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Richard James Havis

By the mid-2000s, Hong Kong director Johnnie To Kei-fung was in full command of the style, form and content of the gangster genre. These three films demonstrate a master of technique at the height of his powers.
Exiled (2006)
To’s 1990s crime films played out like neat French policiers. But Exiled is more Italian in style, with the classical cinematography and Grand Guignol (bloody and dramatic) scenes evoking Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.
Together with art director Tony Yu Hing-wah, To managed to give Exiled the opulent look of a “big picture” even though it was shot on a relatively small budget.
“To uses the minimalist plot as a springboard for some of the most beautifully choreographed gun battles in Hong Kong cinema,” noted Post critic Paul Fonoroff. “The muted palette and fluid camera movements of cinematographer Cheng Siu-keung are possibly the year’s most awe-inspiring.”


To manages to keep things unpredictable, adding enough surprises, diversions and plot reversals to set Exiled squarely in his eclectic oeuvre. The story is typical To, taking a triad plotline and bending it out of shape.
Nick Cheung Ka-fai plays a Macanese hitman who flees abroad after failing to kill a top gangster played by Simon Yam Tat-wah. When he returns to the city, old friends Anthony Wong Chau-sang and Lam Suet are sent to kill him, while Francis Ng Chun-yu and Roy Cheung Yiu-yeung turn out to protect him.
After a tense shoot-out in which no one is killed, the four band together to help him, even if Yam’s gangster boss refuses to let him off the hook.
The action scenes are shrouded in darkness and edited together at a mercurial pace. The flashes from guns are often the only way of knowing from where a shot was fired in the barely lit locations.

It is beautifully chaotic compared to the stylised action of other To classics such as The Mission (1999). But the director still includes many of his idiosyncratic touches here.
“Permeating the violence is a black sense of humour that brightens some of the darkest scenes,” Fonoroff added.
Mad Detective (2007)
Certainly one of the most experimental of To and co-director Wai Ka-fai’s films, Mad Detective features Lau Ching-wan as an insane police officer who can solve crimes through seemingly supernatural means.


Lau’s detective Bun can work out who committed a crime by acting out what happened at the scene. Moreover, he is able to see the multiple facets that make up a human’s personality directly, embodied as ghostly people who are invisible to others.
This ability gives him the means to assess the true motivations of everyone he encounters. The complication, however, is that Bun is clinically insane. This is established early on when Bun cuts off part of his ear to present to his superior officer as a leaving gift – an act that gets him fired.
Sometime later, Bun is called back to the police to help investigate the disappearance of an officer. The viewer is then thrust into a strange landscape of otherworldly madness, alongside a more down-to-earth depiction of human deception.
To has often described his films as cinematic exercises, and this one is a dazzling attempt to present two different realities – the real world and the inner world of the detective – at the same time on screen without confusing the viewer.

The straightforward storyline allows the director to concentrate on Bun’s psychology without getting bogged down in explaining what is actually happening.
Wai Ka-fai’s script began with a completely different concept, the writer-director told the Post.
“My original idea for the story was about a detective who is actually represented on screen as a team of police officers,” Wai said, noting that he expanded the concept to represent the different sides that make up a person.
“Everybody has that moment when they show different sides of themselves, for instance, in front of the boss or a shop assistant.”
Sparrow (2008)
According to To, the idea behind Sparrow was to show the brotherly bonds that underlie most Hong Kong gangster films without depicting any violence. Using an underground society of pickpockets, where subterfuge and sleight of hand were more important than fisticuffs, fit the bill splendidly.


But Sparrow also rises above To’s humble intentions. Returning to a Francophile approach, it is a cinematic delight that celebrates the primacy of the image over the word. The simple storyline and limited dialogue result in a cineaste’s dream where the camera, rather than the characters, tells the story.
The film was made over three years, with the shoots taking place in between To’s other films like Election (2005), Exiled and Mad Detective.
Simon Yam plays a skilful pickpocket who leads a small team of petty thieves. When they all encounter Kelly Lin Hsi-lei’s character and realise she is effectively being held prisoner by an arch-pickpocket, the team challenge her captor to a pickpocketing duel to free her.
The mise-en-scène – the arrangement of everything in front of the camera, including actors, props and the set – is magnificent, especially in an opening sequence showing the pickpockets at work; the rain-drenched pickpocketing duel at the end is both clever and riveting.

