Trish Maunder's Top Ten Hong Kong Movies
If I had been born in the Year of the Dragon or the Tiger, my fascination
with China might make sense but, alas, I was born in the Year of the Pig (how
flattering!). No matter, Bruce Lee has the power to draw anyone in. I watched his films
over and over as a kid, setting the scene for my fascination with Hong Kong cinema. It
hasn’t been an uninterrupted passion, however, as my teen years and early 20s saw me
stray from the true path. Seeing dodgy efforts like Green Snake didn’t help!
Thank Buddha for Jet Li, then! Seeing him in the Once Upon a Time in China films
sucked me right back in. His classy kung-fu and stoic heroism as characters like Wong Fei
Hung set me on a mission to see all his films, which rapidly snowballed into catching up
with years of great Hong Kong cinema.
My list is in chronological order as it’s impossible to set these
films out in order of merit.
FIST OF FURY (1972)
Bruce Lee’s second starring role, and it shows his efforts before and behind
the camera at a much more finely tuned level than his first major outing (The Big Boss)
but with less of the dubious Hollywood influence seen in the two Dragon films that
followed. It’s still a bit hokey but Bruce’s aura (especially on the big screen)
is one of the most magic things in Hong Kong cinema.
A BETTER TOMORROW (1986)
The film that established John Woo’s heroic bloodshed style, and probably
its finest interpretation despite the glories of films like The Killer and Hard
Boiled (both of which I would have liked to include but wanted a balance of styles
and talents). Woo’s story and direction is sublime in its simplicity, but would not
have come off nearly as well without the man who became his on-screen alter-ego, the
ultra-charismatic Chow Yun Fat. Nobody can top Mr Chow as a two-fisted gun-toting,
ice-cool hero. Like anyone with a taste for Hong Kong, I love the flower pot massacre
scene.
GOD OF GAMBLERS (1989)
Chow Yun Fat is best known for his grim Woo-esque roles, but as his performance
in the title role shows, he’s also adept at boyish comedy. One of hundreds of films
made by the highly successful and unashamedly commercial director Wong Jing, it began a
craze for gambling films - two good reasons to include it in a distinctively Hong Kong top
10. Seeing an amusingly youthful Andy Lau is another.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 2 (1992)
One of the finest films in the period martial art movie revival of the late
‘80s and early ‘90s, and my choice as the best in the OUATIC series (by
a whisker from one and three). Jet Li’s amazing wushu action and modest heroism as
Wong Fei Hung in these films was the fuel that reignited my interest in Hong Kong cinema.
He’s my kinda hero! This film also gets a guernsey because no Hong Kong top 10 would
be complete without a film by Tsui Hark.
FONG SAI YUK (1993)
I prefer Jet as the stoic hero, but he’s enormously charming and funny in
this rare chance to tackle a comic role. His martial arts skills are obviously also a
treat - I’ve watched his perfect execution of the crane stance in the amazing fight
with the heroine’s ma about a hundred times in slow motion. His skills look so good
because of the moves you miss with the naked eye. He also looks pretty cute in drag (but
not as cute as in Doc Wai!). Josephine Siao is also fabulous as his feisty mum.
THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (1993)
The craze for historical kung-fu films in the late ‘80s and early '90s ran
concurrently with the sword-and-sorcery frenzy. This is widely regarded as one of the
finest examples of the genre, and there’s no arguments from me. A mixture of
spectacular, wire-enhanced action and gorgeous cinematography, it also boasts two of the
'90s most attractive and charismatic stars, Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin. No list of
this kind would be complete without the amazing Brigitte (though I like her better as the
gender-switching Invincible Asia in the Swordsman films).
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS (1996)
An early outing for young gun actor Ekin Cheng and a whole bunch of attractive
new Gen-Xers whose names I don’t know (but no doubt Mark can tell you if you want to
know!). Also an early effort for ace director Andrew Lau who has teamed up with Cheng to
good effect on several occasions. This series of films is all about mood and looking good,
and in my view it gets 10 out of 10 for moody good looks! And the clothes look pretty
sharp too!
FORBIDDEN CITY COP (1996)
A Hong Kong cinema top 10 would be a shameful thing without a film by the most
popular comedian in Asia, Stephen Chiau. This is the first of his films that I saw, and
despite the further hysterics in outings like King of Comedy and Tricky
Master, it remains my favourite. I love his facial expressions and, especially in
this spoof of the historical martial arts genre and Bond films, his ability to make fun of
popular culture from both East and West.
THE STORM RIDERS (1998)
Andrew Lau and Ekin Cheng team up again for this box-office champion, but this
time it’s the blue-haired Aaron Kwok who gets to look moody. This is a landmark Hong
Kong film: it was a pioneering step toward high production values and fancy CGI to
counteract the downward spiral of the cheap and shonky stuff that had become the staple of
the region’s cinema. I also equate it with the 1983 film Zu: Warriors from the
Magic Mountain in its brave leap into Western special effects. A welcome return of
the out-of-fashion sword-and-sorcery genre where anything is possible, and my Hong Kong
film of 1998.
RUNNING OUT OF TIME (1999)
Another example of the Hong Kong film industry's new focus on quality over
quantity, this taut cops'n'robbers thriller was my favourite Hong Kong film of 1999. It
pits Andy Lau's noble jewel thief against a tough, obsessive cop played by Lau Ching Wan,
an actor who has become one of my favourite stars thanks to brilliant performances in
films like Full Alert and Expect the Unexpected. He may be the
inspiration for Andy to act rather than rely on those stunning cheek bones. Or maybe It
was ace director Johnny To.
2 Feb 2000 © Trish Maunder
TRISH MAUNDER is a journalist for The Age and for the Fairfax CitySearch websites (as the
national film editor, but unfortunately the muddled state of Chinese cinemas in this
country means that she doesn’t get to write about Hong Kong films as often as she
would like!). She went to China in 1998, including Hong Kong, and plans to return in May
this year. She has been learning Mandarin since mid-1999, and hopes to use it to speak to
Jet one day!
