Hype real for counterfeiter flick as ‘Project Gutenberg’ draws 17 HK Film Award noms

The nominees for this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards are in, with counterfeiter drama Project Gutenberg drawing a near-record 17 nominations — including nods for best film, best director, best actress, and two for best actor.

The film, a twisty cops-and-robbers thriller centered on the relationship between a master counterfeiter (Chow Yun-fat) and his one-time associate (Aaron Kwok), is the work of Felix Chong — whose Infernal Affairs was not only a hit in its own right, but also the inspiration for Martin Scorcese’s Oscar winner The Departed. Chow and Kwok were both nominated for best actor this year, and Chong was nominated for both his directing and his screenplay.

The Hollywood Reporter described the film as being “bathed … in rough-hewn, desaturated browns and grays, anchored by a pair of solid action set pieces, structured cleverly enough to keep the tension simmering and blessed with a pair of endlessly appealing stars.”

(The record for most nominations goes to 2009’s Bodyguards and Assassins, with 18, in case you were wondering.)

Between Chow, Kwok and the rest of the nominees, it’s a big year for middle-aged men across the board it seems. Men on the Dragon, a film about its protagonists’ mid-life crises as much as their efforts to win a corporate dragon boat race, earned 11 nominations.

Tracey, the story of a middle-aged man who is spurred to embrace his identity as a transgender woman following the death of friend, came away with nine nominations. (The film’s Ben Yuen also took home a Golden Horse for best supporting actor in Taipei in November.)

And Still Human, a dramedy that follows the relationship between a (you guessed it!) middle-aged disabled man and his young Filipina caretaker, claimed eight nominations.

Still Human’s Crisel Consunji — an educator and former Disneyland vocalist — was nominated for both best actress and best new performer, having landed the role through an open casting call.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on April 14. Until then, a full list of nominees is available here.