Hong Kong Movies form an integral part of the Hong Kong culturescape. The social and economic freedom enjoyed by the denizens of the then British Overseas Territory led to the healthy development of the movie industry in Hong Kong.
The first recorded magnetic copy of Hong Kong movies was dated from the early 1900's. The first film was the 1913 released 'Zhuanzi Tests His Wife'. The film was directed by Lai Man-Wai and was adopted from the local opera storyline.
Majority of the films during that period were celluloid representations of operatic tales. The first movies of Hong Kong that included sound recording made their mark in the 1930's
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The Second World War saw the Hong Kong film-makers making patriotic films. These films exhibited the valiant local Chinese bravely resisting the Japanese invaders. This violence ridden film genre soon became the trade-mark of Hong Kong movies worldwide. The trend persists to this day.
The present day Hong Kong film industry competes with Hollywood for a share of the audience worldwide. Contemporary Hong Kong movies bear a strong resemblance to the films made in Los Angeles. Films are generally commercialized with a faster pace. All adopted Hollywood techniques are flavored with local drama and realism to appeal to the Chinese audience. The movie budgets are considerably lower than Hollywood. An overwhelming majority of the Hong Kong films are made in the Cantonese language.
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