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This article is about the 2006 film. For other uses, see The Heavenly King (disambiguation).

The Heavenly Kings (四大天王) is a 2006 Hong Kong film directed by Daniel Wu.

Background

In 2005, Chinese media began to report that Daniel Wu had formed a boyband, Alive, with Terence Yin, Andrew Lin and Conroy Chan.[1] Wu and his band mates posted information, updates, personal thoughts (including slamming Hong Kong Disneyland, for which they were spokespersons)[2] and the band's music, at their official website.[3][1][4] In 2006, Wu made his writing and directorial debut with The Heavenly Kings, which chronicles Alive's formation and exploits.[5] After the film's release, however, it was revealed that The Heavenly Kings was actually a mockumentary of the Hong Kong pop music industry and Alive was constructed purely as a vehicle to make the movie; the film's characters represented only 10-15% of their real-life counterparts[6] and much of the footage blurred the line between fiction and reality.[5] Wu admitted his own singing voice "sucked really bad," and the band had their voices digitally enhanced for its music, to prove that "it's easy to fake it."[4]

Cast and roles

Reception

Despite some backlash from the media over being intentionally fed false information in the movie[7] about illegal downloads of the band's music,[6] Wu won the best new director award for the film at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards, an achievement he called "a group effort."[7] The film has also been nominated for Best Original Film Song at the same Awards ceremony: Composer: Davy Chan; Lyricist: Li Jin Yi and Singer: Alive.

References

  1. ^ a b Chen, Fengfeng (4 August 2005). "Daniel Wu forms a new band". China Radio International. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  2. ^ Rothrock, Vicki (4 September 2005). "A word of cultural caution". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  3. ^ "Alive". Alive official blog. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  4. ^ a b Johnson, G. Allen (25 April 2007). "A model, actor, singing sensation (well, sort of) and now a director". SF Gate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  5. ^ a b Eddy, Cheryl (25 April 2007). "Bubblegum bandits". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  6. ^ a b "The great Cantopop swindle". The Standard. 22 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  7. ^ a b Young, Jennifer (29 April 2007). "Daniel Wu, "Heavenly King"". indieWIRE. originally from SF360. Archived from the original on 13 March 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.

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