Wikipedia

Beyond the Dream

Beyond The Dream (幻愛) is a 2019 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed by Kiwi Chow and written by Felix Tsang, starring Cecilia Choi and Terrance Lau. The film is based on the award-winning short film Upstairs (2006), which was also directed by Chow.[2] Beyond The Dream enjoyed box office success in Hong Kong,[3] and the film also became the highest-grossing domestic film in Hong Kong in 2020 since the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The film also won the Best Adapted Screenplay award at 57th Golden Horse Awards,[5] which is Taiwan's equivalent to the Academy Awards.[6]

Beyond The Dream
Traditional Chinese幻愛
Directed byKiwi Chow
Written byFelix Tsang
Kiwi Chow
Based onshort film Upstairs
by Kiwi Chow
Produced byAndrew Choi
Felix Tsang
StarringCecilia Choi
Terrance Lau
CinematographyYat Lui Danny Szeto
Edited byMan Shan Emily Leung
Music byInterMusic Production
Production
companies
Golden Scene
Iner
Photon Films
Distributed byGolden Scene
Release dates
  • 14 November 2019 (2019-11-14) (Hong Kong Asian Film Festival)
  • 2 July 2020 (2020-07-02) (Hong Kong)
Running time
120 mins
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$15.25 million[1]

Plot

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Lee Chi Lok (Lok) is a primary school PE teacher who suffers from recurrent schizophrenic episodes. He regularly attends group therapy meetings hosted by the Give Grace Charity. One night, he stumbles upon Ling, another group therapy member, on the street. Ling laments about voices whispered in her ears and begins to strip in public. When a crowd begins to gather around Ling, Lok rushes to comfort her and attempts to stop the pedestrians from taking pictures of her. A young woman also comes to Ling’s aid and covers her body with a scarf. After accompanying Ling to the hospital, Lok returns to his apartment. He takes great care of the scarf and becomes infatuated with its owner.

One night, Lok catches a glimpse of the aforementioned young woman on the way back home. She introduces herself as Yan Yan (Yan) who lives right above Lok. Yan's father, an alcoholic, regularly scolds and beats her. Desperate to escape from her father, Yan starts to take refuge at Lok’s home. As they grow closer, Lok and Yan share their first kiss at a pedestrian tunnel on their way back to their homes. Torn between losing Yan and lying to her about his past, Lok ultimately decides to write Yan a letter to explain his schizophrenic history. Lok wants to give the letter to Yan but he leaves abruptly at the sight of Yan’s father.

Signs of relapse begin to emerge as Lok hallucinates children calling to him at school. One night, Lok is suddenly awoken by sounds of beatings coming from Yan’s apartment. Fearful for Yan’s safety, Lok sprints to Yan’s apartment and starts banging at the security gate of her home. Lok pleads with Yan’s father to spare a crying Yan, who appears without any bruises and cuts. When Lok tries to desperately prove his love for Yan, Yan’s father enters a scuffle with Lok and beats him repeatedly. Lok struggles to stand up and is shocked to see another Lok suffering the same bruises at the other end of the corridor.

An unknown time has passed and Lok sits alone at a light rail station. Yan arrives and lovingly reveals that she knows ‘everything’ about him. An alarmed Lok takes out his mobile phone, and records the conversation between him and Yan. To his shock, Yan is revealed to be Lok’s hallucination as her voice cannot be heard in the recording. Lok spends the next six months in therapy and loses his job at the primary school.

One day at the Give Grace centre, Lok surprisingly finds ‘Yan’ sitting with the therapy group. Fearful of his return of schizophrenia, Lok rises cautiously to greet ‘Yan’, before holding her hand tightly to make sure she is not his imagination. Joe, a social worker at the Give Grace Charity, leads a nervous Lok away from the group. On her way out, ‘Yan’ recognizes Lok as the man who has leapt to Ling’s aid before. This ‘Yan’ is revealed to be Yip Nam (Nam), a master's student studying to be a clinical psychologist (C.P.). Nam wishes to use a patient suffering from erotomania (hallucinations involving love) as the subject of her research. Dr Fung, her dissertation supervisor and head of the Department of Psychology, dismisses Nam’s choice as premature unless Nam has a relevant patient at hand. Worried about her thesis falling apart, Nam initiates a sexual relationship with the married Dr. Simon, the vice director of the same department, who can help her recruit potential research subjects.

