Art is said to mirror life, but sometimes the reverse is true. In the movie Hu Du Men, the opera diva Lang Kim-sang leaves her real self behind as soon as she steps through the symbolic door to the stage. And in a sense Josephine Siao Fong-fong, who played Lang, is leaving her old self behind as she steps over the threshold into 1997.
The past year has been one to cap all the others for the acclaimed actress. In the past 12 months, she has scooped five acting awards: the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Bauhinia Awards for Summer Snow, the CineAsia award for excellence in acting, an award from the Asia Pacific Film Festival and, just last month, her second consecutive Golden Horse for Hu Du Men.
To top it all, as Siao was launching her memoirs last week, came news that she had been made an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's honours list - the last time they would be given out in the territory.
'This MBE is very significant; it means a lot to me historically. This is good. I think this is better than if it came earlier,' she says.
As for the awards, Siao dismisses them all as a matter of 'luck'.
'I truly believe that. One fortune teller told me that 1996 would be a lucky year for me. In hindsight, I realise he was right.
'A lot of people work hard but it's no use if you don't get a break. And I got these breaks. I'm very happy about it,' she says.