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Richard James Havis

In 1997, independent filmmaking as it is usually thought of did not exist in Hong Kong. Smaller companies would usually broker funding deals with the big studios like Golden Harvest and Media Asia. Digital technology, which cuts filmmaking costs, had not yet arrived on the scene.
So when Fruit Chan Gor’s thoroughly independent Made In Hong Kong arrived, it was like a bolt from the blue.
“From out of nowhere comes Made in Hong Kong, a gritty, energetic romp that is everything an independent film should be,” this writer said in the Post in September 1997.
“Made in Hong Kong is both witty and pointed, and manages to place its finger on the pulse of Hong Kong youth in the way few commercial films ever could.”


Chan’s film, which also featured the debut of actor Sam Lee Chan-sam, is set in a grim public housing estate, where the residents are continually harassed by triads and loan sharks.
Lee plays Autumn Moon, a teenager who collects money for the triads. During one such visit, Moon meets and falls in love with a girl who needs a kidney transplant.
Romance meets ghost story in Hong Kong movie masterpiece Rouge
To help her pay for the transplant, he decides to take on a hit for his triad boss. But the film ends with Moon’s wholesale rejection of the triad way of life.
Chan was well known as an assistant director before he shot Made in Hong Kong, his third film as director.
Friends in the industry, including Andy Lau Tak-wah, contributed money and film stock so that the film could remain independent.
It’s a gloomy view of Hong Kong, but it’s one that is genuinely felt by me and my peers
Fruit Chan, film director
Made in Hong Kong first saw success abroad, winning a Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, and Chan didn’t think it would get a commercial release in Hong Kong. But it did, and the movie went on to win best picture and best director at the 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards, and launch durable careers for both Chan and Lee.
The conversation below with Chan, conducted by this writer, took place in Hong Kong just after the film’s Locarno win.
The film’s depiction of Hong Kong daily life is very grim. It’s far different to the glamorous way the Chinese Special Administrative Region is usually portrayed in local films.
It’s a gloomy view of Hong Kong, but it’s one that is genuinely felt by me and my peers. It’s this sense of helplessness that prompted me to make the film.

There’s been a lot of talk in the press recently about the fact that films like Young and Dangerous, which feature trendy and glamorous triads, are bad for kids. Was that behind your decision to show triad life as grimy and unpleasant?
Yes, last year the Young and Dangerous movies did very well at the box office. Parents even took their kids to see these movies and didn’t show any signs of shame about doing it. Everyone enjoyed them, but that’s the wrong direction to be heading in.
With this story, I wanted to tell the truth about that lifestyle. I wanted to tell a story which sincerely discussed these people’s problems, and I didn’t want the young gangster to end up as a hero at the end.

Why did you decide to take the independent route for this film?
I thought that making this film for a film company would be difficult. Film bosses always want to change you ideas around. They always tell you to add more violence and action scenes. I didn’t want to go through all that.
It’s easy for me to shoot action scenes, I know how to do it, but I didn’t want anybody to control me, to change my ideas. So I decided to make the film myself.


I heard that the local film community was very supportive.
Yes, they were. Andy Lau Tak-wah game me 12,000 metres of unused film stock, some friends gave me money, and others in the industry, like cinematographer O Sing-pui, donated their talents.
The film was shot for a low HK$600,000. Apart from shooting on location in public housing developments, what did you do to keep your costs down?
I saved money by collecting bits of discarded film stock from other projects I was working on. I used a small crew of five, and an amateur cast that I found myself.

Is that how you found Sam Lee? He is dynamite in this film, considering that he had never acted before.
I found Sam while I was walking along the street. I noticed him on his skateboard – he’s a great skateboarder – and thought he would be just right for the role. At first he didn’t want to do it, but finally he agreed.
We needed a lot of time for rehearsals and he spent a month on it. He would come to the office after school, or after his job, and we would work. He was very shy to start with but, very slowly, he got used to working with us. He overcame his fear. It was a good experience for him.

