John Sham Movies

A poor film projectionist witnesses forty years of Hong Kong history in this socially themed family melodrama starring acclaimed Hong Kong character Anthony Wong. Idealistic leftist Zuo Kong (Wong) has been threading the projector since the 1960s, and from the riots of those early years through the prosperity of the 1970s, the growth of the 1980s, and the tensions of the 1990s, there's little he hasn't seen from his cramped perch behind the bulb. A modest family man whose political beliefs at times seem in direct conflict with his home life, Kong struggles to remain a loving husband and a good father as he gradually shrinks away from doctrinaire idealism. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The beauty and tragedies of China's history are reflected in the lives of a handful of film fans in this historical drama. Mao Dabing (Xia Yu) is a delivery man working in a small village in rural China during the latter days of the Cultural Revolution. Mao is a movie fan who lives for the periodic outdoor screenings held in the town square, but he meets a bigger buff one day when, after he has an accident on his bicycle, he's assaulted by Ling-Ling (Qi Zhongyang), a cute but overly excitable young woman. After she's arrested, Ling-Ling gives the keys to her apartment to Mao and asks him to look after her fish while she's in jail; though puzzled, he agrees, and discovers her flat is a veritable museum of movie memorabilia. Ling-Ling's favorite star is Zhou Xuan, a singer and actress who was a major screen idol in the 1930s and inspired Ling-Ling to take a stab at acting, and when Mao's curiosity gets the better of him he starts reading Ling-Ling's diary, discovering she grew up believing her father was a major male star of the era. However, the truth is far less glamorous -- Ling-Ling's mother, Jiang Xuehua (Jiang Yihong), was an attractive and talented woman who bore a striking resemblance to Zhou Xuan and had a budding career in radio until she became pregnant and her lover left her rather than marry her. Declared a counter-revolutionary, Jiang's career in radio comes to an end, and she moves to a small rural town where she strikes up a relationship with Pan (Li Haibin), who runs the projector at the local movie house. Jiang and Pan are happy together and eventually marry, but when they have a son, Ling-Ling finds she's no longer the center of attention in the household, and her life begins taking an unexpected turn. Electric Shadows (aka Meng Ying Tong Nian) was the first feature film from director Xiao Jiang. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Produced on a shoestring $2 million budget, documentary director Nancy Kelly and her husband, editor Kenji Yamamoto created this romantic western based on a true story. Rosalind Chao stars as Lalu Nathoy, a young woman sold into marriage by her impoverished father in late 19th century China. Lalu is transported to the U.S. by a slave trader, Jim (Dennis Dun), on whom she develops a crush. Although conflicted, Jim fulfills his professional obligation to deliver Lalu to Hong King (Michael Paul Chan), a saloon owner in a rough Idaho mining town. Refusing to participate in Hong King's plan to make her into an exotic prostitute, Lalu keeps her dignity about her and wins the adoration of Charlie (Chris Cooper), Hong King's white, alcoholic partner. Despite the prejudice of the locals, Lalu becomes a cleaning woman and a successful laundress. Though she dreams of marriage to Jim or escape to China, she recognizes Charlie's admirable qualities after a violent incident that casts him in a different light. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This drama focuses on life at the Peking Opera School and is a loose biography of Hong Kong film stars Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. Sammo Hung portrays Master Yu, the academy's brutal schoolmaster, who takes the youths through the rigorous acrobatic training. The film offers an introspective view of Master Yu, as a man who must face the fact that the institution to which he has devoted his life is fading with the passage of time. Although many of the film collaborations of Hung, Chan, and Baio have hinted at their youth together, this film attempts to depict the harsh reality. Nevertheless, Chan has criticized the film, stating that his longtime friend Hung's portrayal was actually too sympathetic an interpretation of Master Yu. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide

Derek Yee Tung-sing directs this critically praised crime thriller about two amateur thugs -- Sai (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Boney (Ronald Wong Pan) -- who bungle a bank heist, resulting in a hostage situation. Unbeknownst to them, one of their hostages is the notorious criminal Sunny Koo (Ti Lung) who quickly wrests control of the standoff from Sai and starts making his own demands to the police. Though at first he treats his captives with a measure of kindness -- even reviving an old man who has a heart attack -- he soon grows violent when the police refuse to spring his girlfriend from jail. Worse, when the cops do cave into his demand, his girlfriend refuses to join Koo. Tony Leung Kar-fai and Bowie Lam Bo-yee also appear. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, when he returns from a prolonged ocean voyage, a sailor discovers that his wife has left and has rented their apartment to another woman. This new tenant is an "old maid" by local standards and is somewhat set in her ways. He has also been left with the care of his daughter. Despite his desire to strike out on his own, he must stay in his old apartment in order to take care of his daughter. The next blow comes when, in the divorce proceedings, it looks like he will lose custody of his daughter. Meanwhile, the old maid and the sailor have discovered a real tenderness for one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Sylvia Chang stars and directs this low-key drama about the complex relationship between two middle-aged friends who sit down and reminisce about their lives. Wendy (Chang) and Ming (Cora Miao) are inseparable friends who are both in love with handsome lawyer John (George Lam). When Wendy can't bring herself to tell him how she feels, John marries Ming. Wendy soon marries a kindly older man named Dr. King (Chung King-fai), though the union proves to be one more of admiration than of passion. Wendy and John drift into an extramarital affair. As these two friends continue to drink and talk, Wendy finally unburdens herself of a secret. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A wife becomes a widow when her policeman husband commits suicide by jumping off the roof of his building at work. Shocked at his death, she is further surprised to discover he had a mistress and a four-year-old son in Taiwan. After an attempt on the widow's life, the mistress is murdered, leaving the young boy in the care of the late man's wife. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

