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Asian cinema

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Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Chen Rui, known online as @trumpbyryan and by his English name Ryan, is a content creator from Chongqing, China known for imitating Donald Trump. Photo: @trumpbyryan/ Instagram

The influencer from China who speaks exactly like Donald Trump

Chen Rui, a Chinese marketer who went viral for his spot on Trump impressions, teaches English through his social media.

Reading Time:3 minutes
There was little festive cheer 75 years ago, as the Battle of Hong Kong raged to a bloody conclusion. Some of the people who lived through the invasion recall how they suddenly found themselves in a war zone

The Battle of Hong Kong: eyewitness accounts

Reading Time:11 minutes
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André Fu in his office in Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Bangkok’s landmark Dusit Thani hotel reimagined by André Fu

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The good, bad and ugly sides to a holiday in Kathmandu, Nepal

The good, bad and ugly sides to being a tourist in Kathmandu

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View from the Patan Museum looking onto Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: Getty Images

Insiders’ guide to Kathmandu, 3 city states that became the Nepalese capital

Reading Time:5 minutes
Hong Kong artist Chow Chun-fai’s Interview the Interviewer II series of paintings will be on display at Art Basel Hong Kong’s Insights sector. Photo: SC Gallery

The best inspiration is found at home, this artist finds

Reading Time:5 minutes
MORE IN POSTMAG
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
(From left) Amy Yip, Man Siu and Kudo Hitomi in a still from Erotic Ghost Story.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How the Erotic Ghost Story films shocked and seduced Hong Kong

The trio of 1990s adult movies with Hong Kong sex symbols like Amy Yip and Japanese adult-video actresses like Kudo Hitomi were a huge hit.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The Hong Kong films released in 2024, ranked from worst to best

Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Dark Nuns: Korean exorcism horror with Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Last Dance: Dayo Wong, Michael Hui in exquisite funeral drama

Comic actors excel in purely dramatic roles, but Michelle Wai steals the show in an engrossing film that champions female empowerment.

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Dayo Wong (left) and Michael Hui in a still from The Last Dance (category IIB; Cantonese), directed by Anselm Chan. Michelle Wai co-stars. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Hidden Face, a Korean erotic thriller, serves up scandalous fun

This sexy K-movie follows a conductor who sleeps with the replacement player for his cellist fiancée, who seems to have disappeared.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

From worst to best, 4 fantasy wuxia films with weird monsters

We recall a lurid mix of wuxia and witchcraft, Cheng Pei-pei in Dragon Swamp, and two films featuring a risible lizard and non-giant spider.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Broken Oath, starring Angela Mao, is a hidden gem of kung fu film

Angela Mao, all glammed up, plays an assassin in Broken Oath, a 1977 remake of a Japanese classic. It is one of her greatest performances.

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Angela Mao in a still from Broken Oath. Photo: Eureka Entertainment
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Loletta Lee, Hong Kong star of the 80s and 90s, is acting again

A standout performer in this year’s gritty award-winning Hong Kong film Drifting, Lee reflects on her four-decade career and hopes more films can draw attention to social ills.

Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Forbidden Fairytale: bubbly Korean sex comedy is closed-minded and prudish

Park Ji-hyun plays a youth protection officer who starts writing pornography to pay for car repairs in this non-risqué erotic comedy.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Chingmy Yau shocked Hong Kong and became one of its biggest sex symbols

Chingmy Yau’s transition from respectable actress to star of Category III adult films full of sex and violence like ‘Naked Killer’ was quite the revelation in Hong Kong in the 1990s.

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Hong Kong actress and sex symbol Chingmy Yau in a still from Naked Killer (1992), which was a potent mix of lesbianism, gross violence and crude humour.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Smashing Frank: Hedwig Tam robs the rich and powerful in slick drama

Director Trevor Choi tries to explore Hong Kong’s generational and class divide with a film that sees the poor and young steal from the rich.

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Hedwig Tam in a still from Smashing Frank (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Trevor Choi. Locker Lam and Sham Ka-ki co-star.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

How Sakura Ando defied traditions to become one of Japan’s top actresses

The Godzilla Minus One and Shoplifters actress reflects on her career, juggling parenting, and future aspirations as she visits Hong Kong.

American cinema

Youn Yuh-jung on channelling her past in The Wedding Banquet

The Oscar-winning 78-year-old talks about her son coming out and bringing intense emotion to Andrew Ahn’s new remake of the 1993 romcom.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Once Upon a Lie: Irene Wan chases much younger man in unconvincing romance

Irene Wan plays a lovesick divorcee catfishing a much younger man, played by Bruce Hung, in a superficial film that lacks any chemistry.

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Irene Wan in a still from Once Upon a Lie.
Hong Kong entertainment

Hong Kong’s Cinema Day returns on May 10 with tickets priced at HK$30

Previous editions of the event have garnered strong support as Hong Kong’s film industry faces shrinking audiences and cinema closures.

Happy film fans show off their tickets at a cinema in Mong Kok. Photo: Sam Tsang
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Bullet Train Explosion, nail-biting remake of Japanese disaster thriller

Shinji Higuchi’s new Netflix movie Bullet Train Explosion is a white-knuckle ride across Japan starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Non.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The Gordon Chan film series that reshaped Hong Kong police movies

1994’s The Final Option, starring Michael Wong, was such a hit it spawned a prequel and sequels. We recall them and how they were received.

