29-06-19
Thriller are my indulgent taste of film genre. Writer Josef Wimmer said it wittily about thrillers, “Being able to experience danger without actually being in danger. They may have complex story lines and can be challenging to follow. So, as a viewer, you are always guessing next.” A thriller film is often characterized by the moods which it elicits, giving audience the elevated feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise and fear.
A Hong Kong thriller Deception of the Novelist is showing in theaters now. It is about the adulterous affair of a novelist with his tenant upstairs: a pretty, mysterious and immoral lady who intentionally seduced the married man and plotted to destroy his happy family. Does it sound like the classic thriller Fatal Attraction? The story of the Hong Kong film is however energetically complicated.
Deception of the Novelist is not bad, entertaining enough to make an audience not fall asleep. Having watched the film, I discovered a very potential actor who has the star quality to capture his audience―Justin Cheung who played the role of the novelist. A good actor is more than the role playing of cry-laughing or laugh-crying. It is about salvaging and transferring his experience, if not his life, into a character and making the audience feel connected, aroused and familiar as being part of something equal to themselves. Acting is therefore a physical, mental and emotional process about the vitality of the human connection between the actor on the film screen and an audience in the cinema seat. Justin fulfilled the above standards of good acting. He was masculine, wild and sometimes whimsical. He has the right amount of affable charm to make the shine on his performance much brighter.
If you often go to cinema, you can easily tell the difference between good and bad acting. Here are the 5 common examples of bad acting among the Hong Kong actors. Some are simply robots with repetitive and heartless standard facial expressions. Some are exaggerating, disproportionate to the need of human communication and beyond the limits of an audience’s tolerance. Some are only ‘fond of their own shadow’ and no matter what the role is, they cannot do away with their personal influence and biology. Most Hong Kong actors are poor at vocal acting on which there may be not enough training. They want their voice to always echo sexy and adorable but forget such a voice may not fit in with the character. For example, how can a poor and uneducated chronic drug addict speak softly and alluringly? Lastly, there are those whose intention is to create solo performance for self-glorification and frequently take away any opportunity for the other actors to grab the limelight.
The course of a successful actor career does not run smooth. Encouragingly, sooner or later, the best acting talents will come to light. Nothing will be in vain for a man who does try very hard. It is not the face that makes an actor. It is the years of effort behind the silver screen which can make him respected and popular. I heard Justin is a dedicated artiste who works day and night to practise his acting skills. Regardless of whatever result, Justin Cheung is the result which shoots light and magic into the dark cinema hall of Deception of the Novelist.
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