An exceptional and at times disturbing drama, Lunatics is among the top-grossing films of all time in Hong Kong. The somewhat fact-based tale centers on a social worker's attempts to help the mentally ill people who furtively live and work on the teeming city streets. As the story opens, Fung the social worker is calming a confused patient who has been threatening patrons of the local marketplace with a meat cleaver. Later, an investigative reporter assigned to write a critical report of an apparently failing health system, Yip, catches up to the busy Fung and begins following him on his rounds. It is an eventful day and Yip sees that Fung does much good for the outcast and the dispossessed. For Fung it is just another day until he must face down a desperate husband who is making a final, bloody stand in a kindergarten to keep from losing custody of his young son. After he kills a teacher, Fung has no recourse but to kill him. Towards the end of the day, the meat-cleaver man is back at the marketplace. Again, Fung comes to the rescue, but unfortunately, a photographer's flash frightens the deranged fellow and he murders Fung. The story ends on a brighter note when Yip decides to become a social worker just like Fung. Many of Hong Kong's most popular actors make cameo appearances throughout the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Michelle Yeoh makes her starring role debut in this police drama\action spectacular, directed by Corey Yuen. The film opens with the fierce, relentless Inspector Ng (Yeoh) cleaning the clocks of a band of thieves. Meanwhile, vicious crime boss Tin (James Tien Chun) puts a hit out on his accountant after he tried to sell his boss out to the police. The accountant is killed but the incriminating piece of microfilm is swiped by two-bit thugs Aspirin (Mang Hoi) and Strepsil (John Sham Kin-fun). Ng gets wind of the murder when the dead man's passport shows up on a fleeing criminal. She tracks the document to forger Panadol (played by director Tsui Hark). Later, Chinese-speaking Scotland Yard detective Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock, in her film debut) shows up and soon the two are tracking down Tin. This film spawned a series of sequels including A Serious Shock! Yes Madam! ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Leung Po-chi directs and Sammo Hung produces this grim horror flick about a school field trip gone horribly horribly wrong. Mr. Cheung (John Sham Kin-fun) takes a half-dozen high school students for a two-day outing on a remote island. Soon after they are dropped off, they realize that the supposedly deserted island is inhabited by three raving hillbillies and their paranoid mother. Though the two parties at first fashion an uneasy truce of sorts, mayhem ensues when one of the loonies decides to make a captive of one of Mr. Cheung's female students, for breeding purposes. With no way off the island and their boat not scheduled to return for two days, Mr. Cheung and his charges are forced to hunker down and defend themselves. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Following up from their success with Project A, martial arts-comedy trio Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao head out to Spain for this screwball kung-fu flick. Thomas and David (Chan and Yuen) run a Chinese lunch wagon in the streets of Barcelona. One day, David encounters a beautiful pickpocket named Sylvia (Lola Forner, who also appeared in Armor of God) and he is immediately smitten. Meanwhile, inept private dick Moby (Hung) is tracking down the illegitimate daughter of a dead count. If the woman can be found within two weeks after his death, his vast riches go to her. If not, then her evil stepbrother gets the goods. Of course, Sylvia turns out to be the missing heiress. And naturally her evil step-brother has sent out a bevy of goons to insure his inheritance while David, Moby, and Thomas vow to protect the lass. The film was originally going to be called "Meals on Wheels" until studio head Raymond Chow, after the utter failure of his 1982 opus Megaforce, vowed never to have a film that began with an "M." ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This melodrama is one of many that have embraced the period setting of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation of World War II. Chow Yun-Fat, in an award-winning performance, plays a poor worker at a small rice shop. He befriends a rickshaw driver (Alex Mann) who falls in love with the shop owner's daughter. When the shop owner forbids the couple to marry, the trio decides to runaway to mainland China. However, their plan is interrupted by the Japanese invasion, and their friendship and loyalty is put to the test in the events that follow. Similar to films like Casablanca, Hong Kong 1941 is a good example of how Hong Kong cinema has made much use of this period and the theme of love in a desperate time. However, the film also depicts the brutality that occurred during the occupation, and the portrayal of the Japanese invasion force in this film reflects a deep resentment that parallels the representations of the German Nazis in Western film.
~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide