Written By
Encyclopedia
Written By is a 2009
Hong Kong
fantasy
drama film
co-written, produced, and directed by Wai Ka-Fai
, and starring Lau Ching-Wan
and Kelly Lin
. Lau plays a lawyer who is killed in an accident, leaving behind his wife, daughter, and son. He is resurrected as a character in his daughter's novel, where he finds himself a grieving husband who lost his family and his sight during a car accident, living in an alternate reality
. The film premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival
in June 2009, and was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 10 July 2009.
plays a lawyer who dies in a car wreck just before answering his daughters question about ghosts, leaving behind his wife, daughter and son. To console herself, his daughter (blind from the crash) writes a novel where she, her mother and brother have died in a car wreck but her father(but blind) has survived. To her surprise, the character of her father in her book decides that HE needs to write a novel to console himself and in his novel he has died but his wife and daughter have lived...and on and on in an endlessly recursive loop, as wounded characters desperately apply fiction to try and dull the sharp edges of their grief."
, a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write. He joked that now with his eyes open he did not understand a single word in braille, but when he closed his eyes to touch it he could read it smoothly. Even after filming, Lau still felt attached to his character, and often engaged in mood swings.
in June 2009. The film was later released theatrically in Hong Kong on 10 July 2009. Director Wai Ka-Fai
attended the premiere. Lau Ching-Wan was originally set appear at the festival, but decided to stay in Hong Kong due to the 2009 flu pandemic
.
4th Asian Film Awards
29th Hong Kong Film Awards
Hong Kong films of 2009
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 2009:.-2009:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 2009 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
co-written, produced, and directed by Wai Ka-Fai
Wai Ka-Fai
Wai Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong writer, filmmaker, producer and former TV director and producer.Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and producer. In 1996, they formed Milkyway Image, which is now one of the most successful independent...
, and starring Lau Ching-Wan
Lau Ching-Wan
Sean Lau Ching-Wan is a Hong Kong Film Award–winning and Golden Bauhinia Award–winning film and former television actor based in Hong Kong.Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1964. He joined the TVB acting classes in 1983 and made his first appearance on TV the following year with TV drama Draw Out the...
and Kelly Lin
Kelly Lin
Kelly Lin Hsi-Lei is a Taiwanese actress and model who has appeared mainly in Hong Kong films.-Biography:Lin was born in Taiwan in 1975. She moved to Santa Barbara, California with her family at the age of 12. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Degree in Economics...
. Lau plays a lawyer who is killed in an accident, leaving behind his wife, daughter, and son. He is resurrected as a character in his daughter's novel, where he finds himself a grieving husband who lost his family and his sight during a car accident, living in an alternate reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
. The film premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival
New York Asian Film Festival
The New York Asian Film Festival was first held in 2002, growing out of the previous year's New York Korean Film Festival...
in June 2009, and was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 10 July 2009.
Plot
"Lau Ching-WanLau Ching-Wan
Sean Lau Ching-Wan is a Hong Kong Film Award–winning and Golden Bauhinia Award–winning film and former television actor based in Hong Kong.Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1964. He joined the TVB acting classes in 1983 and made his first appearance on TV the following year with TV drama Draw Out the...
plays a lawyer who dies in a car wreck just before answering his daughters question about ghosts, leaving behind his wife, daughter and son. To console herself, his daughter (blind from the crash) writes a novel where she, her mother and brother have died in a car wreck but her father(but blind) has survived. To her surprise, the character of her father in her book decides that HE needs to write a novel to console himself and in his novel he has died but his wife and daughter have lived...and on and on in an endlessly recursive loop, as wounded characters desperately apply fiction to try and dull the sharp edges of their grief."
Cast
- Lau Ching-WanLau Ching-WanSean Lau Ching-Wan is a Hong Kong Film Award–winning and Golden Bauhinia Award–winning film and former television actor based in Hong Kong.Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1964. He joined the TVB acting classes in 1983 and made his first appearance on TV the following year with TV drama Draw Out the...
as Tony - Kelly LinKelly LinKelly Lin Hsi-Lei is a Taiwanese actress and model who has appeared mainly in Hong Kong films.-Biography:Lin was born in Taiwan in 1975. She moved to Santa Barbara, California with her family at the age of 12. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Degree in Economics...
as Mandy - Mia Yam as Melody
- Bonnie Wong as a Ghost Whisperer
- Jo KukJo Kuk-Filmography:-TV series:-External links:* at the Hong Kong Cinemagic...
as Meng Por
Production
To prepare for his role as a blind man, Lau Ching-Wan studied brailleBraille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
, a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write. He joked that now with his eyes open he did not understand a single word in braille, but when he closed his eyes to touch it he could read it smoothly. Even after filming, Lau still felt attached to his character, and often engaged in mood swings.
Release
Written By made its world premiere as an "Opening film" at the New York Asian Film FestivalNew York Asian Film Festival
The New York Asian Film Festival was first held in 2002, growing out of the previous year's New York Korean Film Festival...
in June 2009. The film was later released theatrically in Hong Kong on 10 July 2009. Director Wai Ka-Fai
Wai Ka-Fai
Wai Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong writer, filmmaker, producer and former TV director and producer.Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and producer. In 1996, they formed Milkyway Image, which is now one of the most successful independent...
attended the premiere. Lau Ching-Wan was originally set appear at the festival, but decided to stay in Hong Kong due to the 2009 flu pandemic
2009 flu pandemic
The 2009 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the second of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus , albeit in a new version...
.
Awards and nominations
16th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award- Won: Best Screenplay (Wai Ka Fai and Au Kin Yee)
- Film of Merit
4th Asian Film Awards
4th Asian Film Awards
The 4th Asian Film Awards was given in a ceremony on 22 March 2010 as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.-Best Film:*Winner: Mother **City of Life and Death **Lola **Parade...
- Nominated: Best Screenwriter (Wai Ka Fai and Au Kin Yee)
29th Hong Kong Film Awards
29th Hong Kong Film Awards
Ceremony for the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards took place on 18 April 2010 . Here are the nominees listed taken from the official website.Wang Po Chieh's original nomination for the Best New Performer was withdrawn after he was confirmed to be an actor in the 2008 Taiwan film Winds of September...
- Nominated: Best Screenplay (Wai Ka Fai and Au Kin Yee)
- Nominated: Best Visual Effects (Teddy Mak Tak Man, Ken Law Wai Ho and Mary Ng Sze Sze)