang Gwai's fall from naive, loyal brother to selfish, vicious gangster boss. You really felt for Ah Lik when he finally had to confront Chang Gwai.


    But the end kind of tied the plotline up, and it seems finished and wrapped up..
    Chang Gwai's story is finished in THE BUND II, but the incident haunts Ding Lik into THE BUND III.


    Patrick Tse's character, geez, why the heck does he exist in The Bund II to begin with, I really don't get it. He seems significant, but he is actually not, in my opinion. He seems just tagged onto the storyline, so that we have a real villain.
    Dik Wan Tze was so much wasted potential. Patrick Tse was a master actor, and he did his best to bring this character to life. The character cast a great image, but the writers did not develop the character well. If the writing staff had more seriously pursued the angle of Dik Wan Tze as a dangerous gangster...the man WHO MURDERED HUI MUN KEUNG, he could have been great. Just that concept alone is a winner.

    But the writers took the focus off of that and just cast him more as an elegant casanova more interested in romancing Chu Yin Yin than finishing off Ding Lik.

    Hehe, and funny to see how the confrontation with him in the end is quite similar to what we see in the Bund I, you'll know what I mean when you see it :P
    But a bit more...er, shall we say, explosive.

    I'll say this for THE BUND II: it used A LOT more bombs than BUND I did. I guess the old machine gun attacks didn't cut it anymore; they needed BOMBS now.

    So I've started on the Bund III, and not surprisingly, the atmosphere of Bund I seems to be totally gone now. Hey, and man did I spot the lame comedy scenes (that is so usual to later tvb series) slowly creeping into Bund III..
    Probably in the early episodes involving Wong Yeun Sun's character. I think the comedic angle disappears pretty soon. Even in a substandard BUND series, I don't see cheap TVB-style humor being part of the mix for very long. The later part of the series definitely has that familiar grim BUND feel, although not with the same refinement of execution as the first series.

    Case in point: check out the ballroom dancing scenes during the early episodes of BUND III...compare that to the ballroom dancing scenes in BUND I (at Fung Ging Yiu's house). Clearly, TVB wasn't trying as hard on the sequels as they had been on the original series.

    Also according to the opening credits, it seems like the producer/director of part III is different from part I and II. Am I right? Maybe that's why it kind of feels very loosely connected to the previous ones.
    That could be. BUND I and BUND II had similar production values, but III had a somewhat different feel to it.

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    Discussion after viewing Episode 4 of THE BUND:

    Humor in THE BUND:

    THE BUND was known for its dark, grim tone. It is by no means a lighthearted drama. That said, the series was not humorless.

    The humor in THE BUND, however, was always at a wittier and classier level than the norm for series. It wasn't the usual slapstick or corny humor. The humor was always in line with the personality of the characters and the overall tone of the series, and often was there not for its own sake, but to accentuate some aspect of the characters' personalities...or even foreshadow their futures.

    Episode 4 of THE BUND was perhaps the most relatively (emphasis: relatively) lighthearted episode of the series. It had a few notable instances of this humor in play.

    1. Fung Ging Yiu has invited Hui Mun Keung to dinner at his home to thank him for rescuing Ching Ching. Ching Ching originally had plans to meet with her friend Wong Yeut Kei that night, but canceled those plans so she could see Mun Keung. When her father asks her why she canceled her plans with her girlfriends, however, Ching Ching makes up an excuse that Wong Yeut Kei was ill and had lost her voice and wasn't in the mood to receive guests. Daddy Fung believes that story until Wong Yeut Kei calls the Fung residence a few minutes later and asks to speak with Ching Ching. An amused Fung Ging Yiu tells Ching Ching, "Oh...your friend who lost her voice wants to speak with you!"

    I thought this scene was funny, and showed the human, tender side of Fung Ging Yiu. He might have been a ruthless, power hungry megalomaniac, but Fung Ging Yiu was also wonderful, loving parent with a good sense of humor. This scene really showed the love between the father and the daughter, and it was funny in a dignified, realistic way.

    2. When Ching Ching discusses with Wong Yeut Kei her plans to seek out Hui Mun Keung, Wong Yeut Kei demands to know what Ching Ching's planned response would be if Hui Mun Keung asked her why she's visiting him at home. Ching Ching then asks Wong Yeut Kei what *she* would do. Wong Yeut Kei says that she would tell Hui Mun Keung that she's there to borrow a book. Ching Ching laughs and says she'd never say that...saying that she would think of something on the spot.

