''b420'' is a 2005 Hong Kong film directed by Mathew Tang. The film is set in Macau and is a comedy-drama. It is an

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

with a low budget. The tagline of the movie is "Before Twenty... Before Too Old". ''b420''s title is in reference to "before 20, before too old". According to Tang, "There's a big difference in life from when you're in a school uniform than when you're not." Starring

Miki Yeung Miki Yeung (born 14 February 1985) is a Hong Kong cantopop singer and actress. In 2002, she joined the cantopop music idol group Cookies. In 2005, her film ''b420'' was awarded the Grand Prix Award: The 19th Fukuoka Asian Film Festival. Currentl ...

, Sam Lee, and Ben Hung Jin-Ming, the film tells the story of three adolescents as they become adults and what they think about death, love, and life.

Production

''b420'' grew out of Tang's project at the City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media. Tang tried to secure backing from film studios but received conflicting rejections. While a studio told him the film was excessively "commercial", a second studio responded that the film was not sufficiently commercial. Using nearly all of his money, Tang chose to self-finance the film.

Cast

Cast and roles include: * Ben Hung as Simon * Sam Lee as Willy *

as Koey * Zeni Wong as Siu Wan

Reception

'' Variety'' film critic Russell Edwards wrote, "Helmer's obvious talent and the first-rate perfs keep pic's tempo breezy, but the transition to fully-fledged drama (courtesy of a ransom scam at the three-quarter mark) is not entirely convincing. Similarly, minor plot strands which tie Koey's Web site buddies to the main drama are awkwardly executed."

Awards

The film was admitted by several international film festivals. It won the Grand Prix Award in the 19th Fukuoka Asian Film Festival, and was awarded Best Film in the 4th Viennese Youth International Film Festival. ''b420'' was one of the two opening films of the 2005 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0482457, b420
''b420''
at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual (French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The webs ...