The film is a critique of the Hong Kong education system, and Moon says as much in his opening monologue.
Moon is a very realistic character. In Hong Kong, the education system is very bad. After [secondary school] Year Three, you must pass an examination to get to Year Four. If you fail that exam, that’s it for you – you will not be qualified to do anything.
So a young person who fails the exam just plays on a football field or chases girls – or follows the triad bosses. The triads use these guys to do things for them, especially on the crowded public housing estates.
How classic film Made in Hong Kong found its way to US cinemas
You also address social issues like the fact that it’s very easy for a married Hong Kong man working in mainland China to get a mainland girlfriend and support her, and even a second family, over the border.
Hong Kong changed a lot between the 1980s and the 1990s. The economy changed, and many businesses moved to China.
If a Hong Kong man moves to China to work in a factory, he will be able to get a mistress very cheaply and easily, as many Chinese girls are poor. A second wife in China can cost as little as HK$2,000 a month.
Suddenly, because of this, families started to break up. The family break-ups caused by this have had a big influence on young people.

Do you think you will get a commercial release for Made In Hong Kong here at home?
I would like to see it receive a commercial release as I want more people to see it. It’s difficult to see independent movies here. Even when the Arts Development Council put up some money for three to four independent movies, they still only played at the [Hong Kong] Arts Centre.
Commercial distributors do not feel works like ours are marketable enough to the general public. For independent filmmaking to take off in Hong Kong, the public will have to be given more chances to see these kind of films.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry.
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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan’s take on grim reality of 1997 for many in the city, and how the groundbreaking independent film was conceived

Sam Lee in a still from Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Focus Films Limited

Sam Lee in a still from Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan’s 1997 film about the grim reality of life for many people in Hong Kong. Photo: Golden Scene

(From left) Wenders Li, Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in a still from Made in Hong Kong.

Fruit Chan (centre), winner of Best Director and Best Picture at the 3rd Golden Bauhinia Awards Ceremony, alongside actors Neiky Yim (left) and Sam Lee, in 1998. Photo: SCMP

Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in a still from Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Golden Scene

Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Nicetop Independent

A change from Jackie Chan and Jet Li – Beast Cops’ Gordon Chan on how directing the Hong Kong gangs vs police film was not like his previous work

A still from Beast Cops. Photo: Handout

(From left) Sam Lee, Anthony Wong and Michael Wong in a still from Beast Cops, a Mong Kok-set gangs vs police action drama directed by Gordon Chan.

Best actress Sandra Ng Kwan-yu (left) and best actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang with their awards at the 18th annual Hong Kong Film Awards in 1999. Ng starred in Portland Street Blues and Wong in Beast Cops. Photo: SCMP

Jet Li in a still from Fist of Legend, the 1994 film directed by Gordon Chan.

Michael Wong (front) in a still from Beast Cops.

Directors Gordon Chan (left) and Dante Lam, pictured in 2006. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Anthony Wong, Kathy Chow and Michael Wong in a still from Beast Cops.

Anthony Wong in a still from Beast Cops.

Brigitte Lin’s first gender-neutral role, Sally Yeh’s butch Beijing Opera performer make Tsui Hark’s 1986 period comedy Peking Opera Blues highly enjoyable

Peking Opera Blues starring Brigitte Lin remains an enjoyable tale of espionage, Chinese opera and gender bending. Mark Cheng (left) and Brigitte Lin in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Playwright Raymond To Kwok-wai, pictured in 1994, was the screenwriter behind both Shanghai Blues and Peking Opera Blues. Photo: SCMP

Sally Yeh (left) in a still from Shanghai Blues, which was released two years before Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

(From left) Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung and Sally Yeh in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Tsui Hark, posing beside the poster for another of his movies, A Better Tomorrow III, in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Brigitte Lin (right) in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Likened to Hollywood hit Love Story, this film beat Jackie Chan, Jet Li at the Hong Kong box office in 1993

Anita Yuen (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri.

Anita Yuen (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from C’est la Vie, Mon Cheri. It beat films starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li to become a box-office hit in 1993. Photo: courtesy of LCSD 

Film director Derek Yee Tung-sing giving a thank-you speech after being awarded the best director prize at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards for his film, “C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri”. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri.

