Chan Fai-hung Movies
- 2008
Writer and director Pang Ho-cheung presents seven short sketches of small but emotionally telling moments in this omnibus collection. Isabel Chan and Eason Chan play a young couple who are living together but, to his despair, she doesn't want to sleep with him until they get married. When she consents to have sex to celebrate Christmas, he begins looking for holidays that will put her into a festive mood. An actor (Chapman To) visiting Hong Kong on business is struck with loneliness, and hires a prostitute (Zhang Zheng) to spend some time with him. Kei (Stephy Tang) and Ah Wai (Gillian Chung) are two close friends from school who haven't seen each other for nearly ten years, and discover they no longer have much in common beyond a lingering infatuation with the same aging pop star. A lovelorn guy (Kenny Kwan) tries to impress the girl he loves in high school (Angela Baby) by naming a heavenly body after her, which has unexpected consequences. A hired killer (Shawn Yue) who takes a casual but businesslike approach to his work decides to relax and smoke a joint with his target (Conroy Chan) before pulling the trigger. A college professor (Chan Fai Hung) whose relationship with his wife (Kristal Tin) is faltering turns to one of his students (January Lamb) for advice on putting his marriage back on track. And a would-be ladies' man (Edison Chen) reveals he has a very peculiar way of impressing women. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Lamb, Chan Fai-hung, (more)
As the Hong Kong economy takes a hit and the killer-for-hire business falls into a slump, a camera man and a professional killer team up to offer the perfect package deal in director Pang Ho Cheung's dark urban comedy. Despite the Asian financial crisis, there are still people in the overcrowded metropolis of Hong Kong that need to die. Bart is a seasoned hit-man dejected by the lack of work, and Chuen is a talented assistant director in search of a fascinating subject. When the desperate pair discovers that both have a talent for "shooting," they decide to pool their resources and offer their clients visual proof that the murderous missions have been successfully executed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Kot, Cheung Tat-Ming, (more)
Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels is a sequel of sorts to the director's 1994 U.S. breakthrough Chungking Express. Expanding on the latter's style, themes, and mood, Fallen Angels is set in the surreal milieu of urban, nighttime Hong Kong. As with the filmmaker's other features, plot takes a back seat to mood. The wisp of a narrative intercuts two story lines. The first follows a hitman (Leon Lai) who finds that the assassin's life has slowly lost its allure. Complicating his life is his beautiful contact (Michele Reis, a former Miss Hong Kong winner) who pines after him with fetishistic ardor, although the two have never met in their nearly three-year partnership. In another part of the city, He (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a mute, boyish ex-convict, makes a living by sneaking into and running businesses after hours. Still living with his father who runs the Chungking Mansions hotel, the restless Ho falls for Cherry (Charlie Yeung), a woman getting over her breakup with the offscreen Johnny. The movie follows these episodic romances almost half-heartedly as with Wong's other films, and digressionary moments attract much of the camera's distracted gaze. This visually stylish and unabashedly effusive work is considered by some critics to be the quintessential Wong film. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Lai, Michelle Reis, (more)
