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| All Images Courtesy 88 Films |
When most Hong Kong cinema fans hear the phrase “A Shaw Brothers Film,” they think of 1970s period-set martial arts action. But as 88 Films’ latest special edition in their 88 Asia Collection shows, there is so much more to Shaw Brothers than that, and while their groundbreaking martial arts films are surely their most iconic, they have a far more diverse library. 1983’s Hong Kong, Hong Kong is a naturalistic drama about the immigrant experience, which belongs squarely in the 1980s New Wave of Hong Kong cinema; according to the audio commentary on the disc, the only Hong Kong New Wave film produced at Shaw Brothers. Poignant, often dark and heavy, and undeniably sincere, it is a powerful film which rightly earned great acclaim upon its release, including the Best Screenplay honor at the Golden Horse awards (analogous to the Hong Kong Oscars). However, as is often the case with Hong Kong films of this era, Hong Kong, Hong Kong has gotten very limited distribution in the US, leading to it being a fairly little-known and underappreciated film here. Hopefully that will change thanks to 88 Films’ new blu-ray.
THE FILM:
Hong Kong, Hong Kong tells the story of two immigrants who have both come to Hong Kong hoping to find opportunity and a better life, but who instead find systemic oppression, and a society of power structures that are built so they cannot succeed. A young woman from mainland China (Cherie Chung) has come to Hong Kong illegally, hoping to escape the poverty of her home, but instead finds that she has been sex trafficked, and the only situations where she can make money or find a possible path out of poverty are situations where men want to use and exploit her sexually. A man from Thailand (Alex Man) has immigrated to Hong Kong legally, in hopes of succeeding as a boxer, but he finds that no matter what he does, he is a pawn in a rigged game where powerful men control situations where they will make a profit while he must always lose. The two repeatedly cross paths with each other through webs of luck and misfortune, and eventually fall in love, finding in their romance the one place of solace and happiness in each of their lives. They try to hatch plans to escape to a better life together, but it always feels as though the world is stacked against them because of their status as immigrants in a society where they are not welcome.
As you can imagine from that description, this is often quite a grim movie, which sees both of these very likable and sympathetic characters go through a lot of thoroughly awful situations. If you are looking for a Hong Kong romantic drama along the lines of another excellent Cherie Chung film An Autumn’s Tale (co-starring Chow Yun-fat, also released on blu-ray by 88 Films, in the UK), this is absolutely not it. The young woman’s story in particular can be very harrowing. But it never feels cruel for the sake of being cruel, never feels like misery porn, and certainly never feels exploitative. This is a very emotionally-focused human drama which seeks to explore in sincere ways the struggles, hardships, and types of exploitation that immigrants to Hong Kong, legal and illegal, go through. And crucially, the movie has a lot of heart and empathy, and also has plenty of moments of sweetness and hope in the scenes between the two lovers dreaming of a better life. Much like their immigrant experiences themselves, the movie has hope and heartbreak, beauty and horror, passionate love and sexual degradation, making us feel all the highs and lows as the characters experience them.
The film’s naturalistic empathy and complicated tone are captured perfectly by both the excellent performances by the two leads, and the stunning cinematography which makes the city of Hong Kong a character unto itself. The movie immediately makes a strong visual impression when it opens with the same iconic wide shot of the Hong Kong skyline looking out towards the bay that we have seen in many other films, but then the shot unexpectedly turns into a long, elaborate crane shot which eventually focuses in on our young woman protagonist walking down the street as she first arrives in the city. Not only is it a striking and technically impressive camera trick to move from a super-wide city skyline shot to a wide shot of a single person walking down the street in one long camera move, but it is a perfect visual metaphor for what the movie is doing, focusing on these two characters as microcosms of the immigrant experience. The whole film is beautifully shot, making the most of the movie’s locations to capture the beauty and grime of Hong Kong. The two leads, Cherie Chung and Alex Man, are excellent as well. Both deliver powerful, naturalistic performances, making the emotional journeys of both characters fully believable and very moving and tragic, while avoiding melodrama and striving for realism.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong was nominated for seven Golden Horse awards, including best actor and actress for Alex Man and Cherie Chung, best director for Clifford Choi, and best film. While it only won the one award for best screenplay, this goes to show how critically acclaimed the film was – and rightly so. And yet the film never previously got any distribution in the US, as far as I can tell; no VHS or DVD aside from Hong Kong-produced international export releases. A boutique release like this is long overdue, so the film can finally find greater appreciation here. While it definitely isn’t an easy or feel-good watch, it is an excellent film; a very good, very moving human drama from the 1980s golden age of Hong Kong cinema.
.jpg "Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1983) 88 Films Blu-Ray")
THE 88 FILMS BLU-RAY:
Hong Kong, Hong Kong makes its blu-ray debut in a 1080p restoration from the original camera negative, provided to 88 Films by Celestial Pictures. While some might be instinctively disappointed by the lack of a 4k restoration, fear not – this 1080p scan is excellent. Detail is strong, color and contrast look great, and the transfer has a very filmic appearance, with a healthy grain structure. The transfer absolutely does justice to the film’s gorgeous location cinematography. Likewise the original Cantonese mono track (the only audio option) sounds very clean and perfectly good. Those who want 4k UHD and Dolby Atmos may be disappointed that they won’t find such things here, but I am not a purist for such things – for a first-time-in-the-US release of a severely underseen 1983 Hong Kong classic, I think this presentation is very very good, and more than adequate.
As far as special features go, there are just a couple, but they are high-quality ones. The extras start out with an 18-minute interview with lead actor Alex Man, which is very interesting. He looks back at the start of his career in the late-1970s and early-80s (where among other things he starred in the original Cantonese-translation Hong Kong stage productions of Equus and Amadeus – definitely an interesting footnote) before moving on to his role in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and the success that came after. The other extra is an audio commentary by film journalist David West, author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film. The commentary is very informative, and gives a lot of information about the film and its place within the Shaw Brother catalogue, as one of their rare shot-on-location present-day dramas, as well as a late production for the studio which closed up shop two years later. It also gives a lot of very good historical background on Hong Kong, and the social and political strife it was experiencing in the 1980s and 90s in the shadow of the looming takeover by China in 1997 – the strife which was explored in many of the Hong Kong New Wave films, including this one. For those not overly familiar with the history, it is a good lesson. The commentary is a tad dry, and very academic, but fans of Hong Kong cinema, and especially anyone who enjoys Hong Kong, Hong Kong, will find it a rewarding listen.
Overall 88 Films has put together a very nice blu-ray package for Hong Kong, Hong Kong: a fantastic belated introduction to the film for America. The extras do a very good job of contextualizing the film as an early classic of the 1980s Hong Kong New Wave, and the transfer looks and sounds very good, and is a great way to experience the film for the first time. It is well overdue for this classic film to become accessible to American audiences, and 88 Films has made sure that its debut US disc is an appropriately good one.
- Christopher S. Jordan
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