Heart of Greed (Hong Kong) (TVB Series)I’ve been meaning to tell ya, I’ve been watching the above said TVB series since many of three to four weeks ago. Yes, yes, yes I know it’s a 2007 production. Yes, yes, yes I know you downloaded and watched it on your laptop a day after it came out in Hong Kong. Yes, yes, yes I have just discovered the invention of the washing machine yesterday and the microwave oven a little over a week ago. Thanks to our local free TV channel 8TV and sponsor AbuTeh with international artiste ambassador SoftWind (from Hong Kong, he seems. Gee, I didn’t know if you’re known in HK and Malaysia, Singapore and some parts of Taiwan, you become an ‘international artiste’)
Now I know why my colleagues and friends have been setting ringtones to a certain unknown Christine Glass song that goes
[quote]“If you follow the wrong star, my love will get you home.
If you miss the final bus, my love will get you home.
If your teacher is nagging you, my love will get you home.
If you’re stuck in a boring meeting, my love will get you home”
[/quote] or something like that two years ago. The song plays automatically whenever Linda Chung and that SoftWind has some scenes of romantic moments going on. Yikes.
I’ve been meaning to tell ya since the first paragraph that I ain’t no series watcher. I’m a movie watcher. However, upon turning on the TV one day, I saw Har Yu and his family laughing in hysterics burst and I was kinda sucked into even sitting down and watch a bit. (*gasp*) That bit and 30 over episodes later finally resulted to my anticipation to the final episode this evening, 30 July, 7pm on 8TV. The thing about TVB series is that, it’s my television cocaine. Just sit 10 to 15 minutes in and it’ll get my curiosity raging to discover what happens next.
Ok, the highs and lows in Heart are present more than 10 cartons of HL milk combined. Every kind of emotions are mixed in the bag, properly equalized and seasoned so that a 2-dimensional story is ensured of not happening. I have never seen a villain/prodigal son such as Ling Po so fickle minded. Sometimes he’s bad. Sometimes he’s good. But when he’s good, it’s bad. However, he’s good when he’s bad! So keep him bad!
I’ve also been meaning to tell ya since the third paragraph that the only TVB series that I have faithfully watched in entirety was The Greed of Man (oh, I only watch serials with the word Greed in it (myth#17 of Joseph Khor)). It was amazing how Adam Cheng Siu Chau acted as a bumpkin, who was the villain that really thought he was the good guy. And Mr Small Screen who didn’t do too good in the big screen Mr Charcoal Lau Ching Wan’s had his breakout role here. Oh, the story is about the Hong Kong share market.
Heart of Greed is about an abalone selling family. The previous sentence looks funny, it sounds it meant that the some abalone performs a transaction of a combination of father, mother, son and daughter to buyers. Here’s a better version: Heart of Greed is about an abalone-selling family. Better? That don’t really matter even if they were selling ikan bilis until they built an empire worth 6 billion dollars. What viewers are really interested in is the story of revenge, especially the Chinese. Who really wants to watch 40 episodes of continuous happiness eh? Revenge is the sweetest recipe, together with anger, betrayal, romance, jealousy, some comedy, tragedy, erm, bitch-slapping the enemy and dying at a turning point of moment.
Since the fifth paragraph, I was wondering when I could tell ya that, the storyline delivers a great variety of tension to viewers like myself. Tension of when there were family disputes, unfavorable revelations, unpleasant surprises and sad, sad deaths. Most serials especially those of Korean and Taiwanese ones tend to capture that intensity and slap the viewers with extra intensity while they are at it. Heart of Greed doesn’t. It knows when to stop and to ease the situation with apt humor and light moments. Like the words of Borat go, I liiiiiiiiike.
Many valuable lessons I have learned from this movie.
1. Don’t get a second wife whose name backwards is King of Beasts. (Kam Sau Wong) She is likely to want half of your family fortune when relationships turn sour.
2. If you have a daughter-in-law, make sure name she doesn’t have a guy’s name. Most probably her family members are money-crazy.
3. Don’t ever fall in love with a girl called Sheung Joi Sum. You will somehow drive past red lights and cause accidents.
4. As a TV station, don’t name your characters with ones like Tuck Tuck Day. Countries like Malaysia have troubles putting them on Bahasa subtitles.
5. When taking a bus, make sure you sit on the left side, next to the window. At traffic light stops, you will see someone resembling Moses Chan who will call you on the phone and chat for 5 to 10 minutes and end with mime-slapping your face to keep you awake.
Ah, I haven’t had this kind of anticipation for the final episode since American idol Season 8. Imagine the sensation! It’s akin to waiting in the Krispy Kreme line of 27 customers ahead of you finally getting your turn! After tonight, perhaps I will find direction in life again. Or until I start watching Moonlight Resonance, Heart’s indirect sequel, starring the same cast.
Let’s hope that TVB serials continue soar to the highs of their glory days after this production.
Oh it has won many awards too! Check out what I found out form Wikipedia!
TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Drama - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴
TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role - Moses Chan 陳豪 as Tong Chi On
TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Louise Li 李司棋 as Ling Hau
TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Louis Yuen 阮兆祥 as Ling Bo
TVB Anniversary Awards for My Most Favourite Male Character Role - Moses Chan 陳豪 as Tong Chi On
TVB Anniversary Awards for My Most Favourite Female Character Role - Susanna Kwan 關菊英 as Wong Sau Kam
Yahoo! Buzz Awards for Best Television Series - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴
Yahoo! Buzz Awards for Most Watched Series - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴
Mingpao Awards for Best Actress on Television - Louise Li 李司棋 as Ling Hau
Mingpao Awards for Best Series on Television - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴
The Next Magazine TV Awards 2008 Top Ten TV Programmes - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴
The Next Magazine TV Awards 2008 Top Ten TV Artists
- Louise Li 李司棋 as Ling Hau 凌巧
- Moses Chan 陳豪 as Tong Chi On
- Raymond Lam 林峯 as Alfred Ching
- Bosco Wong 黃宗澤 as Gilbert Tong Chi Yat
- Linda Chung 鍾嘉欣 as Sheung Joi Sum
- Susanna Kwan 關菊英 as Wong Sau Kam
Television Committee Awards for Best Television Programs of 2007 - Heart of Greed 溏心風暴 - 4th Place
Number One Television Awards for Actress with Most Potential - Fala Chen 陳法拉
Joekhor.blogspot.com Award for Best Slapping in a TVB Serial - Susanna Kwan 關菊英 as Wong Sau Kam “whenever she gets slapped anytime, anywhere, any reason”
Last updated: 2009-08-12 01:12:32 by joekhor
