Terence Chang Movies
Though John Woo's lifelong admiration of Sam Peckinpah, Sergio Leone, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick are also evident in this stylish actioner, the film is essentially a tribute to Jean-Pierre Melville and his cult thriller Le Samouraï. During a restaurant shoot-out, hitman Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat) accidentally hurts the eyes of a singer (Sally Yeh). Later, he meets the girl and discovers that if she does not have a very expensive operation very soon, she will go blind. To get the money for the surgery, Jeff decides to perform one last hit. The cop (Danny Lee), who has been chasing Jeff for a long time, is determined to catch him this time. The film's number of victims makes The Terminator or Rambo pale in comparison, but its brilliant visual style and bravura direction earned accolades even from non-action fans. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, (more)
- 1984
A wealthy man and a beautiful and hard-working woman fall in love and then face their class distinctions in this romantic melodrama from director Michael Mak. Irene Wan plays an attractive nightclub hostess struggling to support her small baby and two siblings. One day a good-looking young man (Andy Lau) who works in a hospital comes into the club and eventually, the hostess and he fall in love. When she goes to his home to meet his exceptionally wealthy parents, she is overcome by insecurities about her own impoverished background and lack of education -- and the first possible rift between the two lovers begins to form. Portrayed with more honesty than the usual Hong Kong commercial film, this story does not overindulge in the histrionics common to most melodramas. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Lau Tak-wah, Irene Wan, (more)
- 1984
Jim (Tom Poon), Cat (Kitty Wai), and Fatty (Fo-fo Mar) are trying to find a way to realize their dreams, though none are trying very hard, in this fairly run-of-the-mill drama set in modern Hong Kong. Jim wants to be a fashion designer but is more devoted to discos than the drawing board, his lover Cat is pregnant and wants an abortion, and his friend Fatty works in a pizza place. All three think America offers better opportunities to get ahead, but a traumatic visit to the American Embassy puts any idea of travel to the States on indefinite hold. Left with very few choices, the trio begins to look toward the wrong side of the law for new ways to make a quick Hong Kong dollar -- without clearly seeing the pitfalls involved. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The title of this film refers to the underdeveloped breasts of young girls, and the topic deals with teenage prostitution and drug use in Hong Kong. Set up as a pseudo docu-drama, the film follows the fictional activities of several youngsters between the ages of 13 and 15 and watches them change into hardened, street-wise individuals whose focus is on a good time, drinking, dancing, drugs, sex, and generally self-destructive pursuits. One of these characters is a young girl forced onto the streets from a broken home and dysfunctional family. Once out on her own she falls in with the wrong crowd, barely surviving, and constantly beset with the emotional and physical hardships of street life (rejection, degradation, lack of meaningful human contact) she has nowhere to turn. This film was released in Hong Kong right in the middle of news stories on a prostitution racket involving young teenage girls. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Mak
