When Heaven Burns
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''When Heaven Burns'' is a 2011 Hong Kong television serial produced by
TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...
and starring
Bowie Lam Bowie Lam (, Lam Bo-yee; born 4 September 1965) is an Hong Kong actor with the TVB network. He has starred in several popular dramas including ''File of Justice'' and '' Healing Hands''. Before working in entertainment, Lam held other occupations ...
,
Moses Chan Moses Chan Ho (born 16 April 1971) is an actor from Hong Kong. Career and personal life Chan lived and studied in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney) for 10 years prior to returning to Hong Kong to embark on his acting career. On 17 Nov ...
,
Kenny Wong Wong Tak-bun (born 30 April 1963), known internationally as Kenny Wong, is a Hong Kong actor. Filmography References External linksKenny Wongat HKMDB The Hong Kong Movie Database (HKMDB) is a bilingual (English and Chinese) website sta ...
,
Charmaine Sheh Charmaine Sheh Sze-man (; born 28 May 1975) is a Hong Kong actress. After winning second runner-up in the 1997 Miss Hong Kong pageant, Sheh signed a contract with TVB in 1998. She is best known for her roles in '' Return of the Cuckoo'' (2000 ...
and
Angela Tong Angela Tong (born 30 June 1975) is a Hong Kong actress. She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with family roots in Shunde, Guangdong, China. She was Miss Chinese Montreal 1995. She was educated in Concordia University. Pageant life After winn ...
. First revealed during TVB's ''Sales Presentation 2009'' in 2008, filming took place in late 2009 to early 2010, with the first episode airing both in Hong Kong and TVB's overseas
affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or al ...
and partners on 21 November 2011. On 27 December 2011, the show was blacklisted by the Chinese
State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-owned enterp ...
, making it the first Hong Kong television drama to be censored in Mainland China in more than two decades. Despite being the second lowest-rated TVB drama of 2011, ''When Heaven Burns'' gained a strong
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
online and received critical acclaim in Hong Kong, winning Best Drama at the 2012 TVB Anniversary Awards.


Plot

Eighteen years after a tragic event drove them apart four friends reunite, and in coming to understand the strangers that they have become to each other and themselves, remember who they once were. In their youth Joe (
Bowie Lam Bowie Lam (, Lam Bo-yee; born 4 September 1965) is an Hong Kong actor with the TVB network. He has starred in several popular dramas including ''File of Justice'' and '' Healing Hands''. Before working in entertainment, Lam held other occupations ...
), Angus (
Moses Chan Moses Chan Ho (born 16 April 1971) is an actor from Hong Kong. Career and personal life Chan lived and studied in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney) for 10 years prior to returning to Hong Kong to embark on his acting career. On 17 Nov ...
), Ronnie (Kenny Wong) and Ka Ming are good friends and bandmates. During a mountaineering trip, the four are stranded on a snow bound mountain. and Ka Ming was gravely injured and gets eaten by the other three. This event has a traumatic effect on them, their friendship, and their friendship with Yan (
Charmaine Sheh Charmaine Sheh Sze-man (; born 28 May 1975) is a Hong Kong actress. After winning second runner-up in the 1997 Miss Hong Kong pageant, Sheh signed a contract with TVB in 1998. She is best known for her roles in '' Return of the Cuckoo'' (2000 ...
), Ka Ming's girlfriend, leading the previously close group to go their separate ways and abandon their friendship. Eighteen years later, Yan remains haunted by the memory of Ka Ming, trying to regain what she had with him in part with her husband and in part with her lover, but finding neither a complete replacement for her lost love breaks with them both. Troubled she loses track of time while alone in the wilderness, sparking a missing persons alert which becomes the catalyst for the four friends to meet again. Though she was Ka Ming's girlfriend all four bandmates were in love with her and the three survivors remain in love with her. Of actions and choices there are consequences and the series ends with the authorities reserving the right to hold some one responsible for the unlicensed festival. The policeman investigating Ka Ming's death predicts that because they have broken a taboo each of the friends will suffer the comeuppance that
karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
demands, that Joe be imprisoned for financial fraud, that Ronnie be ostracised by his peers and go blind and asks of Angus what his comeuppance will be. Learning that Yan has decided to leave Hong Kong and that she will no longer see the friends Angus predicts that his punishment will be that he will be lonely for the remainder of his life, never being able to be with the one woman who he has ever loved, the only woman he can ever love. Despite all his protestations that he is no longer a good person and that it is impossible for him to become one again, Joe cancels his contract to have Angus killed, and when faced with the sight of a child possibly being run over instinctively acts to save the child (revealed later to be also named Ka Ming), giving up his life in the process. The script of "Heaven and Earth" describes the psychological changes of the protagonist in depth. Comment and analysis, the character Song Yilang in the play became rough and brutal after the bloody crime in the snow mountain, but his heart was very fragile; Liu Junxiong rushed around for the rights and interests of the labours, and undoubtedly he was a good person, but he will do anything that leave his principles behind when he faced with setbacks; Zheng Zhenxuan kills for survival, and then chooses to forget. Qi Qiyi, the producer, explained that the theme of "Heaven and Earth" is how the environment will change human nature, and different types of characters are discovered through the human nature presented by people in the play. Eating human is not the focus of the play: "The pressure of life, the social progress will drag you forward, if you can't keep up, you will only fall. Under huge pressure, people will do things that are even unexpected to them, maybe insidious, maybe cruel, after the end, different personality will also have different changes, which is what I wanted to discuss in "Heaven and Earth." Lin Baoyi believes that the three people in the play make different choices when facing crime, not only presenting a different outlook on life, but also providing the audience more room to think, and being able to savor the truth about human nature. Many contents of "Heaven and Earth" also satirize Hong Kong society ill, bringing out the information of political gloom, social injustice and increasing simplification. For example, in the third episode, Liu Junxiong ’s trade union staff pointed out that large political parties used material advantages to attract supporters. In episode 6, Ye Zien satirized government officials as “human tape recorders”. In addition, there is also a lampoon on the quality of the members of the Legislative Council and the forgetful personality of Hong Kong people. The characters in the play lead to values such as free will, choice of rights, independent personality, and resistance to hegemony. The analysis indicates that the plot and dialogue reflect the public's dissatisfaction with the society and thus resonate with the audience.