Nam starts volunteering at Give Grace Charity, offering free psychological counseling to scout for erotomania patients. One day, after finishing up with her scheduled meetings, Lok approaches Nam and wishes to join the program. To Nam’s surprise, Lok is the perfect subject of her research. Nam shares her initial notes with Dr. Fung who gives Nam approval to proceed with her research. As part of the therapy, Nam asks Lok to write about his love story with Yan. Still nervous and under the influence of medications, Lok can only present a short piece of writing. To ease Lok’s mind in their second session, Nam shares her troubling childhood with him as a victim of domestic abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother. Nam had been oblivious to her anger towards her mother until Nam took up therapy herself and forgave her mother. After a short recess, Nam returns with her hair tied as a ponytail. It triggers Lok’s memory of Yan as he starts revealing details about Yan to a delighted Nam. Nam asks if Lok fantasizes about Yan sexually but Lok is reluctant to share, not wanting to desecrate his pure and innocent image of Yan. Embarrassed, Lok skips his third session with Nam. Nam concedes to losing Lok for good and prepares to defer her graduation. Feeling responsible, Lok resumes his therapy with Nam.

During the next session, as she looks identical to Yan, Nam asks Lok to remember what makes him notice her before hallucinating Yan. Lok calls Nam an angel, protecting Ling and himself as well as giving him the courage to love. Nam is visibly touched by Lok’s remarks about her, before grounding herself back to treating Lok for the rest of the session. Lok provides a more detailed piece of writing about his imagined adventure with Yan. Nam, touched by Lok’s passion and tenderness towards Yan, fantasizes herself as Yan in the story when she fervently reads Lok’s writings. As Nam heads home afterwards, Lok silently follows her as they live in the same area. The awkwardness is broken when Nam notices him and invites Lok to walk with her. On the train back, Nam reveals that it is her birthday and invites Lok to her apartment. At her doorstep, Nam kisses Lok to both their shock and Lok makes a hasty exit. Nam apologizes to Lok and reminds herself to maintain a strictly professional relationship with Lok. However, despite Dr. Fung’s warning not to fall for a patient, Nam begins a relationship with Lok in secret and ends her affair with Dr. Simon.

One night, while walking back to her place, Lok and Nam encounter Uncle Wong,an ex-boyfriend of her mother's, who wishes to ‘reconnect’ with a visibly shaken Nam. At her home, Nam tearfully reveals that as much as she hates her mother's promiscuity, she had been sleeping with men (including Uncle Wong) for favors or gifts. Ashamed of herself and deeming herself unworthy of Lok’s affection, Nam kicks Lok out and weeps for the rest of the night. At dawn, Nam finds Lok at her doorstep, having stayed the entire night. Lok professes his love saying, ‘I have thought about it all night, and I do not mind any of that.’ Moved by Lok's words, Lok and Nam consummate their relationship. However, their newfound happiness is short-lived. Ahead of the last therapy session, Dr Fung learns of the romance between Nam and Lok. A desperate Lok tries to shoulder all the blame on himself to no avail. Lok speculates that Joe, with an unrequited crush on Nam, has filmed Nam kissing Lok as payback. Dr Fung manages to calm Lok down before leading a teary-eyed Nam back to the university. After reprimanding Nam for the taboo against a relationship between a client and a C.P., Dr Fung convinces a reluctant Nam to break things off with Lok so that the situation does not become worse for the sakes of both Lok and Nam.

Nam visits Lok’s apartment and finds him having relapsed in worsened conditions. Nam admits to regarding Lok initially as a means to her ends; but she has genuinely come to care for him. When Nam cannot promise not to leave Lok again, Yan appears to Lok and preys on his insecurity about being with Nam. In a fit of anger, Lok calls Nam filthy for her promiscuity. Yan argues that unlike Nam who can choose any men she wants, Yan is Lok’s only chance of a ‘real’ romance because she will never abandon him. Despite Yan’s seductive words, Lok reaffirms his commitment to Nam. Nam, determined to snap Lok out of his hallucinations, tells him to look at her as she is a real person. Lok imagines being wrestled back and forth by Nam and Yan before he finally snaps. Lok pushes Nam to the ground and repeatedly bangs his head at a wall while he laments his failure for being a normal man for Nam. Nam manages to calm Lok down eventually by holding him tenderly for the rest of the night. As dawn breaks, a dejected Lok looks at Nam and comes to a tragic conclusion – no matter who she is, she will leave him eventually. Lok retreats to his room alone while Nam arranges for Lok to receive urgent psychiatric treatment, ending their relationship.

