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Asian cinema: Chinese films

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Asian cinema: Chinese films
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Asian cinema: Chinese films. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Joe Wong poses for a portrait after his Joe Wong: The Twin Tariff Show in Hong Kong. Photo: Alexander Mak

Joe Wong, Ronny Chieng and the rise of Asian voices in comedy

Asian comedians were once forced to resort to stereotypes to find a platform – but a wave of pioneering stars is changing that.

Reading Time:8 minutes
Lam Lau with his son Aidan at Lau Kee Boat Noodles in Hong Kong, which has been in business since 1981. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

How a vanishing Hong Kong boat culture has kept its cuisine afloat

Reading Time:7 minutes
A sliding wall shrinks or expands the living area and guest room at this flat in West Kowloon designed by Norman Ung, co-founder of design studios Form and Design Eight Five Two (Deft). Photo: Eugene Chan

Rooms in this flat flex and contract to suit different needs

Reading Time:3 minutes
The study of a lawyer’s dream flat in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong, with interior design by Win Key Workshop. Photo: Eugene Chan; Styling: Flavia Markovits

Dream flat in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay a fortuitous find

Reading Time:4 minutes
Christmas lights on Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong, in 1981. Photo: SCMP Archives

How a washing machine inspired Hong Kong’s most magical Christmas lights

Reading Time:4 minutes
A picture of a young Teresa Teng in Bangkok from The Story of Teresa Teng by Billy. A former employee of the Chiang Mai hotel where she lived and died reveals what happened on the day she died in 1995. Photo: The Story of Teresa Teng by Billy

The day Teresa Teng died in Thailand – what the butler saw

Reading Time:12 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Gigi Leung in a still from football-themed Hong Kong family comedy Pass and Goal (category IIA, Cantonese), directed by Jill Wong. Peter Chan and Ling Man-lung co-star.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Pass and Goal: Gigi Leung leads football-themed Hong Kong family comedy

Pass and Goal, starring Gigi Leung and newcomer Chau Tsz-yuet, defies expectations with its feel-good story, good acting and funny dialogue.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | The bold reinvention of 1990s Hong Kong sex symbol Veronica Yip

Chinese language cinema

Review | Good Autumn, Mommy: Shu Qi anchors gritty Chinese rural drama

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 female action stars who ruled Hong Kong cinema alongside Michelle Yeoh

Like Michelle Yeoh, female fighters Cynthia Rothrock, Kara Hui and Shih Szu starred in their own must-see Hong Kong action classics.

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Kara Hui Ying-hung (left) and Hsiao Hou in a still from My Young Auntie (1981)
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

‘We have this gift’: Hong Kong film shows healing power of city’s nature

Never Too Late shows how four Hongkongers found balance and freedom in the city’s natural spaces and why people should cherish its beauty.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Was Chow Yun-fat’s mainland Chinese film career a success or a flop?

We look at five films that Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat made in mainland China, with roles including a sleazy con man and Confucius.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Under Current: Aaron Kwok, Francis Ng seek justice in fun but silly thriller

This Hong Kong tale of greed and corruption is a watchable portrait of greed and corruption, but it is also thoroughly detached from reality.

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Aaron Kwok in a still from Under Current (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Alan Mak. Francis Ng and Alex Fong co-star.
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Cantopop icon Alan Tam: from Leslie Cheung’s rival to fans smashing albums

‘Principal Tam’ ruled Cantopop in the late 1970s and ’80s but later vexed fans with his offstage actions. Still, he’s going strong today.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Road to Vendetta: Jeffrey Ngai plays an assassin in his first lead role

A John Wick-inspired action thriller co-produced by Hong Kong and Japan, Road to Vendetta is a textbook case of style over substance.

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Asian cinema

Want to find solace in film? 10 movies that may offer catharsis and hope

Following last week’s tragic fire at a Tai Po estate in Hong Kong, we look at films in which humanity endures through the darkest of hours.

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Arata Iura (left) and Ryo in a still from Distance (2001), which was conceived in the aftermath of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, carried out in March 1995 by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Johnnie To redefined Hong Kong’s gangster genre with 3 mid-2000s classics

Exiled, Mad Detective and Sparrow show the director at his eclectic best, mixing violence, humour and chaos.