    So what does Ching Ching say when Ding Lik asks why she's at his and Hui Mun Keung's house...that she's there to borrow a book!

    3. That awkward first conversation between Ding Lik and Fung Ching Ching at Ding and Hui's residence. Ching Ching had gone there looking for Mun Keung, but got Ah Lik instead (which sort of foreshadows future, more serious developments in the storyline). Ching Ching is being coy, not wanting to directly tell Ah Lik that she's there to see Mun Keung (giving him the "borrow a book" story). Ah Lik, still learning how to be courteous, doesn't quite know what to say. Their conversation is hilariously awkward as Ah Lik tries to figure out what Ching Ching is asking him and Ching Ching is trying to make Ah Lik understand without giving away too much about her real intentions.

    The scene was lighthearted and funny, especially with Ah Lik's naivete and Ching Ching's awkwardness. But the scene, I think, also foreshadows the difficulty in communication between the two after they become husband and wife later in the series. Ah Lik and Ching Ching never communicated well; that's why their marriage didn't work out.

    And of course, one can't miss the symbolism of Ching Ching looking for Mun Keung, but finding Ah Lik instead: isn't that basically the story of their love triangle in a nutshell? It's treated in a lighthearted manner in Episode 4, but even so, it had ominous portents.

    More Symbolism:

    The image of the automobile is central to Hui Mun Keung and Fung Ching Ching's relationship. On the day that they first met, Hui Mun Keung drove Ching Ching in his car (well, the one he borrowed from Fung Ging Yiu, anyway). Later, when they became a couple, some of their happiest and most poignant moments together occurred when Mun Keung drove Ching Ching around in his car.

    Fittingly, when they said their final farewell at the end of the series, it was also after Mun Keung gave Ching Ching one final ride in his car (I wonder if there's some hidden innuendo in that car image too).

    Bloopers, Gwailo, etc.:

    No amusing bloopers or gwailo actors to report here, but an observation about the limitations even in THE BUND's high production standards.

    One of the greatest things about THE BUND was how they successfully were able to re-create the atmosphere of 1930s Shanghai despite shooting the entire series in late 1970s/early 1980s Hong Kong. Even people who lived in Shanghai at the time were impressed by the way TVB was able to create a believable illusion of 1930s Shanghai.

    But it wasn't foolproof, and if you have a sharp eye for detail, you'll notice the flaws.

    First, Shanghai is a much colder place than Hong Kong. Hong Kong is in the tropics, while Shanghai is more temperate. Snow never falls in Hong Kong, while snow in Shanghai during winter is not at all uncommon.

    TVB adroitly used appropriate costuming, lighting of outdoor camera shots (many cold, cloudy day shots), and special effects (i.e. fake snow) to create a believable "wintry" atmosphere for Shanghai...particularly in Episode 4. However, if you pay attention to the shrubbery in the background of some scenes, there are PALM trees.

    I'm sure there aren't any natural palms in Shanghai, especially not in winter.

    Another quibble is the costuming and hairstyles of extras. TVB made great effort to make sure the major characters were attired and coiffed in a believably 1930s style, but they didn't always do the same for the extras (i.e. the thugs, the dancers in ballroom or nightclub scenes, etc.). There were many instances of people (particularly men) wearing outfits that were clearly 1970s/1980s style rather than 1930s style. During the scene when Ching Ching went to the cafe in hopes of running into Mun Keung, there was a gwailo extra seated at a table in the foreground, and his suit and hairstyle were *clearly* 1979/1980 style contemporary fashions rather than anything a man in the West would have worn during the 1930s. This happened often in THE BUND and many other "early Chinese Republic" period series such as THE SHELL GAME, etc. TVB's wardrobe department likely did not have enough authentic 1930s-style costumes for all the extras, and probably not everybody agreed to have his hair styled in authentic 1930s fashion just for a single scene. These things could break the illusion, and do just a little, but fortunately, the overall atmosphere and the stellar acting, directing, storywriting, etc. mask these minor faults.