Lok and Nam do not contact each other for the next 3 months. Lok has been discharged from the hospital and Nam is due to appear in front of a disciplinary committee. Nam is stripped of her student status with immediate effect as punishment for her unprofessionalism. Thanks to Dr. Fung’s influence, the committee may let her reenrol in the future if Nam agrees to: abide by the professional guideline of a C.P., never set foot again on the property of Give Grace Charity or approach their patients without the charity’s consent, and finally never contact Lok again. No longer able to deny how much Lok means to her, Nam apologetically declines to meet the last condition and leaves her dream of becoming a C.P. behind.

Nam rushes to Lok’s workplace. Lok tells her to leave out of worries about his possible relapses and repercussions from Give Grace towards Nam. Nam reiterates her love for Lok, echoing Lok’s words ‘I have thought about it too and I do not mind any of that’. Despite his love for Nam, Lok does not want to be a burden for her and chooses not to act on his feelings. Lok thanks Nam for her help during his time of difficulty; however, he says it is time for them to ‘wake up from the dream’. Lok then disappears into the staff’s room, leaving a heartbroken Nam in tears.

As night comes, Lok and Nam, alone in their apartments, fall asleep uneasily. The scene cuts to Lok and Nam/Yan standing at the opposite ends of the pedestrian tunnel, where Lok imagined his first kiss with Yan and held Nam's hand for the first time, on a rainy night. The lovers, wearing the same clothes as they did at the beginning of the movie, approach each other with hesitation. However, upon seeing Nam/Yan’s radiant smile, Lok and Nam/Yan rush to each other and kiss passionately as the movie ends, leaving this scene and their future to the interpretations of the audiences.

Cast

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Production

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Script

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The script of this film can be traced back to 2006. Director Kiwi Chow returned to school as a part-time lecturer two years after he was graduated from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. At that time, a student talked about the story of filming the story of psychiatric patients, which inspired him to start information gathering, and found that it was very difficult for them to fall in love, so it made him to create a 30-minute short film, named "Upstairs".[7] The short film was well received and won several local and international film festival awards, including the Special Award for Young Film Art at the 2nd Student Television Festival which held in Warsaw, Poland, the Grand Prize of the 2006 Kodak Cinematography Competition (Hong Kong Region), the Silver Award of 2006 Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Competition (Open Category). The impressive achievements encouraged him to extend the story into a feature film, Beyond the Dream. However, it was unfortunately it had not been favored by investors, and the result is nothing. A few years before the film started, the director co-founded "Lightseed Films" with Felix Tsang, another producer and screenwriter. They cooperated to complete several scripts. Chow suddenly hooked the movie that have been shelved for years since they're failed to find funds to start filming. They made further revisions to "Beyond the Dream" and later obtained government funding successfully.[8]

Funding

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"Beyond the Dream" was received HK $1.2 million through the Film Development Fund, which accounting for 20% of the total cost. The director had directed a film with sensitive theme, Ten Years, and some investors have indicated that they would not invest in his film, which made him to face difficulties in raising funds. The film was released on the big screen because of some benefactor had donated generously as they don't want to witness the decline of Hong Kong-produced films.[9]

Casting

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The director Chow found that Terrance Lau performed in a different way within the audition, he's presents a Psychosis patient who seemed to be no different from the normal person, which coincides with his message. As for the heroine, because of someone had introduced her to the director, and the director had seen her performance at "My Very Short Marriage" and thought that she was very refreshing. She plays a professional role in the TV series, which is quite similar to the setting of this movie. In addition, combined with her looks like a highly educated person and her natural performance in audition, those various factors made her the best choice for the heroine.[7]

Filming

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Most of the scenes in this film were filmed at Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. however it was not arranged by the director deliberately. When he discussed with the screenwriter about the character and background of the male protagonist, Chow believed that he was a character with low self-esteem, introverted, and avoids crowds, which was not suitable for living in the city center, but in a more remote location, so it made Tuen Mun as one of the options.[citation needed]

Music

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The music was done by Julian Chan and Lam Kwan-fai of Intermusic Production, and the sound design was done by Taiwanese sound designer Tu Du-Chih.

