Heung Gong jai jo

Hong Kong 1997, 108 min.

Cantonese with English and Czech subtitles

director: Fruit Chan Goh

starring: Sam Lee Chan-Sam, Wenders Li Tung-Chuen, Neiky Yim Hui-Chi, Amy Tam Ka-Chuen, Carolina Lam Kit-Fong, Chan Tai-Yee, Siu Chung, Doris Chow Yin-Wa

distributor: CEC

A cult film produced by superstar Andy Lau and made on leftover film stock, originated as a reflection of sentiments in a society at the Hong Kong Handover to China in 1997. The story focuses on a trio of teenagers who have their entire lives ahead, but know there is no bright future. A distracted style and colourful, bright shots capture the modern metropolis frantically moving forward, while the characters represent hundreds of thousands of people from the lowest classes who can only dream of the glittering opulent life they see in commercials and films. The movie, brimming with critical perspective and scathing irony, is both a tribute to all social outcasts as well as a fascinating testimony of a torn and bleak era.