“We never had a script when we were shooting, so we never knew how it was going to turn out,” Lin told the Post. “I was surprised when I saw the movie for the first time, as the end was different to what Johnnie had wanted at the start.”
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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Anthony Wong in a still from Johnnie To’s 2006 movie Exiled. Photo: Tang Chak Shun

Anthony Wong (front) in a still from Exiled (2006). Photo: Magnolia Pictures

(From left) Lau Ching-wan, Andy On and Lam Ka-tung in a still from Mad Detective. Photo: SCMP

Kelly Lin and Simon Yam in a still from Sparrow. Photo: courtesy of Universe Films

How Bruce Lee hit the big time in 1972 and other Hong Kong cinema highlights that year

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury. The 1972 movie cemented the martial arts actor’s superstar status in the Hong Kong cinema industry. Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee in a still from The Big Boss (1971). Photo: Criterion Collection

Meng Fei (centre) in a still from The King of Boxers (1972).

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury (1972). Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

(From left) Chan Koon-tai, Ti Lung and David Chiang in a still from Young People (1972), directed by Chang Cheh.

Tina Chin Fei (left) is pictured alongside Madame Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno (centre) and Sir Run Run Shaw (back row) in 1970. Photo: SCMP

 Wang Chung (right) and Wang Kuang-yu in a still from Four Riders (1972).

(From left) Wang Chung, Ching Li and Yueh Hua in a still from The Web of Death (1976).

When Hong Kong romance movies got weird: Saviour of the Soul, Anna Magdalena and Isabella

Takeshi Kaneshiro (left) and Kelly Chen in a still from quirky Hong Kong romance Anna Magdalena (1998), directed by Yee Chung-man. 

Andy Lau in a still from Saviour of the Soul (1991).

Anita Mui in a still from Saviour of the Soul.

Takeshi Kaneshiro (left) and Kelly Chen in a still from Anna Magdalena.

Isabella Leong (left) and Chapman To in a still from Isabella (2006). Photo: Media Asia Films

Isabella Leong (left) and Chapman To in a still from Isabella. Photo: SCMP

Revisiting 1985 horror gem The Island, Hong Kong cinema’s attempt at a rural gorefest

John Sham (front) in a still from gory Hong Kong horror film The Island (1985), directed by Leong Po-chih. 

John Sham (right) in a still from The Island. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

Peter Chan Lung in a still from The Island. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

A still from The Island. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

John Sham (left) and Richard Ng Yiu-hon in a still from The Return of Pom Pom (1984)

John Sham in a still from The Island. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

Cecilia Cheung: Hong Kong actress, sex scandal victim and Chinese social media star

Cecilia Cheung at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2004. The actress’ personal life garnered a lot of attention in the 2000s, with tabloids covering scandals and her high-profile romantic life. Photo: SCMP

Cheung in 1999. Photo: Oliver Tsang

Cheung speaks after receiving the award for best new performer, as veteran actors Liza Wang and Danny Lee look on, at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. Photo: Martin Chan

Cheung and Nicholas Tse in 2001. Photo: Reuters

Cheung in a still from Lost in Time (2003), for which she won best actress at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Cheung and Tse at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011, the year they filed for divorce. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Cheung and Stephen Chow in a still from King of Comedy (1999). Her feature-film debut remains one of her most memorable roles. Photo: The Star Overseas

Cheung and her three sons. Photo: Weibo

Cheung in a photo she posted on her Weibo account in 2023. Photo: Weibo

Lifestyle

Entertainment

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

How Johnnie To redefined Hong Kong’s gangster genre with 3 mid-2000s classics

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Exiled, Mad Detective and Sparrow show the director at his eclectic best, mixing violence, humour and chaos

Exiled (2006)

Exiled, Mad Detective and Sparrow show the director at his eclectic best, mixing violence, humour and chaos