Peter Ho-Sun Chan Movies

A papermaker living during the later days of the Qing Dynasty finds his village under threat following an intense investigation. Liu (Donnie Yen) is a family man from a small secluded village. He lives a quiet life with his wife Ayu (Tang Wei) and their two young children. But Liu's simple existence begins to unravel following the arrival of Detective Xu (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Dispatched to gather details about a botched robbery in which two bandits were killed, Detective Xu quickly discovers that Liu has been harboring some troubling secrets about his background. Later, as the ghosts of Liu's past begin to manifest, a dark cloud is cast over the entire village. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Love, politics, and loyalty threaten to tear apart three soldiers in this lavish historical epic from Hong Kong. In 1870, the power of the corrupt Qing Dynasty has been threatened by the rise of a revolutionary army, led by religious fanatics, and civil war is tearing the nation apart. Pang Qingyun (Jet Li), a good man who finds himself fighting for the Qing leadership, is one of the only survivors of a bloody battle in between revolutionaries and Qing troops, and is looking for someplace to go when he's offered shelter by a beautiful peasant woman, Lian (Xu Jinglei). Pang and Lian spend the night in each others arms, and he finds himself falling in love with her. Pang sets out to make his way home when he's befriended by Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau) and Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a pair of bandits. When Jiang is attacked in an ambush, Pang helps save his life, and the three men become blood brothers in a gory ritual. Pang convinces Jiang and Zhao to join him in the fight against the revolutionaries, and with their help Pang is able to achieve some impressive victories. However, when Pang allows his own ego and dreams of glory to override his common sense and loyalty, Zhao and Jiang come to distrust their ally, and matters become worse when it is revealed that Lian is Zhao's wife. Tou Ming Zhuang (aka The Warlords) was a major box-office success in China and Eastern Asia before making its way to theaters in Europe and the United States. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Acclaimed director Peter Chan takes the helm for this lavish, award winning musical concerning the love triangle between a handsome actor, his beautiful co-star, and a talented film director. Lin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his ex-lover Sun (Zhou Xun) are shooting a movie for celebrated director Nie Wen (Jacky Cheung) when the flames of their former passion are gradually rekindled. A charismatic director who has poured his entire heart and soul into making a movie about a passionate love triangle, Nie finds his entire production about to collapse as Lin does everything in his power to win back the ravishing Sun. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Three Asian directors, from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, join forces to create an omnibus horror film, Three...Extremes. In Fruit Chan's "Dumplings," shot by Christopher Doyle, Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung), a thirtysomething former actress with a philandering husband (Tony Leung) goes to visit Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), who sells the most expensive dumplings in Hong Kong. Mrs. Li knows about their rejuvenating powers, and she also knows about their unpleasant main ingredient, but after some initial nausea, she digs right in. In Oldboy writer/director Park Chan-wook's "Cut," a successful filmmaker (Lee Byung-hun of Joint Security Area) arrives home to find that a disgruntled extra (Lim Won-hee) has taken over his home, and fastened his pianist wife (Kang Hye-jun of Oldboy) to the grand piano. The madman threatens to cut off the wife's fingers, one by one, unless the director strangles the helpless child he's tied to the couch. Takashi Miike directs the last segment, "Box," about a young author and former circus performer, Kyoko (Kyoko Hasegawa), seemingly haunted by the ghost of her twin sister, who died a mysterious and horrible death while practicing their act. Adding to Kyoko's trauma, her editor (Atsuro Watabe) is a dead ringer for her old stepfather/ringmaster, who may have perished in the same "accident" that took her sister's life. Three...Extremes was shown at Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival in 2005. For the American release of Three...Extremes, the order in which the films are presented was altered from the original "Box," "Dumplings," and "Cut" to "Dumplings," "Cut," and "Box." This film was actually preceded by another omnibus film, Three, that was nevertheless retitled Three...Extremes II for the English-language market and issued after this one. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Kam (veteran Hong Kong comic actress Sandra Ng) is making a withdrawal from an ATM on New Year's Eve when she's held up at knifepoint by the desperate Bong (Eric Tsang), who is distressed to learn that Kam doesn't even have enough money in her account to make a withdrawal. The two agree to leave and go their separate ways, when a power outage traps them in the kiosk. Kam tries to cheer Bong up with an amusing story about her life as a prostitute. This leads to a conversation that lasts through the night, and flashbacks depict Kam's evolution, from underage "fishball girl" to popular showgirl (who wins over clients doing a deft impression of Jackie Chan circa Drunken Master) to masseuse to long-in-the-tooth hooker. Outside historical events converge with Kum's story as she weaves her tale, detailing everything from her encounter with a celebrity (Andy Lau as himself) to her unrequited love for a mysterious gangster, Yeh (Wu Kwan of Stanley Kwan's Lan Yu), to her longtime friendship with a former client, Professor Chan (Tony Leung). There's also an unplanned pregnancy, which leads to an opportunistic romance with Richard (Felix Wong), a wealthy businessman. This 2002 comedy Golden Chicken, directed by Samson Chiu, spawned a 2003 sequel, Golden Chicken 2. The first film was shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's survey Recent Films from Hong Kong in 2004. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Three contains a trio of short suspense/horror film made by Asian directors. Memories, made by Kim Ji-Woon, is about a woman (Kim Hye-Soo) who disappears from the home she shares with her husband (Jung Bo-Seog) and children, and ends up in a futuristic city filled with many disturbing hinderences to her finding her way back home. Nonzee Nimibutr's The Wheel contains a puppeteer who is unsuccessful in warning a dance troupe about using cursed puppets. Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Coming Home stars Eric Tsang as a policeman who becomes involved with his neighbors, a married couple who are involved in with some mysterious herbal medications. Three was screened at the Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide