Filmmaker's love letter to Macao hits cinema

Story captures essence of city's progress through everyday residents, producer says

On a drizzly day earlier this year, Ci Sha, an actor from Southwest China's Sichuan province, sat in a car to cross the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. The windshield wipers repeatedly swept away the raindrops, and through the misty haze, he caught glimpses of the azure sea beneath the bridge, the longest of its kind in the world.

"It's a great project. I could imagine the challenges and hardships faced during the construction," Ci told China Daily during a recent interview.

Interestingly, during Ci's trip to Macao — his first visit to the special administrative region — the actor, born in 1997, was scheduled to portray an engineer involved in the design and construction of the bridge.

He conducted intensive research, including watching a documentary about the bridge and Lin Ming, the chief tunnel engineer of the project. Ci felt a deep sense of respect upon discovering how a total of 33 immersive tubes, which form the main body of the island and the tunnel section of the bridge, were installed amid complex circumstances.

On Dec 14, the movie Promise of Decades was released simultaneously on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong and Macao.

As a tribute to the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the film spans a 20-year period, narrating a meandering love story of two young individuals whose personal journeys intertwine with the major historical events of the era, from the return in 1999 to Macao's inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 and the commencement of the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2009.

In the film, Ci plays Qiao Mingzhuang, a college student from Beijing who later realizes his dream of becoming a bridge engineer, and Laurinda Ho Chiu-lin — the daughter of late casino tycoon Stanley Ho — makes her acting debut as Sandy, the outgoing daughter of a beef offal restaurateur in Macao.

After coincidentally bumping into each other while buying the DVD of James Cameron's Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, the two develop a fondness for one another and make a pact — to get together every 10 years at the iconic Guia Lighthouse to admire the fireworks. From exchanging letters by post during their school days to experiencing a series of misunderstandings that drive them apart, the two lovers ultimately reunite at their designated spot after a tumultuous 20-year journey.

Director Tracy Choi, a Macao native born in 1988, said she was honored to participate in the project, revealing it marked her first collaboration with filmmakers and actors from the Chinese mainland.

Reflecting on her experience as an 11-year-old primary school student during the year of the handover, Choi remembered how most of her classmates were eagerly anticipating the historic event, with the school buzzing with a string of celebrations.

As the storyline aligns with the economic growth and cultural vibrancy of the era, the film incorporates some elements aimed at evoking a sense of nostalgia among a generation in both the Chinese mainland and Macao. Additionally, it showcases Macao's iconic sites, such as the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral and the A-Ma Temple, as well as local delicacies and snacks like herbal tea.

"Herbal tea stores serve as a collective memory for most of us in Macao. When I was a young girl, I always purchased a cup of herbal tea while strolling on the street to look for such a stall," recalled Ho. She explained that the humidity is high throughout the year in Macao, making herbal tea a must-have to get rid of internal heat and improve health.

For director Choi, the movie serves as her love letter to Macao and a precious opportunity to delve into its enduring cinematic charm. In one scene, the two characters sneak into an old cinema, clandestinely using the projector to screen a movie with the reel-filmed machine.

Commenting on the constraints of Macao's local film industry due to the region's size and population, Choi said that she wishes native filmmakers could access a broader audience by seeking more collaboration with counterparts from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Fu Ruoqing, producer of the film and chairman of the China Film Group Corporation, said the group has produced two movies to mark the 25th anniversary of the return, with the other film being Revisit, a heartwarming story between a young woman and her grandmother.

"Both films capture the essence of Macao's progress and development after the return through the lens of everyday residents, highlighting their upbeat spirit and the heartwarming connection that time has forged between the people of the Chinese mainland and Macao," Fu remarked.

Wang Haizhou, dean of the Graduate School of Beijing Film Academy, praised the film's artistic quality, noting that the bridge functions as a crucial symbol, representing the emotional bond between the people of the Chinese mainland and Macao.

xufan@chinadaily.com.cn