    More on that: during the "KMT shooting scene" at the end of Episode 2/start of Episode 3, two cars arrive bearing Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik's gunmen. It's dark and we only see the cars' front silhouettes and headlights, but it's evident that at least one of the cars isn't an authentic 1930s vehicle, but a 1979/1980 Toyota Corolla or Toyota Corona (I know because I owned a 1980 Toyota Corolla as my first car when I was in high school, and I *know* the distinctive shape its rectangular headlights!).

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    More on that: during the "KMT shooting scene" at the end of Episode 2/start of Episode 3, two cars arrive bearing Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik's gunmen. It's dark and we only see the cars' front silhouettes and headlights, but it's evident that at least one of the cars isn't an authentic 1930s vehicle, but a 1979/1980 Toyota Corolla or Toyota Corona (I know because I owned a 1980 Toyota Corolla as my first car when I was in high school, and I *know* the distinctive shape its rectangular headlights!).
    Actually I think the car is a Ford Cortina actually and by no means a Toyota , both would be logical as Toyota's are popular in HK and at the time under British Government, Ford's were imported a lot there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    Patrick Tse was already in middle age at that time, and Gigi Wong was clinging to the last of her youthful years.

    Patrick Tse was a master actor, and he did his best to bring this character to life. The character cast a great image, but the writers did not develop the character well. If the writing staff had more seriously pursued the angle of Dik Wan Tze as a dangerous gangster...the man WHO MURDERED HUI MUN KEUNG, he could have been great. Just that concept alone is a winner.
    Actually the first time I saw Gigi Wong was in The Drive of Life where she played Damian Lau's wife. So my impression of her is always the "old fat wife" of Damian Lau hehe :P That's why it seems hard for me to find her attractive in The Bund II hehe. But her looks got more terrible later in the Bund II though, oh gosh the woman is actually old enough to be my mom, so nuff said :P

    Yeah, I agree, that concept of Patrick Tse being the mastermind behind HMK's death is a winner. The first time I read your synopsis on the Bund II, I thought this was THE main reason for the war between him and Ding Lik. So I was really disappointed when the secret was revealed already in episode 3-4. But I didnt quite get the Cantonese dialogues in this scene. Why did Dik Wan Chi order the murder of HMK? I thought I heard it was because he was ordered by the Japanese to do that, but then it seems that wasn't the reason...or?

    If I could change the storyline of Bund II, then I wouldn't reveal Cheung Gwai's evil intentions until the few last episodes. The fact that he has a kind hearted personality, is a good way of making us watchers ignorant of his evil side. So I would rather that Ding Lik and Dik Wan Tze being fierce enemies until near the end. The big surprise of course is finding out Dik's behind the murder of HMK. And wow, we get surprised, and then the final confrontation with explosion (?). But after Dik is being wiped out, and everything seems peaceful, then in the last episode Cheung Gwai would reveal his true motives. And we would like get this sudden last surprise blown unto our face hehe, and he would admit that he had supported Dik all the way, murdering the cousin of HMK and everything. Almost like the end of Bund I, when the final enemy in the last episode is Lip Yan Wong, who we actually believed earlieris patriotic and different from Fung Ging Yiu.

    About humour of Bund I, then I would say there are 2 scenes that made me laugh..maybe a little hehe:

    1) When HMK comes home, finding Ding Lik sitting on the couch. Ding Lik asks HMK if he has been out seeing that gwailo guy "Smifooo..." :P It's Mr.Smith, says HMK...lol

    2) When Ding Lik goes to the ball at FGY's house, he dances with this pretty girl, and soon he starts stepping on her feet all the time. And when HMK passes him, smiling, Ding Lik gets this weird smirk look on his face...hihihi.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MLAM168 View Post
    Actually I think the car is a Ford Cortina actually and by no means a Toyota , both would be logical as Toyota's are popular in HK and at the time under British Government, Ford's were imported a lot there.
    Could be, but it looked *really* like the silhouette of a 1979/1980 Toyota Corolla or Corona to me.

    Quote Originally Posted by NetDragon View Post
    Actually the first time I saw Gigi Wong was in The Drive of Life where she played Damian Lau's wife. So my impression of her is always the "old fat wife" of Damian Lau hehe :P That's why it seems hard for me to find her attractive in The Bund II hehe. But her looks got more terrible later in the Bund II though, oh gosh the woman is actually old enough to be my mom, so nuff said :P
    Her looks seemed to deteriorate as THE BUND II wore on, but she looked great in her first scene of the series at the dock. That was as hot as I'd ever seen Gigi Wong.

