Jeff Harris's Top Ten Hong Kong Movies
I kept my Top Ten selection in alphabetical order. It was impossible to
sort them into some numerical order. I grind my teeth at all the wonderful films I had to
exclude -- ten is too small a number to put all the good films in.
A CHINESE GHOST STORY 1 & 2*
A CHINESE ODYSSEY 1 & 2 {CINDARELLA
& PANDORA'S BOX respectively)*
DRAGON GATE INN (Dir. King Hu, 1972)
FONG SAI YUK
HIGH RISK
I HAVE A DATE WITH SPRING
LOVE IN A TIME OF TWILIGHT
LOVE ON DELIVERY
RED DUST (1988)
SEX AND ZEN
*: The story in these films continues over both parts. With ACGS,
the first film can stand-alone, while ACO is definitely a two-part narrative and
is only complete when seen together. ACGS 2 builds on the story of the first
film.
4 Feb 2000 © Jeff Harris
JEFF HARRIS is an Adelaide person who developed an interest in China
by reading Han Suyin. Enjoyed the burst of Bruce Lee kung-fu
films in the mid-seventies, but was bowled over the beautiful Angela Mao. When he saw King
Hu's The Death of Lee Khan at an Australian Film Institute screening,
this was the true beginning of his love affair with Hong Kong cinema. A season of Hong
Kong films shown in the early nineteen-eighties helped tie the knot, especially the
wonderfully insane period fantasy comedy-actioner, Battle Wizards which may be
the early Danny Lee Sau-Yin, Battle Wizard (1977). Watching the
magnificent TV serial Empress Wu starring the delightful Fung Bo-Bo
on SBS was a brilliant introduction to style, conventions, cliches, and presentation of
Hong Kong cinema. Also, they have shown King Hu's wonderful films such as Dragon Gate
Inn and A Touch of Zen, and the witty comedies of Michael Hui.
He is proud to say he saw both Red Dust (1988) and Inpspector Wears Skirts 2
(1988) on the big screen in Hong Kong. Two truly magnificent cinematic events. Lin
Ching-Xia and Maggie Cheung Yuk-Man both ignite the screen when
they appear together in Red Dust. Hong Kong cinema remains the most vigorous,
energetic and inventive in the world.
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