The current theatrical releases of Eye in the sky and Triangle place January under the sign of Hong Kong. More precisely: under Johnnie To’s sign -he co-directed Triangle with two other famous directors of the city and he produced Eye in the sky, first feature of his writer, Yau Hai-no, with his studio Milkyway. Here’s the story of a new reign, which includes pictures of the shooting.
A name has long prevailed on Hong Kong’s heights: that of the Shaw Brothers, heads of a mythical studio that has produced the most beautiful films of the island, from King Hu’s (Come Drink With Me) to Chang Cheh’s (The New One Armed Swordman) or Liu Chia-Liang’s (The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin).
Bu the time of HK retrocession to China in 1997, those glories had more or less worn out and the new generation of big filmmakers such as Tsui Hark and John Woo gone to Hollywood. If the Shaw’s empire has become a visited museum, it is nevertheless non longer the emblem of the city. Another name has taken over: Johnnie To’s -a filmmaker that started as a TV film director in the 70s and made more than 50 films. Milkyway, his Kowloon-established studio, does not lavish on appearances: the entrance looks like that of NYC firefighters barracks! The custom is to celebrate every first day of shooting by praying and lighting incense sticks. On the first floor, the filmmaker’s office faces his assistants’ and screenwriters’. The second floor shelters high-tech post-production studios.
If Milkyway enables To to benefit from a full artistic autonomy, it also helps launch new filmmakers and form a group. Almost at the same time, Triangle, film project that gathers Johnnie To, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam in a mesmerizing plot, and Eye in the sky are released in French theaters. The latter is a ‘Big Brother’ story directed by To’s screenwriter, Yau Hai-no. Eye in the sky mostly enables to see how HK cinema has reappropriated the city by leaving behind the mythical genres that have contributed to its international reputation (kung fu etc). More outstandingly than in Johnnie To’s Breaking News (2003), streets have become a playground where it is pointless to block the trafficl: a few cameras at the top of buildings are enough and movie stars, roughly shaved and wearing casual jerseys, can act without making themselves conspicuous.
It’s maybe what’s new about that cinema previously so anchored in Italian fashion and French watches styles: no more show off. Secretly, in an underlying way, cinema has taken over the city.

Bastien Hader