Patrick Tam Movies

Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directed this lyrical, dream-like martial arts epic. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce (a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with low-budget quickies) and features a virtual who's who of the Hong Kong film world. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero by Jin Yong, the movie is less a straightforward action thriller than a visually striking meditation on memory and love. It nominally centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who ekes out a lonely existence as an itinerant hired sword. Getting on in years and tormented by memories of a lost love, he also works an agent for other mercenary assassins from his remote desert abode. Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-Fai, who starred in the The Lover) drowns his lovelorn misery in a magical wine that makes him forget. Later, a mysterious young man named Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) hires Ouyang to kill his sister's unfaithful suitor, Huang Yaoshi. The following day, that spurned sister, Murong Yin (Lin again), hires Ouyang to protect her dearly beloved. Meanwhile, Hong Qi (pop star Jacky Cheung) finds some redemption for a life of killing by accepting a poor girl's offer to avenge her brother's death -- a task that Ouyang brusquely shunned. In another subplot, a master swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) is slowly going blind. He agrees to defend a village from horse thieves so that he can afford to go home and see his wife before his eyesight fails completely. This film is one of the most celebrated examples of 1990s Hong Kong cinema: it won multiple awards in its native Hong Kong, along with a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 1994 Venice Film Festival.

In the years following Ashes of Time's initial theatrical release, the original negatives were lost and multiple versions of the film began to crop up all across the globe. As a result, director Wong Kar-wai longed to compile these various versions into a restored, remastered, and definitive final cut. With Ashes of Time Redux, the director restructures the film according to seasons, effectively clarifying the central narratives, and digitally colorizes the film to render cinematographer Christopher Doyle's masterful imagery all the more lavish and intoxicatingly gorgeous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A young warrior intent on avenging the death of his father finds his mission unexpectedly complicated by his love for the daughter of the very man he aims to kill in this television series inspired by author Louis Cha's enduring tome. Hu Fei is a fearsome warrior whose father was rumored to have met his demise at the hands of Miao Ren Feng. Now, Hu Fei is determined to make Feng pay for his crime. On his way to meet his fate at the top of a snowy mountain, however, Hu Fei falls deeply in love with Feng's beautiful daughter Ruolan. Could true love hold the key to diffusing a blood-soaked family feud that once threatened to carry on for generations? Anthony Wong, Athena Chu, and Gillian Chung star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Jeffrey Lau's epic, mythological fantasy adventure A Chinese Tall Story unfurls in the distant past, when a small band of travelers - monk Tripitaka (Nicholas Tse) and his (human) companions Monkey King (Chen Bo-lin), Piggy (Kenny Kwan) and Sandy (Steven Cheung) - embark on a lengthy, danger-filled quest through the Himalayan foothills to retrieve some Buddhist scriptures. En route, they encounter all manner of obstacles, such as being sabotaged by The Tree Demon and attacked by a band of cannibalistic lizard men. In a more realistic episode, Tripitaka must grapple with the unrequited love that a homely outcast, Yue Meiyan (Charlene Choi) feels for him; he then ultimately winds up in the midst of an elfin storybook village where he encounters an empathetic waylaid princess (Fan Bingbing). Throughout, director Lau plays aggressively with the film form, packing in everything from witty puns to cinematic allusions to postmodern cultural asides. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A crime family flirts with democracy, leading to a fierce gangland battle in this stylish crime drama from Hong Kong director Johnnie To. With over 50,000 members, the Wo Shing Society is one of the largest and most powerful Triads in Hong Kong, and when the leadership committee needs a new head man, they decide to put the matter to a vote of their underlings. The two candidates are Lok (Simon Yam), a cool leader who doesn't rattle easily, and Big D (Tony Leung Kar-Fai), who has a short temper and is prone to violence. After Uncle Weng (Wong Tin-lam), an elderly and well-regarded member of the Triad, gives Lok his endorsement, he wins by a landslide, which does not sit well with Big D's uncertain temper. A ceremonial walking stick which is given to the Wo Shing Society's elected leader has disappeared, and Big D will stop at nothing to make sure it stays out of Lok's hands; meanwhile, the Hong Kong police are determined to bring down the Triad, and Big D ends up behind bars. The Wo Shing