Xiang Gang zhi zao (1997)

Director:

Fruit Chan

Writer:

Fruit Chan (writer)

Release Date:

9 October 1997 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Comedy

Plot:

Autumn Moon (Sam Lee), a low-rent triad living in Hong Kong, struggles to find meaning in his hopelessly violent existence. |

Plot Keywords:

Gangster

Awards:

14 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Sam Lee	...	To Chung-Chau, 'Moon'
Neiky Yim Hui-Chi	...	Lam Yuk-Ping, 'Ping'
Wenders Li	...	Ah-Lung, 'Sylvester' (as Wenbers Li Tung-Chuen)
Amy Tam Ka-Chuen	...	Hui Bo San, 'Susan'
Carol Lam Kit-Fong	...	Mrs. Lam, Ping's mother
Doris Chow Yan-Wah	...	Mrs. To, Moon's mother
Siu Chung	...	Ms. Lee, social worker
Tat-Yee Chan	...	Fat Chan
Wai-Chung Wu	...	Keung
Chan Sang	...	'Big Brother', Cheung Siu-Wing
Kelvin Chung	...	Doctor
Ah Ting	...	Moon's father
Jessica	...	Moon's father's current wife
Ah Wai	...	Assassin on skateboard
Ho B-Chai	...	Male student

Also Known As:

Heung Gong jai jo (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Made in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Nicetop Independent Ltd.

Trivia:

Director Fruit Chan struggled for years to direct his debut film, and could only do so by shooting the entire picture on bits and pieces of blank film that he had collected from the ends of reels.

Movie Connections:

References Natural Born Killers (1994)

The hope to keep up

At least two famous film critics retired at a time when they felt they were no longer in step with new cinema. One was a much revered Sunday newspaper journalist in the UK who saw the writing on the wall when she could only register her loathing for "Psycho". Although I am not a professional critic and simply like to impart enthusiasm rather than condemnations through this website, I sometimes wonder if I am out of step with what a much younger generation of audiences admire. I have all but ceased going to the commercial cinema where nine out of ten offerings seem to be mindless kids' fodder delivered at a painfully high decibel level. Far too often those that my peergroup recommend, "0negin" or "The House of Mirth" for example, I find to be dreary and portentous. And so I sit through endless art house movies, many of them enervating in the extreme, just for that wonderful sense of discovery when something like "La Promesse" from Belgium or "After Life" from Japan occurs. However, I had a sobering experience the other day which has warned me not to be too dismissive of "youth appeal" films when I saw "Made in Hong Kong". First impressions were dreadful, slapdash hand-held camera stuff, washed out colours, tempo continuously at feverpitch and a plot I could barely follow - the last factor is something I recognise as a personal shortcoming if my interest is not initially aroused. I could not quite pinpoint at the time why I did not abandon there and then a film I was barely comprehending or why something afterwards tempted me to give it a second go. I was extremely glad I did as I think I achieved an insight into why such a film can work for young people. The three main characters are all so likeable. There is Moon the school dropout turned toughie, his sidekick a retard whom he protects called Sylvester and Ping the girl with a serious kidney disease whom they are both soft on. For all its violent rough cut trappings, "Made in Hong Kong" is an incredibly sentimental film about camaraderie of the "Kings Row" sort that my generation wallowed in and "Dead Poets Society" revered by the generation in between. It is that old "youth - death" thing all over again. My recognition and appreciation of this in a film initially as alien as "Made in Hong Kong" gives me hope that I can still keep in step.