    Yeah, I agree, that concept of Patrick Tse being the mastermind behind HMK's death is a winner. The first time I read your synopsis on the Bund II, I thought this was THE main reason for the war between him and Ding Lik. So I was really disappointed when the secret was revealed already in episode 3-4. But I didnt quite get the Cantonese dialogues in this scene. Why did Dik Wan Chi order the murder of HMK? I thought I heard it was because he was ordered by the Japanese to do that, but then it seems that wasn't the reason...or?
    The "Killer of Hui Mun Keung" angle got off to a great start in THE BUND II, but seemed to lose steam quickly. As I understand it, Dik Wan Tze came to power in Shanghai largely with the support of the Japanese Empire. The Japanese knew he was a capable man, so they supplied him with whatever he needed to take over the city. In particular, they wanted Dik to eliminate Hui Mun Keung both in revenge for Kyoko Yamaguchi and also to remove a huge obstacle in bringing Shanghai under Japanese control. As long as Hui Mun Keung remained the most powerful man in Shanghai, that would be a tough goal to accomplish, so Dik was sent in to murder Hui Mun Keung.

    If I could change the storyline of Bund II, then I wouldn't reveal Cheung Gwai's evil intentions until the few last episodes. The fact that he has a kind hearted personality, is a good way of making us watchers ignorant of his evil side. So I would rather that Ding Lik and Dik Wan Tze being fierce enemies until near the end. The big surprise of course is finding out Dik's behind the murder of HMK. And wow, we get surprised, and then the final confrontation with explosion (?). But after Dik is being wiped out, and everything seems peaceful, then in the last episode Cheung Gwai would reveal his true motives. And we would like get this sudden last surprise blown unto our face hehe, and he would admit that he had supported Dik all the way, murdering the cousin of HMK and everything. Almost like the end of Bund I, when the final enemy in the last episode is Lip Yan Wong, who we actually believed earlieris patriotic and different from Fung Ging Yiu.
    That's a great idea, and would have made for a much more interesting BUND II series. I think TVB missed the boat on BUND II by *not* playing up the angle of Dik Wan Tze being the murderer of Hui Mun Keung. Also, the Chang Gwai subplot was a great idea, but could have been executed better.

    BTW, what are your thoughts on Chow Yun Fat's brief cameo as Hui Mun Keung (in flashback) from Episode 4 of BUND II?

    I thought it was really neat; that scene more or less made the sequel for me.

    About humour of Bund I, then I would say there are 2 scenes that made me laugh..maybe a little hehe:

    1) When HMK comes home, finding Ding Lik sitting on the couch. Ding Lik asks HMK if he has been out seeing that gwailo guy "Smifooo..." :P It's Mr.Smith, says HMK...lol

    2) When Ding Lik goes to the ball at FGY's house, he dances with this pretty girl, and soon he starts stepping on her feet all the time. And when HMK passes him, smiling, Ding Lik gets this weird smirk look on his face...hihihi.
    Ah Lik was comedic gold in the early episodes of THE BUND. The poor guy was such a fish out of water in the elegant upper-class society of Shanghai. His naive facial expressions were quite amusing.

    His later transformation into a sophisticated gentleman (similar to Hui Mun Keung) was a bit sudden. Not that he couldn't have made this transformation, but it should have been a more gradual process.

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    Observations after Episode 5 of THE BUND:

    A part of THE BUND's success was also attributable to the director's fine sense of pacing. After the relatively lighthearted Episode 4, the scriptwriter had to find a natural way to segue into the dark, violent Episode 5.

    He succeeded on every level.

    Episode 5 begins with no indication of the violence to come. The episode begins with Ah Lik wooing Ga Yee Yan, an attractive young lady whom he doesn't know is his business rival Lo Gum's mistress. During the scenes when he's courting Ms. Ga, Ah Lik is charmingly boyish and naive...no indication of the much darker aspect of his personality we would see later in the episode.

