Fruit Chan (director)
Eureka (studio)
15 (certificate)
108min (length)
21 September 2020 (released)
24 September 2020
This gripping and multiple-award winning movie was made in 1997 – the year of the Hong Kong handover. It is a brilliantly observed gem of urban alienation and anarchic revolt among a small group of increasingly despairing youngsters.
Central figure is Mid-Autumn aka Moon (Sam Lee) – a small time anarcho punk and petty criminal hailing from a dysfunctional family background. His best friend is ‘retarded’ dope dealer Sylvester (as Moon sarcastically points out he’s no Sylvester Stallone) – another big time loser with no hope in hell, forever chased by rival gang members. One day Moon and Sylvester witness the suicide of a young girl called Susan Hui who jumps from the rooftop of a building. Next to her shattered corpse are two letters which Moon and Sylvester vow to deliver to the persons concerned.
Thus begins a quest during which Moon meets and falls in love with a girl called Ping (Neiky Yim Hui-Chi) who comes from an equally troubled domestic background. What’s more, her mother not only disapproves of Moon but is in trouble when it emerges that her husband (who seems to have done a runner) owes lots of money to local crime leader Fat Chan (Chan Tat-Yee), a particularly nasty piece of work. As if this scenario wouldn’t spell enough trouble Moon learns that Ping suffers from a terminal illness and is in urgent need of a kidney transplant for which her mother doesn’t have the money. Adamant to help Ping, Moon agrees to the assassination of a bigwig from Shenzhen – masterminded by ‘Big Brother’ Wing (Sang Chan) who claims to hate mainland China as much as Moon does. Various unpleasant incidents occur till that fateful day arrives though, interspersed with lighter and more joyful moments – especially one scene during which Moon, Ping and Sylvester walk across the gravestones of a Buddhist cemetery searching for the grave of Susan Hui while discussing the pros and cons of life vs death. On the day of the apparent assassination Moon is losing his nerve… which is just as well because later he learns that Big Brother Wing has double-crossed him… with fatal consequences for Sylvester. Despite all these setbacks Moon is making sure that Ping’s urgent kidney transplant can go ahead when another disaster strikes… which we won’t give away here but this is a film which cannot have a happy ending for any of the main protagonists. Personal loss and other tragedies are emphasized even further when, at the end of the film, the broadcasted voice of Chairman Mao Tse Tung can be heard inviting the people of Hong Kong (now under Communist rule) to tune into the ‘People’s Radio’ of China – an ending which couldn’t be more haunting!
Made from leftover film reels and predominantly set amid one of Hong Kong’s many subsidised housing projects, MADE IN HONG KONG is a far cry from the slick mainstream productions we have come to expect from this particular region. Sam Lee and the rest of the main cast are utterly convincing as social misfits and general dropouts who reject a society and a system which constantly lets them down.
Available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, this 4K restoration offers the following Bonus Features: Limited Edition O-card slipcase (2000 copies only), Optional English subtitles, new and archival interviews and Collector’s booklet.