Amanda Kool's Top Ten Hong Kong Movies
1. A BETTER TOMORROW, I, II and III
Gansterland, one two and three.
Okay, so I should separate them, yeah? The last one, is, of course the prequel. Can't do
it because then my top ten would be a top gazillion. So these three go together.
The slo-mo gunplay is simply amazing. You wanna talk about a ballet of death - this is the
film that turns a cinema shootout experience into art.
Carnage and blood decorate the screen, but never gratuitously (unlike Hardboiled,
my number 11 pick - if we were allowed. I *love* that film). Each death is important and
the good guys don't just get up after a hit. They are crippled, they live with the
repercussions; they die just when they are starting to make sense of it all.
Fantastic.
Brothers by blood
Enemies by chance
Killers by nature.
**Sigh**
2. SAVIOUR OF THE SOUL
I like this one, not because it's particularly brilliant, but because the story
is compelling and the hero (Ching, played by Andy Lau) will do anything - and I mean
anything - to reclaim the woman of his dreams (Kwan, played by Anita Mui).
Kwan and Ching are mercenaries who pit themselves against Silver Fox, a bad guy with
serious kick-ass powers. This film is just a good ride with much angst and action and
sacrifice to move it along.
I just love it when Ching kneels before the bad girl, Pet Lady, and shuffles across broken
shards of pottery to prove he will do anything for Kwan.
Don't make 'em like that anymore, do they?
Wow.
3. BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR I
The thing that bugged me about this film, even though it's one of my favs, is the
stupidity of Cho Yi hang (Leslie Cheung). He makes a promise to the woman he loves. How
sweet!
Then he breaks it and shit happens.
Then he spends the rest of his days on an icy mountain top where he waits for her return.
I love the film. I love Brigitte Lin in this, she's just so compelling in her anguish and
her vengeance.
I especially love the scene where Cho pulls out a dart with his teeth. Made my toes curl
in the nicest way…
The evil twins are just insane.
4. FORBIDDEN CITY COP
Just funny. Stephen Chiau plays Fat, a useless secret agent whose fascination
with inventions and gadgets (a la James Bond), are a source of contempt and amusement form
his fellow agents.
The beauty of this film is the relationship between Fat and his wife.
Sure, this is a comedy and with scenes like the alien autopsy, you just can't take
anything seriously, but the scenes between Fat and his wife are more touching that most
romance films.
He almost leaves Andy Lau for dead. :-)
5. GOD OF GAMBLERS I
This film is just beautiful and I never get sick of watching it. This is largely
due to the acting skill of Chow Yun-Fat, who gets to act like a suave gambler, then a
child, then a child playing a suave gambler, then a suave gambler, playing at being a
child, playing at being a suave gambler. Phew!
His performance is near-flawless in this film. Andy Lau plays a greedy and selfish hustler
who eventually finds a heart when he "adopts" Chocolate (Yun-Fat), the man with
a head injury who has an uncanny knack for card games…
Wonderful.
6. THE KILLER
It's a cliché to put this film here. Everyone loves it and the complexities of
character, morality and plotline have been discussed to the ends of the earth and back
again. It's all been said.
This film rules.
7. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA I, II, and III
Again, I can't separate these three.
They are simply brilliant films (though the second is a little slow), set against the
brilliant and lush backdrop of Southern China with impending British rule hanging over its
head like a cloud.
Wong Fei Hung (Jet Lee) is a gifted martial artist who tries to protect the town from the
hoards of gangs and protection rackets. The dialog and historical commentary of these
films are superb, but it is Fei Hung's inability to express his love for 13th Auntie
(Rosamund Kwan) that makes it such a joy.
By the third film, they are tentatively engaged, but he is still unable to look at her
without blushing or slipping quietly away. Her romance with him is portrayed beautifully
by the silhouettes of their shadows on the wall.
8. ONCE A THIEF
'Nuff said. Fantastic. Though I am detecting a certain Chow Yun-Fat flavor to my
choices, here… Art thieves, love triangles, action, romance, and tragedy. Only Chow
Yun-Fat could handle a wheel chair like he was in a Ferrari.
9. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
The words gritty and stark and realistic have been bandied about with this one
and that's an accurate description of the criminal backdrop.
I found, however that the warmth and loyalty displayed by the tight-knit group of police
detectives was the center of this film. As they follow the bloody trail of bodies left by
a particularly brutal gang thieves, their bond grows stronger, something the actors
portray with great skill.
Lau Ching Wan shines as Sam, almost as brightly as Simon Yam in this gorgeous picture and
that's no easy feat.
10. TREASURE HUNT
Okay, the wacky pick of the list. I don't know why (maybe because Chow Yun-Fat
looks particularly stunning?), but this film makes me go all gooey every time I watch it.
Even the Yanni music in the background doesn't hinder the enjoyment of this mystical film.
Directed by Ricky Lau, Treasure Hunt is a comedy about the arrogant Cheng (Yun-Fat) an
American agent who is forced to go back to China to bust a smuggling ring.
He soon finds himself in a Shaolin temple, looking for a "treasure" and falling
in love with Mei, a prisoner of the temple monks and a woman with very unusual abilities.
It just makes me sigh.
27 Jan 2000 © Amanda Kool
AMANDA KOOL works as a
technical writer at Open Software Associates in Australia. She also writes novels,
screenplays on various subjects and in various genres. She has also written the occasional
RPG scenario. Amanda has a one-eyed fish and does cardio kickboxing in her spare time.
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