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K-drama news

Profile | Meet Lee Kwang-soo, star of K-dramas Karma and The Divorce Insurance

Lee Kwang-soo, currently on screens in two Korean drama series, has enjoyed a long career, his credits including Confession and Running Man.

Lee Kwang-soo in a still from Karma. Photo: Jihyeong Seo/Netflix
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Carman Lee, her interrupted screen career and emergence as fitness icon

Actress got her big break in a Hong Kong TV adaptation of a Louis Cha wuxia novel, shone in a variety of roles, then quit acting.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

What’s ‘extended’ in new In the Mood for Love 4K special cinema edition?

Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 masterpiece returns to Hong Kong cinemas this week for the film’s 25th anniversary with nine minutes of new footage.

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TV shows and streaming video

White Lotus star Patravadi Mejudhon – a champion of the arts

Acclaimed Thai actress Patravadi ‘Lek’ Mejudhon is making waves in series three of the hit HBO show, but she is just as well known for her work promoting arts among Thailand – and Myanmar – youth.

Patravadi “Lek” Mejudhon attends the Los Angeles premiere of HBO’s The White Lotus, season three, at the Paramount Theatre, in February. Photo: Getty Images
Cinema

Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz on Slow Cinema, and nearly dying

Slow Cinema’s Diaz, known for extremely long movies, often about death, talks about his unique directing style and surviving the Trump era.

A still from Death in the Land of Encantos (2007).
Hong Kong

Your perfect week: what to do in Hong Kong, April 6-12

Try the new menu at one of the city’s top restaurants or some music-inspired cocktails, enjoy a lively Wan Chai street market and comedy film fun.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

What were Donnie Yen’s early movies like before Ip Man? 5 films revisited

Hong Kong martial arts actor Donnie Yen rose to super stardom with Ip Man, but some of his films as a young actor showcase his skills best.

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Hong Kong

Want to see top film premieres and classic oldies? HKIFF is coming

From Akira Kurasawa’s iconic Seven Samurai to Louis Koo Tin-lok’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, cinephiles are in for a treat.

Toshiro Mifune in a still from Akira Kurasawa’s epic Seven Samurai. Photo: courtesy Janus Films via AP
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Last Dance (extended version): what the deleted scenes entail

The highest grossing Hong Kong film ever returns with 12 minutes of extra scenes that add some comedy, but do they warrant a re-release?

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Dayo Wong as Dominic and Catherine Chau as Jade in a still from The Last Dance (extended version). The film (category III, Cantonese) is directed by Anselm Chan. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures
Profile

Jason Li, from martial arts to Hollywood stunt double and daredevil

The professional movie stunt double talks about ‘tricking’, his early Hollywood breaks and taking risks in an inconsistent industry.

Hong Kong culture

Hundreds gather in Hong Kong to pay tribute to Cantopop legend Leslie Cheung

Flower stands and bouquets line pavement outside Mandarin Oriental hotel, where pop star died 22 years ago, while fans also gather at Avenue of Stars.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

‘Could have been 3 movies’: Chang Cheh’s The Brave Archer crams in a lot

Hong Kong filmmaker Chang Cheh wanted to do justice to Louis Cha’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes. But his trilogy is dense and confusing.

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Niu Niu as Huang Rong and Alexander Fu Sheng as Guo Jing in a still from The Brave Archer 3.
Niu Niu as Huang Rong and Alexander Fu Sheng as Guo Jing in a still from The Brave Archer 3.
Hong Kong entertainment

Award-winning director Soi Cheang appointed to Hong Kong Film Development Council

‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ director will advise on local film production, nurturing talent, expanding markets and building audiences.

Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Grand Maison Paris: Takuya Kimura goes to France in Japanese chef drama

TV show La Grande Maison Tokyo spin-off with Ok Taec-yeon and Kyoka Suzuki a feast for the eyes but not the ears as Kimura butchers French.

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Cinema

Best movies to watch at the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2025

The 2025 HKIFF boasts a line-up of nearly 200 films to be shown over 12 days. Here is our pick of unmissable movies and programmes.

Anthony Wong Chau-sang in a still from Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Peg O’ My Heart: great visuals, awful story in Nick Cheung horror thriller

Andy Lau cameo can’t save Cheung’s film starring himself, Fala Chen and Terrance Lau that is heavy on style but lacks convincing backstories.

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Fala Chen and Nick Cheung in a still from Peg O’ My Heart (category: IIB, Cantonese). Directed by Nick Cheung and co-starring Terrence Lau.
Fala Chen and Nick Cheung in a still from Peg O’ My Heart (category: IIB, Cantonese). Directed by Nick Cheung and co-starring Terrence Lau.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | In 1st Kiss, Japanese time-travel romance, Takako Matsu woos a younger man

Director Ayuko Tsukahara’s story follows a middle-aged woman who travels back in time to save her marriage and her husband’s life.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

What other films did A Chinese Ghost Story’s Tony Ching Siu-tung direct?

From a film starring Kelly Chen and Donnie Yen to an Indiana Jones rip-off with Jet Li, 4 of Tony Ching’s lesser-known productions.

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European cinema

John Rabe, film with a Western angle on the Nanking massacre

The film tells the story of the Japanese massacre of Chinese civilians through the eyes of ‘good’ Nazi John Rabe.

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Ulrich Tukur plays the title role in the 2009 film John Rabe, which recounts the Nanking massacre from a Western standpoint. Photo: Handout