Release

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"Beyond the Dream" was released in Hong Kong on 2 July 2020, by Golden Scene Films. On the opening day, the box office was bleak for $140,000 Hong Kong dollars only. Fortunately, the box office rose sharply with the urgent support of the actors Chapman To, Kristal Tin, Harriet Yeung, director Wong Ho Yin and the yellow economic circle,[10][11][12] and with many film critics were praised the film also, the box office as high as HK$750,000 on 4 July, and HK$900,000 on 5 July, becoming the single-day box office championship for two consecutive days. The box office has accumulated to about 2.4 million Hong Kong dollars within the 4 days of opening.[13] By 9 July, the accumulated box office exceeded 4 million Hong Kong dollars, became the box office champion of the week. The 5 main creators of the movie went to multiple theaters in person for thank the tickets, more than 100 people had lined up for a photo with the main creator in each theater.[14] As of 13 July, the box office has exceeded 8 million Hong Kong dollars.[15] "Beyond the Dream" had reached HK$15.25 million at the Hong Kong box office finally, became one of the top ten movies with the highest Hong Kong box office in 2020.[citation needed]

The DVD/Blu-ray disc of the movie was released in Hong Kong on 3 December 2020,[16] and according to the Hong Kong Record Merchants Association, "Beyond the Dream" had once topped the weekly DVD sales chart.[citation needed]

Director Chow pointed out that "Beyond the Dream" was to be able to make profits by relying on the local market of Hong Kong alone, which is a very rare case for Hong Kong movies in recent years.[17][18]

The movie in Taiwan box office received NT$943,000.

Accolades

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Year Ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
2020 The 26th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award Best Picture "Beyond the Dream" Nominated
Featured Movies Won
Best Director Kiwi Chow Nominated
Best Screenplay Felix Tsang and Kiwi Chow Nominated
Best Actress Cecilia Choi Won[19]
Best Actor Terrance Lau Won[20]
The 12th Hong Kong Film Directors Guild Annual Awards Best Newcomer Won
The 3rd Kongest Film Awards The Kongest Actor Won
The Kongest Picture "Beyond the Dream" Nominated
My Favorite Movie Nominated
The Kongest Director Kiwi Chow Nominated
The Kongest Actress Cecilia Choi Won
The 39th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress Nominated
Best Director Kiwi Chow Nominated
Best Screenplay Felix Tsang and Kiwi Chow Nominated
Best Cinematography Danny Szeto Nominated
Best Music Score Duu-Chih Tu and Shu-yao Wu Nominated
Best New Performer Terrance Lau Nominated
Hong Kong Film Screenwriters Association Award 2020 Best Movie Character of the Year Nominated
Cecilia Choi Nominated
Recommended Screenplay of the Year Felix Tsang and Kiwi Chow Nominated
Hong Kong Film Support for the People's Choice Awards 2020 Most Supportive Actress Cecilia Choi Nominated
Most Supportive New Performer Terrance Lau Nominated
The 57th Golden Horse Awards Best New Performer Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Felix Tsang and Kiwi Chow Won
Best Music Score Duu-Chih Tu and Shu-yao Wu Nominated

Influence

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Set a trend of Tuen Mun fever

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2021年年初設置在屯門碼頭海濱長廊「幻愛橋」的節日裝飾，雖然被《幻愛》導演周冠威批評觀感不好，但成為市民拍攝熱點[21]

The background was set in Tuen Mun, and the filming locations were considered to be very romantic, which like thee Japanese style painting,[22] and attracting the audiences to revisit the filming scenes in groups.[23]

Reinvigorating Hong Kong-produced films

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Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, there is a shortage of international blockbusters during June and July, and the release of "Beyond the Dream" made Hong Kong-produced films to fill this window period indirectly. "My Prince Edward" and "Suk Suk" were officially released subsequently, the media collectively referred to the above three films as "3 Treasures of Golden Scene". The "3 Treasures of Golden Scene" not only have their own characteristics, but also arouse different audiences' re-attention to Hong Kong-produced films. It can be regarded as an Indian summer for the Hong Kong films. Those three films were very popular among Hong Kong people, and a variety of peripheral products, such as postcards, novels, theme coffee, etc. were launched rarely in Hong Kong film history.[24][25]

