Once a Thief (1991)
Okay, it must be said that the plot is fairly simple, and apparently cobbled together from a variety of sources: we get two boys raised as thieves by a cruel foster father, who grow up, meet a...
View ArticleViva Erotica (1996)
This film starts with a bang. Literally. It’s the most enthusiastic bonking scene I’ve ever witnessed: Leslie Cheung and Karen Mok going at it with a fervour that, let’s say, is more suited to a sprint...
View ArticleHappy Together (1997)
This is the sixth film from Hong Kong arthouse director Wong Kar-Wai, and the one that netted him the Best Director award at Cannes in 1997. Wong takes two of Hong Kong cinema’s most handsome leading...
View ArticleRouge (1987)
My copy of this film has no subtitles, but it doesn’t really matter. Leslie and Anita have two of the most expressive faces in the acting biz, and two of the best voices as well, both singing and...
View ArticleHe’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994)
He’s A Woman, She’s A Man is a classic. 8 years ago, I saw this in a packed session at the Mercury Cinema in Adelaide [back when they used to show the latest HK movies], and grandmas and rutgrats were...
View ArticleA Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
It’s impossible to not love this Tsui Hark masterpiece. It opens with a solitary scholar in a moon-drenched abandoned monastery, tempted by a beautiful girl swathed in soft white chiffon. Her drifting...
View ArticleA Better Tomorrow 2 (1987)
The creative partnership of director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark came unstuck during this sequel to the 1986 smash hit A Better Tomorrow. The result is a somewhat schizophrenic picture which...
View ArticleA Better Tomorrow (1986)
This is where legends were made. Little known director John Woo was hired to direct a gangster film, but had the idea that it would use the warrior code of a swordplay film, exchanging the swords for...
View ArticleThe Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993)
Apparently, this one was made in a break in the filming of Ashes of Time, with mostly the same cast, and mostly the same characters, but absolutely none of the same seriousness. It’s more wacky than a...
View ArticleThe Bride with White Hair (1993)
This is simply one of the finest films ever made, in my not so humble opinion. Read on, and I’ll tell you why. First up, the director and producer were both determined that this would be a special...
View ArticleThe Bride With White Hair 2 (1993)
The Bride With White Hair is one of the guaranteed classics of Asian cinema. The Bride With White Hair 2, alas, is not. I soooo wanted to be able to say something good about this. Really. But there’s...
View ArticleFarewell My Concubine (1993)
Farewell, My Concubine is not an easy film to watch. It deals with social and political upheaval in China from the Japanese invasion through to the Cultural Revolution, by following the three main...
View ArticleInner Senses (2002)
Hong Kong produced a rash of “I see ghosts” films over the space of a couple of years, and this is one of the better ones. This is probably largely because of the cast: it’s really a two-person film,...
View ArticleAshes of Time (1994)
As I see it, there have only been two rolled gold masterpieces of the Cantonese cinema since the late 1980s: John Woo’s bloodstained Vietnam odyssey Bullet in the Head and Wong Ka-Wai’s Ashes of Time....
View ArticleDays of Being Wild (1990)
Days of Being Wild is one of the early films by renowned Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai. It has all the trademarks of Wong’s later works, such as Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love. But...
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