Winners at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards pose for a group picture. From left in the first row are best supporting actor Paul Chun Pui, best actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang, best actress Anita Yuen Wing-yee, best supporting actress Fung Bo-bo and best director Derek Yee Tung-shing. With the exception of Wong, all the others worked on C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri. Photo: SCMP

How Running Out of Time, starring Andy Lau and Lau Ching-wan, helped shape the ‘Johnnie To Cinematic Universe’

Andy Lau in a still from Johnnie To’s Running Out of Time (1999).

Andy Lau, pictured with Helena Law at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000, where he was named best actor for his role in Running Out of Time. Photo: SCMP

A still from The Mission (1999).

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Andy Lau in a still from Running Out of Time (1999).

Johnnie To in his Kwun Tong office in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Ekin Cheng in a still from Running Out of Time 2.

Fallen Angels: Wong Kar-wai on casting Leon Lai, Michele Reis, Charlie Yeung and Karen Mok against type in 1995 film

Michele Reis and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels. Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Leon Lai in a still from Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels, the 1995 film that was almost part of Chungking Express.

Wong Kar-wai in front of a promotional poster for Fallen Angels in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Fallen Angels.

Leon Lai (left) and Michele Reis in a still from Fallen Angels.

Michele Reis in a still from Fallen Angels.

(Clockwise from top left) Charlie Yeung, Michele Reis, Leon Lai and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Fallen Angels.

Leon Lai plays a hitman in a still from Fallen Angels.

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Arts

Culture

Film & TV

Classic Hong Kong cinema

Classic Hong Kong cinema: John Woo on action, violence, influences, growing up in poverty and working in Hollywood in 1997 interview

Legendary Hong Kong action film director John Woo in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Famous Hong Kong action film director John Woo talks about his life and work in a 1997 interview. Photo: SCMP

John Travolta (top) and Nicolas Cage in a still from Face/Off.

John Woo during an interview in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Tony Leung (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Hard Boiled (1991), directed by Woo.

Woo (left) shakes hands with actor Tom Cruise at a photo call in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2000.

Danny Lee (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from The Killer, a 1989 film directed by John Woo.

Woo in his office in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Woo on the set of Red Cliff, with actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.

How Ringo Lam crime thriller Full Alert mixed realistic action on Hong Kong streets with premonition of 1997 handover

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Full Alert.

Lau Ching-wan hunting down an escaped robber in the mean streets (Bird Street) of Mong Kok in Ringo Lam’s 1997 movie Full Alert.

Ringo Lam, pictured in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Francis Ng in a still from Full Alert.

Amanda Lee (front) in a still from Full Alert. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

Francis Ng in a still from Full Alert.

Ringo Lam in an interview with the Post in 1997. Photo: SCMP

Hong Kong’s first art-house film, Cecille Tong Shu-shuen’s The Arch, starring Crazy Rich Asians’ Lisa Lu Yan, was ahead of its time

Lisa Lu in a still from Cecille Tong Shu-shuen’s The Arch (1970), considered to be Hong Kong’s first art-house film.

Cecille Tong and members of her staff at Joss, the Chinese restaurant she runs on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Lisa Lu, who starred in The Arch and The Empress Dowager, poses with her daughter Lucia Hwong in 1978. Photo: SCMP

Lisa Lu in a still from The Arch.

Promotional stills for Sup Sap Bup Dup (1975), directed by Tong.

A scene from the 1974 film China Behind, directed by Tong.

How Bruce Lee’s Way of the Dragon made Chuck Norris a star with their fight in Rome’s Colosseum, and what the film showed about Lee’s directing

Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon (1972). Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon (1972), which he starred in and directed. Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee as Ah Lung (front) and Nora Miao as Chen Ching Hua in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: Golden Harvest

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: LCSD

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: Criterion Collection

Maggie Cheung in her own words, on Wong Kar-wai and In the Mood for Love, marrying Olivier Assayas and being an actress, not just a film star

Interview with award-winning actress Maggie Cheung Man-yuk at Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Maggie Cheung at an interview with the Post in 2001. Photo: SCMP.

Maggie Cheung (left) and Cherie Chung in a still from Prince Charming (1984).

Maggie Cheung (left) and Andy Lau in a still from As Tears Go By (1988).

