In the history of Hong Kong Film Awards, Becky Lam (林碧琪 – Cantonese: Lam Pik-Kei; Mandarin: Lin Biqi) set two records which will be difficult to break: one, she is still the youngest Best Actress winner, being just 17 at the time she received the award; and two, she made only one movie, the one for which she took the award. But this is not a story of career failure; rather, it is one of life success.
[right, Becky Lam in a still from "Pretty Sister"]
In the late 1970s, a succession of enthusiastic young people began entering the Hong Kong movie community, people who loved movies and had received Western film educations. Their arrival injected massive doses of new creative ideas and skills into the local film industry and its social culture, contributions which came to be called the "New Wave." By 1982, Hong Kong cinema's "New Wave" was in full flower.
Within a few short years, this movement had turned out a batch of fresh and new productions, successful and popular films like Patrick Tam's "Nomad," Clifford Choi's "Encore," Tsui Hark's "Don't Play With Fire," and Ronny Yu's "The Servant." These and other "New Wave" films quickly propelled Hong Kong movies into a Golden Age of filmmaking, and put Hong Kong at the summit of Asian filmmaking by the end of the 1980s.
Becky Lam was presumably unaware of these things in 1982. She was at that time a 16-year-old, not getting along well at home and in no mood for schoolwork, someone who became what was called a "pretty sister," (a troubled young girl who spent most of her time hanging out in the streets). But one ordinary day she was spotted by director David Lai, an event that changed her life forever.
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