Xiang Gang zhi zao (1997)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

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)

Bitter and Sweet

Being half Japanese, but never having visited any other Asian places like Hong Kong, I nevertheless saw a lot of similarities between the two cultures. Take for example the energy of millions of people living next to each other. This is something I saw in Tokyo and which I recognized in this movie as well. This energy, together with the typical asian summerheat, is felt throughout the whole movie and made me both unease as well as more alert. It gives you the sense anything can happen and you have to watch out. This has everything to do with this movie, since it depicts Hongkong as a jungle where only the fittest survive. Fittest in this context means ruthless and not caring for others. The main character, a teenager and gangmember, does just this and this will prove to be fatal to him. He protects a mentally handicapped boy and falls in love with an terminally ill girl and he even offers her his kidney (which she refuses). Another similarity between the Hongkong and Japanese culture that I noticed, is the innocence and spontaneity with which the young Asians act. Europeans tend to be more serious and worry about life, whereas these guys just have fun and enjoy the moment, 'carpe diem'. This motive contrasts with the more tragic moments in the movie. Life is just like that though; it's bitter