What Hong Kong cinema can take away from a popular Chinese war film

In late August, a reporter accompanied their parents to their small-town cinema in mainland China to watch the popular war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East." The film, built around a conflict widely understood as the US-led Iraq war, had become a phenomenon, projected to reach 2.5 billion yuan largely through word of mouth.

The reporter contrasted their parents' review of the film with a different perspective that focused on the human cost of war. For 50 years, the Middle East wars had been known to the reporter's parents primarily through television news, and the film presented ordinary people caught in the conflict.

The reporter reflected on the question of why some films travel across borders while others remain trapped by the expectations attached to their production location. They recalled discussions about the decline of Hong Kong cinema, citing co-productions, pursuit of mainland money, and a focus on local identity. However, the reporter argued that local identity is not an industrial policy and that treating it as such overlooks the underlying industry issues.

The old Southeast Asian Chinese-language market, once a significant distribution network for Hong Kong cinema, had fractured due to Cold War-era nation-building and shifting language policies. While Chinese-language audiences remained, the regional film market that once connected them had broken apart.

The reporter noted that mainland cinema serves a larger domestic market and faces stricter content controls. Despite this, some recent commercial hits from mainland China have set their stories beyond China's borders without losing mass audiences at home. These films, such as "Sheep Without a Shepherd," have shifted away from recognisable Chinese locations and operated under a new commercial language.

The reporter suggested that Hong Kong cinema should recognize this pattern and stop demanding authenticity through local landmarks and language. Instead, Hong Kong films should focus on the stories that resonate with audiences globally, using migration, crowded cities, ambition, and desire to create a universal appeal.