Maggie Cheung in a still from the 1996 film Irma Vep.

Maggie Cheung (left) and Tony Leung in a still from In the Mood for Love (2000).

Peter Chan’s early films, featuring the two Tony Leungs and Maggie Cheung, were a breath of fresh air in Hong Kong

Anita Yuen (left) and Leslie Cheung in a still from He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994).

A promotional image of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father (1993), starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai (first from right) and Tony Leung Ka-fai (second from right). Peter Chan Ho-sun’s early films “have an international, almost placeless feel” despite their local issues and references.

Film director Peter Chan Ho-sun in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Eric Tsang (left) and Leslie Cheung in a still from He’s a Woman, She’s a Man, the 1994 film directed by Peter Chan.

Romance meets ghost story in Hong Kong movie masterpiece Rouge, starring Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung and directed by Stanley Kwan

Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung in a still from Rouge.

Leslie Cheung and Anita in a still from Rouge (1988), directed by Stanley Kwan, in which she plays a 1930s courtesan who returns 50 years later as a ghost seeking her lover, played by Cheung.

Anita Mui (centre) alongside Alex Man (left) and Elaine Chu in a still from Rouge.

Stanley Kwan in an interview with the Post in 1988. Photo: SCMP.

Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung in Rouge.

Why Boat People, starring Andy Lau and George Lam, Ann Hui’s hit film about post-war Vietnam, displeased the Chinese and French authorities

Andy Lau as To Minh in a still from Boat People (1982). Ann Hui intended the film to tell a human story that explained why refugees were fleeing Vietnam. Hong Kong film-goers saw it as an allegory of the city’s future under Chinese rule. Photo: Bluebird Film Company

George Lam (left) and Season Ma in a still from Boat People. Photo: Bluebird Film Company

Ann Hui won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 77th Venice Film Festival in 2020. Photo: Reuters

A still from Boat People showing Vietnamese military personnel in the streets.

Andy Lau as To Minh (left) and George Lam as Akutagawa in a still from Boat People.

Andy Lau as To Minh in a still from Boat People.

What they said about In the Mood For Love: director Wong Kar-wai and stars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung on filming the romantic drama

Maggie Cheung in a still from In The Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-wai. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung (left), Maggie Cheung and director Wong Kar-wai during the promotion for In the Mood For Love in Cannes, in 2000. Photo: AFP/Jack Guez

Maggie Cheung in a still from In the Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung in a still from In The Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung (left) and Zhang Ziyi in a still from 2046. Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in a still from In the Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Jackie Chan focused on ‘real kung fu’ in Drunken Master II in reaction to shoddy ‘wire fu’ martial arts films of the early 90s

Jackie Chan in a still from Drunken Master II (1994). The movie focused heavily on real kung fu by real martial artists, as an antidote to the slew of shoddy ‘wire fu’ movies in the early 1990s.

Jackie Chan at an interview with the Post in 1994. Photo: SCMP

Jackie Chan in a still from Drunken Master (1978). Photo: Golden Harvest

Jackie Chan (left) on the set of Drunken Master II.

Jackie Chan (right) and Felix Wong in a still from Drunken Master II (1994).

Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle were not the films that made the Hong Kong comedian famous – so which ones did?

Stephen Chow as Trinket in a still from the film Royal Tramp.

Stephen Chow (left) and Ng Man-tat in a still from Royal Tramp. Critics called Chow 
 “the finest Hong Kong comedian of his generation” and “Hong Kong’s hottest actor” of the 1990s.

Stephen Chow at an interview with the Post in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Stephen Chow at a film shoot in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Ng Man-tat (left) and Stephen Chow in a still from All for the Winner.

Stephen Chow (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from From Beijing with Love.

Gong Li (left) and Stephen Chow pose for photographers to promote The Flirting Scholar in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Stephen Chow in a still from Shaolin Soccer.

‘I am not Jackie Chan or Chow Yun-fat’: Hong Kong actor Lau Ching-wan on why Hollywood doesn’t need him, bad guy roles, and The Godfather

Lau Ching-wan during an interview with the Post in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan during an interview with the Post in 1996. He reveals why he measures his English comprehension against The Godfather and why Hollywood does not need him. Photo: SCMP.