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Anthony Wong in a still from Johnnie To’s 2006 movie Exiled. Photo: Tang Chak Shun
European cinema

British film about Hong Kong immigrants showed grim reality of their new lives

Soursweet (1988), about a Hong Kong family’s UK struggles, was a progressive film, despite the narrative controlled by its British makers.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Someone Like Me: Fish Liew shines as a disabled woman seeking sex

This daring Hong Kong-set drama follows a woman with cerebral palsy who wishes to experience sex before having a hysterectomy.

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US-China relations

Ne Zha-Transformers collaboration set to air as US-China frictions ease

Long-awaited shared animated universe of ‘My Ne Zha and Transformers’ seen as fresh symbol of cooperation between the nations.

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My Ne Zha and Transformers, due to debut on CCTV’s Children’s Channel on December 6, will see the popular boy deity join forces with the Autobots in a rare fusion of an American commercial franchise and Chinese folklore. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Bruce Lee hit the big time and other Hong Kong cinema highlights from 1972

Amid Bruce Lee’s rise to stardom, we look at what else made Hong Kong film headlines in 1972, from a Lee challenger to a local ‘Bond Girl’.

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury. The 1972 movie cemented the martial arts actor’s superstar status in the Hong Kong cinema industry. Photo: Criterion Collection
China’s film industry

Letters | Jackson Yee sets benchmark for young actors with Best Actor win

Readers laud the Chinese actor’s dedication to his craft and warn of a crisis of the mind in the age of AI.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Golden Boy: Louis Cheung anchors hot-blooded yet generic boxing drama

Cheung’s eye-catching central performance is the highlight of Joe Chan’s mildly entertaining drama co-starring Leander Lau and Eric Tsang.

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Chinese language cinema

Why it took Sean Baker’s producer 20 years to make her debut Left-Handed Girl

Tsou Shih-ching’s directorial debut, a heartfelt Taiwanese drama, was born from a moment of childhood guilt when her grandfather scolded her.

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Nina Ye (front) and Ma Shih-yuan in a still from Left-Handed Girl.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 Hong Kong romance films that pushed the boundaries

Sci-fi story Saviour of the Soul, fantasy tale Anna Magdalena and the provocative Isabella went outside the norm for Hong Kong romances.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Against All Odds: Hong Kong-set WWII thriller punches above its weight

A downed US pilot’s rescue entwines with a plot to assassinate a Japanese official in a gripping, intimate WWII thriller set in Hong Kong.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong’s 1985 horror film The Island was a rare gorefest

This brutal horror story about a field trip to a remote island inhabited by three crazed brothers was a rare outlier for Hong Kong cinema.

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John Sham (front) in a still from gory Hong Kong horror film The Island (1985), directed by Leong Po-chih.
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How actor Anthony Wong survived terrible films, ‘shut out’ by mainland China

From humble beginnings, Anthony Wong overcame adversity to become one of Hong Kong’s top actors and a man unafraid to speak out.

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Actor Anthony Wong stays active in local theatre and collaborates with filmmakers. Photo: Felix Wong
Asian cinema

Can’t get enough of Another World? 10 animated films set in the afterlife

If you liked Another World, you will love these 10 afterlife animations, with subjects from rabbits and dogs to a pianist and a corpse bride.

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Malaysia

‘I’m ashamed’: friend of Iris Hsieh regrets Namewee collaboration

Vivian Hsieh criticised Malaysian rapper Namewee’s silence after Iris Hsieh’s death, amid his drug charges; he denies involvement, claiming blackmail.

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Japan

Chinese film 731’s historical hiccups eclipse anti-Japanese fears

Despite fears of the film, about a Japanese biochemical unit, stoking anti-Japan backlash, audience criticism came from plot inaccuracies.

People look at a poster of the film “Evil Unbound” at the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. Photo: Xinhua
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Chan Koon-tai, Bruce Lee’s counterpart, wowed with his kung fu skills

Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers Studio made Chan their answer to Lee in the 1970s. Here are 2 films that put his martial arts prowess to good use.

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Chan Koon-tai in a still from Man of Iron (1972). The Hong Kong actor, known more for his kung fu skills than his looks, became a big star in the 1970s.
American cinema

The story of A Great Wall – the first American film shot in China

Peter Wang’s 1986 comedy-drama A Great Wall, which was filmed in San Francisco and Beijing, was better received in the US than in China.

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Chinese language cinema

Review | 96 Minutes: train bomb thriller forgoes excitement for life lessons

This overcomplicated tale of a bomb on a train overflows with guilt, life lessons and earnest emotions without much of a conclusion.

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