Hong Kong 1941

This gripping masterpiece by versatile British-Chinese filmmaker Po-Chi Leong sees Hong Kong Superstar Chow Yun-fat in his breakout role as a wannabe actor, who finds himself locked in a love triangle against the background of brutal oppression that was brought to Hong Kong by Japanese rule between 1941 and 1945. Produced by Sammo Hung, HONG KONG 1941 has been released on Blu-ray in a Limited Edition (2000 copies).

The engaging film tells the story of three young people brought together by fate. As the title suggests, the action is set in 1941 and centres around unemployed actor Fei (Chow Yun-fat), who lives in a slum in Hong Kong and dreams of emigrating to America to find gold, perhaps symbolically, even though the gold rush is long over. Fei undoubtedly has talent and his singing voice is equally impressive but his talent is of little use to him, as he earns his living doing odd jobs due to lack of acting commissions or in his case, a lack of useful connections. After an unsuccessful escape attempt on a steamer carrying mostly British passengers fleeing the turbulent political situation, he is brought back to his neighbourhood by the harbor police and befriends "Coolie" Keung (Alex Man) and his gang, who are based in the city's rice packing plant. Through this, he meets Coolie's future fiancée, Nam (Cecilia Yip), who appears to suffer from a rare form of fits which may or may not be epilepsy.

Nam's father, Chung (Shih Kien), a corrupt businessman, is less than thrilled about his daughter's relationship with Coolie and arranges a marriage for Nam with a more suitable candidate. However, it’s not just Nam’s privat situation which looks grim but the general situation isn’t peachy either, far from it! The locals take issue with migrants from mainland China, the wealthy (including Nam's father) have power over both, and the police are deployed to enforce the law, if necessary, by using violence. The already fragile social structure collapses completely when the Imperial Japanese Army begins its occupation of Hong Kong and war breaks out. Fei, Coolie, and Nam join forces and earn their meagre living on the black market. Fei, whose acting talent comes in handy, poses as a Japanese henchman to wrangle deals when his path crosses that of Liu (Wu Ma), an extremely brutal crime boss. A bold attempt by Fei to rescue Coolie from the clutches of Liu doesn’t go according to plan and soon he and his friend find themselves in grave danger. As the situation escalates, Fei, Coolie and Nam, now in a love triangle, attempt to escape the hellish island, but their plan seems doomed from the start...

Bonus material includes audio commentary, interviews, trailers, video essay, and a collection booklet. The original audio is in Cantonese with English subtitles.