Leon Lai (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from A Hero Never Dies (1998).

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Full Alert (1997).

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri (1993).

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Too Many Ways to be Number One.

Lau Ching-wan (third from left) in a still from Big Bullet (1996), directed by Benny Chan.

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Lifeline (1997).

Lau Ching-wan and his wife, Amy Kwok, pose for photographers on the red carpet of the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2013. Photo: SCMP

What they said about The Killer: director John Woo and stars Chow Yun-fat and Sally Yeh on shooting the classic Hong Kong action movie

Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee in a still from The Killer (1989), directed by John Woo.

Chow Yun-fat (right) as the hitman Ah Jong and Danny Lee as Detective Li Ying in a still from The Killer (1989), directed by John Woo.

Chow Yun-fat plays hitman Ah Jong in a still from The Killer.

John Woo in his Hong Kong office, pictured in 1993. Photo: SCMP.

Sally Yeh as Jennie the nightclub singer and Danny Lee as Detective Li Ying in a still from The Killer.

Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from The Killer.

Chow Yun-fat in a still from The Killer.

Hong Kong horror cinema, from kung fu ghost movies to adults-only shockers like the human flesh eaters of The Untold Story

A still from Mr Vampire (1985). Produced by Sammo Hung, the film about reanimated corpses spawned a series of sequels and imitators. Photo: Golden Harvest

A still from Encounter of the Spooky Kind (1980). The Sammo Hung film was one of the first Cantonese-language productions to successfully blend comedy, kung fu and Chinese superstition. Photo: Fortune Star Media

A still from Mr Vampire (1985).

A still from The Enchanting Shadow (1960).

Simon Yam in a still from Dr Lamb (1992).

Martial arts movies, erotica, lavish period dramas – Hong Kong filmmakers Chor Yuen and Li Hanxiang could turn their hand to many genres

Ti Lung (centre) and Lo Lieh (right) in a still from The Magic Blade (1976), directed by Chor Yuen. Like another versatile Shaw Brothers director, Li Hanxiang, he started out making films in a different genre entirely. Photo: Celestial Pictures Limited

Film director Li Hanxiang (centre) pictured in 1972. Photo: SCMP

A still from The Love Eterne (1963). Careful shot composition was a hallmark of Li Hanxiang’s films.

Chor Yuen (left) speaking before receiving a lifetime achievement award at the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2018. Photo: AP

A still from The Great Devotion (1960)

Lily Ho Li-li (left) and Betty Pei Ti in a still from Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972)

Jackie Chan (left) and Chor Yuen in a still from Police Story (1985)

Hong Kong film star Chow Yun-fat on his dislike of violence, favourite actors, John Woo films, and why his wife is ‘amazing’

Chow Yun-fat, pictured in 2003. Photo: SCMP.

Chow Yun-fat, pictured at an interview with the Post in 2003, talks about being a romantic at heart and how he copes with fame. Photo: SCMP

Chow (right), standing next to actress Josephine Siu, speaks at the 1990 Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony after being named best actor for his part in All About Ah-Long. Photo: SCMP

Chow in a still from The Killer (1989).

Chow (centre) with Cherie Chung in a still from An Autumn’s Tale (1987).

Chow, pictured during the shooting of Full Contact, in 1992. Photo: SCMP

Chow (right) and his wife, Jasmine Tan Hui-lian, pictured in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chow at a press conference for Anna and The King in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Chow (left) and Jodie Foster in a still from Anna and the King (1999).

Chow (left) and Johnny Depp in a still from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007).

How Hong Kong triad film Young and Dangerous and its sequels, directed by Infernal Affairs’ Andrew Lau, become pop-culture classics

(From left) Jordan Chan, Michael Tse, Ekin Cheng, Jason Chu and Jerry Lamb in a still from Young and Dangerous (1996).

Andrew Lau, director of the Young and Dangerous film series, pictured in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Ekin Cheng in a still from Young and Dangerous.

Manfred Wong, Hong Kong filmmaker and producer, pictured in 1996. Photo: SCMP