投奔怒海
Drama
Hong Kong
Cantonese, English and Czech subtitles
Directing: Ann Hui
Starring: George Lam, Andy Lau, Cora Miao, Season Ma
Distributor: Edko Films
Guest: Ann Hui
The screening will be introduced by the director Ann Hui.
A Japanese photojournalist (George Lam) returns to post-war Vietnam to explore the country that is facing new challenges and, hopefully, a bright future. Or so he has been promised. But shortly after arrival he sees through official theses, propaganda slogans, and fragile peace. Vietnam is suffering. Taking photos of incidents without permission is prosecuted and reality cannot be further from government declarations.
This uncompromising portrait of post-war Vietnam is not only an important representative of Hong Kong New Wave, but of a global cinema, as well. Unlike filmmakers such as Tsui Hark or Johnnie To, Ann Hui’s picture is not a stylized genre film, it is rather a powerful socio-critical drama. She captures the misery of life in repressive regime and, above all, the power of people to resist it. Humanism is one of the most important issues in Hui’s work and Boat People is a great example of that – with empathy it shows human suffering, deconstructs political fabulations, and marks the path for Hong Kong social dramas in decades to come.