The romance of the leads

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The male and female protagonists had known each other before filming, but they were not familiar with each other. They gradually fell in love with each other during the filming and became a real couple.[26] In the interview, the male lead expressed that there had a scene was filmed at a light rail station, the emotions he released were very surging and intense which made him exhausted, but he felt that the encouragement by the female protagonist constantly, so made him love.[27]

The derivative work by the bus company

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Kowloon Motor Bus had uploaded a derivative poster on its Facebook page, which was of derivative from the film, the promotional phrase of the poster was "I don't mind—don't you?". The title was "Sit Down", urging passengers to remember to sit still while the bus was moving, and hold the handrail tightly while standing, and wear a mask most importantly to avoid fines. The poster was warmly welcomed by netizens.[28]

References

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  1. ^ "戲院3度停院累去年票房跌72% 《天能》成全年冠軍黃子華《乜代》成華語片總冠軍 ｜ 蘋果日報". Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Beyond the Dream: stunning psychodrama by Ten Years director". South China Morning Post. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ ""Beyond the Dream" Sharing by Director & Screenwriter - Event Calendar - Co-curricular Learning". Office of Student Affairs, Hong Kong Baptist University. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. ^ "2020疫下港片《幻愛》收1500萬稱冠 林小明論影響：慘過當年盜版 - 20201222 - 娛樂". 明報新聞網 - 每日明報 daily news (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. ^ Chow, Vivienne (21 November 2020). "'My Missing Valentine' Tops Golden Horse Awards". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. ^ student (18 December 2020). "I Hope to Film till I Die". Varsity. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b "《十年》導演拍非常戀愛故事《幻愛》 《返校》文青女神蔡思韵首齣主演港產電影". Hong Kong Economic Times. 17 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  8. ^ "【幻愛與屯門】 《幻愛》監製、編劇曾俊榮：". Instagram - Golden Scene Co. Ltd. 高先電影有限公司（goldenscenehk）. 17 July 2020.
  9. ^ "【最壞時代】《十年》磨劍周冠威導演《幻愛》︰留低都係有心人". 蘋果日報. 18 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. ^ 編輯部. "《幻愛》周末票房反彈". Cinespot 動映地帶. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. ^ "存档副本". Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. ^ "訪《幻愛》導演周冠威". Rti 中央廣播電臺.
  13. ^ "《幻愛》周末票房報捷". 蘋果日報. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  14. ^ "《幻愛》首周票房衝破400萬 劉俊謙蔡思韵周末戲院謝票". Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  15. ^ "再封戲院｜《幻愛》破800萬被煞停 導演：希望今日唔係最後上映". 香港01. 14 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ "存档副本". Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  17. ^ "逆流電影人 -- LifeStyle Journal 優雅生活". 14 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021.
  18. ^ "劉俊謙：可否有希望？我們要怎樣才有希望？要怎樣做？｜903號訪｜商業電台 881903". 14 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021.
  19. ^ "【一撃即中】蔡思}--{韵}--{憑《幻愛》奪電影評論學會影后". 明報. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  20. ^ "《幻愛》劉俊謙感恩得到肯定 榮膺電影評論學會影帝". 明報. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  21. ^ "「幻愛橋」新年燈飾，你真係覺得靚咩？". 立場新聞. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  22. ^ "《幻愛》屯門取景如日本風情畫 細數朝聖浪漫打卡位". Now TV. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  23. ^ "破400萬票房《幻愛》掀「屯門熱」 劉俊謙蔡思韵周未入屯門謝票". AM730. 9 July 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  24. ^ "2020年本港電影票房大跌7成《幻愛》疫市贏口碑「高先三寶」異軍突起". 蘋果日報. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  25. ^ "高先電影商品 HKMovie Store". Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  26. ^ "幻愛‧專訪｜與劉俊謙一幕戲撻著變情侶 蔡思韵︰有諗過係咪錯覺". 香港01. 2 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  27. ^ "【《幻愛》牽紅線】劉俊謙、蔡思韵成最強情侶檔，因崩潰戲定情一拍即合超恩愛". Cosmopolitan HK. 30 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  28. ^ "九巴仔二次創作《幻愛》海報 提醒乘客坐車記得坐低、緊握扶手！". 香港01. 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
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