Courtesy of Emperor Film Pictures

With an ensemble of high-quality filmmakers, “The Last Dance” (2024) headlined the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards on April 27 with 18 nominations across 19 categories, tying the record for the most nominations ever at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In the end, “The Last Dance” picked up five awards for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film Score and Best Film Song.

“The Last Dance,” at its core, is a family drama. The title specifically references the Taoist funeral ritual of “Breaking Hell’s Gate,” which is completed by a Taoist priest. The ritual’s purpose is to lead a dead person’s soul out from the darkness and tribulations of the underworld and allow it to move on from this life onto the next — in other words, reincarnate.

The film features a dysfunctional family, the Kwoks, which includes Master Man and his adult son and daughter, Ben and Yuet. Master Man posits the idea that tradition (specifically the Taoist priesthood that he was trained in) takes precedence over all other values. An outsider of the family, Master Man’s new business partner, Dominic, ends up being on the receiving side of family challenges that seep over into the business. To make matters worse, he fails Master Man’s initial eye test. Clouds of distrust linger on various fronts, further compounding problems. “The Last Dance” navigates the clashes in family and business; the ideological gap between father and children, the rookie and the veteran business partners.

The film has become a poster child for Hong Kong cinema, along with fellow nominees and winners “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” (2024) and “Papa” (2024). The previous nominations record was set by “Bodyguards and Assassins” 15 years ago, which took home eight awards. With that number in mind, here are nine categories that brought strong cases to win at the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Since the awards have passed, there is also some speculation about why “The Last Dance” won or did not win in the acting categories.

Best Director: Anselm Chan
Chan’s first two films as a director were romantic comedies: “Ready o/r Knot” (2021) and “Ready o/r Rot ”(2023). With “The Last Dance,” he takes a dramatic turn. In light of losing loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic, what began as a passion project sorting through his own experiences turned into a film that bravely showcases what goes on in Hong Kong’s funeral business, as well as how those who are living can use the funeral as a farewell to their loved one. Not only did he jump outside his normal realm, but he also convinced arguably the two greatest comedic actors in the history of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Michael Hui and Dayo Wong, to make the jump with him. After convincing them, he turned them loose and allowed their natural chemistry to mesh with the rest of the film.

Best Actor: Michael Hui
In the film, Hui plays a serious Taoist priest, a funeral business owner and most notably, a traditional Chinese father. As one of the pioneers of modern Hong Kong cinema, it almost seems ironic because he paved the way for different genres (in particular, comedy) to have a place in Hong Kong cinema, and his fun-loving personality is the polar opposite of Master Man. At the same time, it is fitting to see him as Master Man because he is now a member of the older generation and does not often play the stereotypical role of a grumpy old man. While most are used to his comedic performances and waiting for him to crack five jokes in a row, Hui breaks audience expectations by keeping a relatively straight face throughout the film. It was simply not meant to be for the legend to return to the pinnacle of Best Actor after he captured the first one forty-two editions ago. What ended up being an unlucky number for Hui was a lucky number for Sean Lau. His layered and unique performance in “Papa” netted his fourth Best Actor Award, coinciding with Lau’s forty-two years as an actor, bringing him level with Tony Leung Ka-fai for second-most wins in the category.

Best Actress: Michelle Wai (won)
Wai stars as Yuet, the daughter of Master Man and younger sister to Ben. As a paramedic, she believes death is something that can be avoided, the other side of the coin of what her father and brother do, which is to send a dead person’s soul onto the next life. She also avoids her shaky relationships at home with her father and brother. When she struggles with self-worth and confidence in her job, one thing leads to another and she must confront death once again. Having previously collaborated with Chan on his films, Wai shows off her acting range, delivering a moving performance representing how much of a rollercoaster life can be. Timing plays a role here. Though the general public does not have official voting rights, the films that won suggests, popularity and accessibility influenced the results. Two nominees represent both sides of the spectrum. Petra Au stars in “All Shall Be Well” (2024), which was released back at the on May 1st of last year and Hedwig Tam leads “Montages of a Modern Motherhood” (2024) was officially released across all theaters on April 24th of this year, just three days before the awards. Wai’s performance in “The Last Dance” is in the sweet spot, right in the middle of the release cycle in between early and mid-November, when talks of who might be worthy award candidates start to surface. By the time “The Way We Talk” (2024) was released in the latter part of February, chatter surrounding Wai’s bid for the Hong Kong Film Awards had already built up despite the fact that Chong Suet-ying won Best Actress at the 61st Golden Horse Awards in late November. As for Natalie Hsu in “Last Song For You” (2024), her time will come.

Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Chu, Paul Chun
Chu shines as the older son of Master Man and older brother of Yuet. From youth, he followed the wishes of his father: to become a Taoist priest, develop into his right-hand man and eventually inherit the business. As an adult, Ben craves independence, doing everything in his power to give his son choice and freedom to do what he desires in life. However, he does so at a cost. Chu convincingly plays the son who copes with failing to meet his father’s expectations and reaches a boiling point, leaving him at odds with his sister as well. Ben is a very relatable, down-to-earth role and Chu does a brilliant job of embodying the struggle of balancing expectations and responsibility in all his roles within the family and business. On the flip side, from a fantastical world, the nominees from Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Louis Koo and Philip Ng, respectively, bring their characters, Cyclone and King, off the page and into theaters. Some may argue this was an even taller task for Koo and Ng, but in doing so, the tradeoff is that their performances could have been too bound to what was in the original book and comic. Siuyea Lo plays the husband of the main character in “Montages of a Modern Motherhood” and falls into the same boat as his film partner, Tam.

Chun plays Master Man’s former business partner and longtime friend, Uncle Ming. On a basic level, he trains Dominic on how to run the funeral planning business before allowing him to take over his half of the business, as he calls it quits to immigrate to Canada. As Uncle Ming, Chun gives a full performance as a seasoned individual in both the profession and life as a whole, a spitting image of his own life as an experienced actor and mentor to many in the profession.
He is currently tied with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anthony Wong, Liu Kai-chi and Eric Tsang for most wins in the best supporting actor category, meaning if he won this year, he would’ve had the record to himself. It is very possible that the perceived degree of difficulty or variation from previous performances was not enough for him to be chosen ahead of other nominees of the category.

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Leung, Rosa Maria Velasco
Leung and Velasco are putting people on notice two years in a row, as they were nominated last year for their respective roles in “In Broad Daylight” (2023) and “Time Still Turns the Pages” (2023). In “The Last Dance,” Leung and Velasco spearhead two mini storylines within the plot that bring out the humanistic view the film takes on funerals and death in general. Leung plays a lesbian woman who is prohibited from attending her partner’s funeral. Velasco plays a mother who insists on preserving and mummifying her son’s body to continue feeling he is somehow present in some capacity. None of the other funeral planners will either take her case or offer their services for a reasonable price. Dominic, unaware of the word on the street and eager to do business, accepts her case. Both Leung and Velasco communicate undying hope in their respective stories, leading the audience to connect with their situations on a deeper level. The most likely argument against either Leung or Velasco winning would be their characters’ importance to the overall plot in the grand scheme of things. Both had an impact as their cases formed the building blocks of Dominic and Master Man’s relationship. Jo Koo plays a loving wife and mother in “Papa” who will do anything for her family. Viewers are easily transported into believing who she is on-screen and may even find shades of their loved ones in her character. If Lau’s Papa is the heart of the on-screen family, then Koo’s Mama is the soul. The analogy still works vice versa. Her character’s presence in the narrative, as well as lack thereof, said a lot about the relationships and roles in the household. As a whole, they gelled so well on-screen, hence why father, mother, and son all reeled in awards across different categories.

Best Film Editing: William Chang, Curran Pang
These two film editors have quite a resume and this is far from their first rodeo. Chang is known for his varied work with Wong Kar-wai, spanning four decades from the 1980s to the 2010s: “As Tears Go By” (1988), “Chungking Express” (1994), “In the Mood for Love” (2000) and so on. Pang’s headliners include the “Infernal Affairs” Trilogy (2002-03), (the original version of “The Departed” (2006)) and “Project Gutenberg” (2018). Chang brings the artistic eye and attention to detail, while Pang adds the action side of the spectrum. Together, they combine to create excitement and anticipation around the ceremony of “Breaking Hell’s Gate” and splice each of the storylines to build upon one another, eventually leaving the audience in a mix of awe and understanding.

Best Cinematography: Anthony Pun
It is no coincidence Pun is the director of cinematography for two of the highest-grossing Chinese-language films in Hong Kong history: “A Guilty Conscience” (2023) and now “The Last Dance”. He frames every detail, everything from the large landscapes taken from the buildings of Hung Hom down to the sparks of fire. He also compels the audience to connect with the characters, capturing each of their emotions with precision at every turn.

Best Original Film Score: Wan Pin Chu (won)
Chu brings the audience up close and personal with the ceremony of “Breaking Hell’s Gate,” but in the next scene, pulls them away to a faraway world, into the thoughts and minds of the characters. He flawlessly mixes traditional Chinese instruments, such as the erhu, into the more typical instruments of a film score: piano and string instruments.

Best Original Film Song: Terence Lam (won)
Rarely is there a film song that is produced, composed, written and sung by the same person. As a star of Hong Kong’s music scene, Lam puts his talents and versatility on full display in this song. It softly surfaces at the end of the film when the credits roll as a gentle reminder to contemplate the message of the film. As audiences file out of the theater and back out to their normal lives, they may develop a new appreciation for this song, film or just life in general.

The major winner was “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” grabbing nine awards for its all-around prowess. “Papa” more than held its ground with three, sweeping up best actor, best supporting actress and best new performer. Though it was not as fruitful as the initial nominations might have suggested, “The Last Dance” still made its presence known and felt at the awards. All the films that won this year made their imprints on the hearts and minds of those who watched and appreciated them, sparking more dialogue that Hong Kong films have the ability to reach and resonate with a wider global audience once again.