    Another humorous scene takes place when Ah Lik goes to a local flower shop to buy flowers for Ms. Ga. The owner of the shop and his wife take one look at Ah Lik (dressed in his gangster attire) and immediately plead for him to wait until later in the day when they have cash before collecting the protection fee. To their relief, Ah Lik tells them that he isn't there to collect protection fees, but to be a customer. The shop owner's wife then asks Ah Lik if he's buying flowers for his mom or his sister, and Ah Lik sheepishly replies, "girlfriend." It was funny to see Ah Lik so embarrassed. The shop owner's wife then recommends a variety of different flowers to Ah Lik, but he dismisses them as unsuitable (and his complaints about the flowers are funny too: "These are better for fighting!" or "These are too dangly!").

    But the light atmosphere doesn't last.

    Hui Mun Keung also shines in this episode. I particularly like the scene after Ah Lik is brutally beaten by Lo Gum's thugs and delivered back to the nightclub that Hui and Ding own. You could see the frustration in Hui Mun Keung's face even though he said very little. Hui was pissed off at Ah Lik for being stupid, but he was even more pissed off at himself for being so helpless to stand up for his brother against Lo Gum. Deep down, Mun Keung wanted to strike back at Lo Gum for beating Ah Lik so brutally, but not being an idiot like Ah Lik, Mun Keung knew he couldn't do that without bringing all the tongs down on himself and his brothers. Mun Keung had to swallow his pride and go to Fung Ging Yiu in hopes that Fung could mediate the dispute. I thought this scene showed so much about Hui Mun Keung's character even though he had very few lines (it was in his actions and facial expressions): he's loyal and caring to his friends, but he's also a thinker and a planner with a mind towards consequences. Hui Mun Keung will do anything for the people he cares about, but he's NEVER one to act rashly or stupidly. He knows actions have consequences, and he always weighs them before acting. That's something Ah Lik doesn't learn until later. The scriptwriter and director planned this scene intelligently, and Chow Yun Fat acted it masterfully.

    THE BUND conveys its drama not only with is said in the dialogue, but also what is *not* said. THE BUND respects the viewer's intelligence, and drops hints and allows the audience to fill in the gaps for itself. The series takes a similar approach to music: the tendency of most series is to slather it in background music...EVERY scene. While THE BUND offers some of the best mood music TVB has ever used in its series, the director was also canny to take advantage of NOT using music. There are many scenes in THE BUND wherein the director lets the acting speak for itself and chooses not to use any backing music. Knowing when to turn the music on and when to turn it off takes great dramatic sense and discipline, and the director of THE BUND demonstrated that he had plenty of both in his strategic use and non-use of music.

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    So, are you gonna do an analysis after each episode???
    有了你開心D乜都清心滿意鹹魚白菜也好好味

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    Quote Originally Posted by QF View Post
    So, are you gonna do an analysis after each episode???
    Maybe not every episode, but when I notice something worth discussing.

    This is one of the very few Cantonese dramas that can bear this level of analysis and dissection.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    In particular, they wanted Dik to eliminate Hui Mun Keung both in revenge for Kyoko Yamaguchi and also to remove a huge obstacle in bringing Shanghai under Japanese control. As long as Hui Mun Keung remained the most powerful man in Shanghai, that would be a tough goal to accomplish, so Dik was sent in to murder Hui Mun Keung.

    BTW, what are your thoughts on Chow Yun Fat's brief cameo as Hui Mun Keung (in flashback) from Episode 4 of BUND II?

    I thought it was really neat; that scene more or less made the sequel for me.

    His later transformation into a sophisticated gentleman (similar to Hui Mun Keung) was a bit sudden. Not that he couldn't have made this transformation, but it should have been a more gradual process.
    But as I recalled from Bund I, at the end when HMK was shot, the gwailo guy with long hair popped his head out of the car. And the looks on his face was kind of disappointed when he saw that it was HMK that was shot. What was that all about? At first I thought they originally wanted to target Ding Lik, that's why he seemed disappointed. But then again...what?! Or was he just a lame a$$ bad actor..:P

    I thought the flashback of HMK was good, although he did seem a little gay wiping his nose with that white tissue hehe. If it was me directing (hehe), I would have made this flashback much longer, maybe an entire episode or two, explaining how Ding Lik learned the skills from HMK on one particular case that we didnt get to see in part I. Maybe it would also explain why Ding Lik was able to transform so suddenly later, as you mentioned.
    Last edited by NetDragon; 03-14-09 at 07:12 AM.

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