Cast


The Lau family


The Yung family


The Cheng family


The Yip family


Workers' Right Protection Association


Ching Ho Finance


CC Radio


Other cast


Viewership ratings


Theme songs

The opening and closing theme songs of ''When Heaven Burns'' were composed by Paul Wong, formerly of the Hong Kong band
Beyond Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...
. Paul Wong is the guitarist for both songs and is the vocalist for the opening theme. The closing theme is sung by the three male leads and serves as the reconstructed lost song. The plot line of a band returning home with one of their member dead has led to comparisons between the fictional band and Beyond.


Censorship in mainland China

On 27 December 2011, with four episodes to go, China's
State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-owned enterp ...
ordered the sub-licensees to withdraw the video streaming on 11 websites based on the pretext of
cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
, making ''When Heaven Burns'' the first Hong Kong soap opera series to be censored in Mainland China in over two decades. The real-time relay in Guangdong province was unaffected, however, and the remaining episodes were shown on television without hindrance in that province. The underlying reason for this withdrawal was thought to be because of the show's underlying allusions to the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
and non-mainland China media considered this move as
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. The storyline and the characters demonstrated similarities to the Tiananmen Square protest. When interviewed by Hong Kong's ''
Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, link=no, 蘋果日報) was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong.
'', the show's screenwriter agreed that the story was inspired by the government crackdown on the student democracy movement.


Awards and nominations

On 17 December 2012, ''When Heaven Burns'' won the
TVB Anniversary Award The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honoring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American Emm ...
for best drama in 2012, the award was a result of a popular vote. 2012 TVB Anniversary Awards *Best Drama *Nominated – Best Actress (Charmaine Sheh) – Top 5 *Nominated – My Favourite Female Character (Charmaine Sheh) – Top 10 My AOD Favourite Awards 2012 *Nominated – Best Drama *Nominated – Best Actress (Charmaine Sheh) – Top 5 *Nominated – Top 15 Character (Charmaine Sheh) *Nominated – Top 15 Character (Bowie Lam) *Nominated – Best Theme Song (年少無知 by Bowie Lam, Moses Chan and Kenny Wong) CASH Golden Sail Music Awards 2012 *Best Chorus Performance (年少無知 by Bowie Lam, Moses Chan and Kenny Wong) 17th Asian Television Awards 2012 *Best Actor – Moses Chan Metro Radio Hits Music Awards 2012 *My Most Appreciated Song (年少無知 by Paul Wong) Ultimate Song Chart Awards 2012 *WeChat Chit Chat Most Popular Song (年少無知 by Bowie Lam, Moses Chan and Kenny Wong) *My Favourite Song (年少無知 by Bowie Lam, Moses Chan and Kenny Wong)
RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards () is one of the main C-pop music award in Hong Kong. The award is sponsored by RTHK. Beginning in 1978, it is the oldest major award in Hong Kong, even earlier than the Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards. The cerem ...
2012 *Top 10 Gold Songs *Nominated – Top 10 Singers (Bowie Lam, Moses Chan and Kenny Wong)


References


External links

* {{Best Drama TVB Awards TVB dramas Cannibalism in fiction Thriller television series 2011 Hong Kong television series debuts 2012 Hong Kong television series endings 2010s Hong Kong television series Hong Kong television series Television censorship in China Censored television series