Society falls into chaos as in-fighting threatens to tear the Triad apart before the walking stick can be returned and Lok can be inaugurated as their new chief. Election (aka Hak Sewui) was a major box office success in Asia, and the story continued the following year in Election 2 (aka Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Also known as A Dumb Boy, this Hong Kong drama is the story of a dying mother and her love for her retarded son. Mrs. Fat (Deanie Ip) is slowly succumbing to cancer, but her biggest worry is her only child, the 30-year-old Bee (Patrick Tam). Possessing the mind of a toddler but the hormonal urges of a sexually aroused rhino, Bee finds himself in trouble with the gangster boyfriend of his neighbor May (Suki Kwan). After the thug is killed for stealing some heroin, the pregnant May becomes severely disabled -- and after Bee's real mother dies, the surrogate mother for her new friend. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directed this lyrical, dream-like martial arts epic. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce (a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with low-budget quickies) and features a virtual who's-who of the Hong Kong film world. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero by Jin Yong, the movie is less a straightforward action thriller than a visually striking meditation on memory and love. It nominally centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who ekes out a lonely existence as an itinerant hired sword. Getting on in years and tormented by memories of a lost love, he also works an agent for other mercenary assassins from his remote desert abode. Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-fai, who starred in the The Lover) drowns his lovelorn misery in a magical wine that makes him forget. Later, a mysterious young man named Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) hires Ouyang to kill his sister's unfaithful suitor, Huang Yaoshi. The following day, that spurned sister, Murong Yin (Lin again), hires Ouyang to protect her dearly beloved. Meanwhile, Hong Qi (pop star Jackie Cheung) finds some redemption for a life of killing by accepting a poor girl's offer to avenge her brother's death -- a task that Ouyang brusquely shunned. In another subplot, a master swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is slowly going blind. He agrees to defend a village from horse thieves so that he can afford to go home and see his wife before his eyesight fails completely. This film is one of the most celebrated examples of 1990s Hong Kong cinema: it won multiple awards in its native Hong Kong, along with a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This romantic drama filled with sex and violence finds a young woman forced to marry an older man who runs a roadhouse saloon. She is constantly being raped by her husband, a drunken loutish brute. She harbors a young man wanted by the police in a murder case, and soon the fugitive and the young wife have a torrid affair as she continues to hide him from the authorities. The husband tells the police about the young man, and he is gunned down trying to flee. The wife picks up a butcher knife and confronts her abusive husband after her young lover's death. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong director Patrick Tam's Cantonese-language saga My Heart is That Eternal Rose explores the social dynamics and tumultuous life-changes that unfold between two young men who are fast friends - Cheung (Tony Leung) and Rick (Kenny Bee) - and the sexy young woman caught between them, Lap (Joey Wang). Rick and Lap became romantically involved years prior, when Rick worked at a bar owned by Lap's triad-connected gangster father. In time, for political reasons, it became necessary for Lap to put herself on the table as the mistress of Godfather Shen, and Lap inevitably drifted away from Rick while immersing herself in Shen's world. Lap then fell in love with someone else: Cheung, who worked as her driver. Six years pass, during which Rick establishes himself as a hired killer and temporarily loses touch with Lap. The lovers re-encounter one another, and fall back into love, prompting Lap to decide that she wants to leave Godfather Shen; Shen, however, won't let her - which sparks a bloody, tumultuous confrontation between the trio of friends-cum-lovers and Shen's minions. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Ma (Tong Chung-yip) works as a taxi driver, as a collector for his father whose business is high-interest loans, and in his spare time, as a lifeguard. In that last role, he meets Kathy (Pat Ha), a wealthy woman, and romance blossoms. Meanwhile, Kathy's friend Louis (Leslie Chung) is also at the beach a lot and he meets a woman with the unlikely name of Tomato (Cecilia), and they develop a relationship. The two couples have various sexual encounters, and then some dastardly assassins from Japan arrive to snuff out Kathy because she has spurned the son of a major gangster. The sex and the violence are intended to make Hong Kong's beaches all that hotter, but the final judgment will have to rest with the viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide