words rachel mok

Wong Jing shines a light on Hong Kong’s murky past, when tea money and corruption were the order of the day

It is official – Hong Kong used to be notorious for corruption: Visit the web site of the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) and you will discover the former British colony’s dark history in the ’60s and ’70s. Firemen demanding tips before they would turn on the hoses, police offering protection to brothels, underground casinos and drug dealers and the ground-breaking arrest of former Chief Police Superintendent Peter Godber – it is all there. Unofficially, the silver screen and television have, of course, also revealed that history from time to time. Wong Jing, for one, produced the 1991 Lee Rock series starring Andy Lau, loosely based on the life of Lui Lok, the ‘$500,000,000 Detective Sergeant’ and the most corrupt Chinese law enforcer in HK history.

The Lee Rock films were blockbusters of their time, but Wong thinks he could have done even better. “[Lee Rock] satisfied the Taiwan and Korean markets. The gun fights and action scenes were very exciting but the films had no significance in an historical context.” To Wong, it was no fun to make those films. He was a ‘very decent student’ back in the ’60s and that murky period left a deep mark on the heart of the now commercially successful filmmaker: Wong has been quite vocal in the past of his desire to put the real history onto the big screen. ‘I wanted to make it epic and dramatic. And real – no excessive action scenes. For example, we have a scene of a cop eating congee on the street and showing everyone the gun at his waist, as if he worries no one knows he is a cop… that sort of stuff.’ It was that sort of ‘stuff’ that Wong grew up witnessing – and he heard more of after entering the film industry in the ’70s – which has gone into the script of his latest effort I Corrupt All Cops. The title serves as a pun on the independent law enforcing body but the script sat on his desk for five years before shooting started.

The long wait has mainly been due to the high expectations of the director himself. It wasn’t until this year that Wong considered the Chinese market well developed enough to ‘take on’ a film like ICAC, both financially and politically. ‘The most difficult thing was to get China’s approval. It took us a long time to get the script sanctioned. They thought the script positive but still a lot of departments needed to look at it before passing it. After the filming finished they needed two more months to approve it – luckily they didn’t cut anything.’ The final cut, Wong says, is 99% close to what he wants. ‘We just added a few voice-overs to make things more clear.’ Anti-corruption is one of the Chinese government’s favourite topics, though filmmakers need to distinguish black and white very clearly – there are no grey areas. But Wong is happy to play by the rules. ‘The censorship is very civilized now,’ he says. ‘I don’t think people should demonize the Chinese government for that.’

Critics may dismiss the prolific filmmaker for his many tasteless comedies and gambling films, but when the man decides to make a drama – like Colour of the Loyalty (2005) and Wo Hu (2006) – he demonstrates that he is a top class director. ‘You can say I am an underestimated filmmaker, but no one can erase me from the history of the Chinese film industry. That is the most important,’ he says.

Starring Hong Kong’s leading actors Leung Ka Fai and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as well as crowd-pleaser Eason Chan Yik-Shun, I Corrupt All Cops centres on the battle between the corrupt superintendent Lak (Leung) and the newly established ICAC. To Wong, the ICAC won the war but lost the battle. On October 28, 1977, thousands of police officers paraded and threatened to sabotage the headquarters of ICAC, forcing former governor MacLehose, who set up the department in 1974, to grant amnesty to all cases before 1977. It is estimated that from 1963-1973, policemen and triads took $10 billion worth of bribes. That translates to $500 billion in today’s money.

To the veteran filmmaker, cops, triads and entertainment are interrelated. ‘Triads and the entertainment industry can never be separated – as long as the industry prospers, triads will carry on, whether in the US, Taiwan or HK. Once [entertainment] flourishes, triads appear like its shadow.’ The filmmaker sips his tea before moving on to talk of how he deals with the situation. ‘I observe. I don’t care about [the investor’s] background – I don’t care what you do for a living. I only care if you are really into the business to make a film. Just don’t screw up the film industry.’

I Corrupt All Cops is now showing.