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Asian cinema: Chinese films

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Asian cinema: Chinese films
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Asian cinema: Chinese films. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Visitors feel the weight of the Forbidden City as they step through its gates. Photo: Getty Images

Power behind the throne: why the Forbidden City was built to intimidate

How the stone, timber, symmetry and sheer size of a 600-year-old complex made Beijing’s imperial kingdom feel almost divine.

Reading Time:5 minutes
Sophia the singing robot and Johnny Poon, conductor and dean of creative arts at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Photo: Alexander Mak

Sophia the robot learns to sing as Hong Kong teaches androids the joys of music

Reading Time:7 minutes
Crabs are quickly sorted for size then steamed to lock in their freshness, in Tortosa, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Taste the Philippines: Bacolod’s slow-food ethos and sustainable future

Reading Time:8 minutes
The ancient temples of Angkor Wat provide a stunning backdrop for the Angkor Empire Marathon. Photo: Cambodia Tourism Board

Why Cambodia’s Angkor marathons are a big winner with runners from around the world

In partnership with:Cambodia Tourism Board
Reading Time:4 minutes
Blue Box Cafe in Tiffany & Co’s Causeway Bay store. Photo: Blue Box Cafe

Hong Kong’s hottest new openings, from steakhouse Don Pedro to modern Chinese haute cuisine at Joyn

Reading Time:2 minutes
The grounds of the Sentosa Janda Baik resort are a riot of lotus leaves, statuesque traveller’s palms, coconut trees and fragrant frangipani. Photo: John Brunton

Escape KL’s bustle with a short trip to Janda Baik, a Malaysian eco-gem

Reading Time:7 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Fennie Yuen in a still from Pedicab Driver (1989).
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Fennie Yuen went from Hong Kong teen idol to serious actress

A popular Hong Kong actress in the 1980s and 90s, Yuen started in teen comedies like the Happy Ghost films before pivoting to dramatic roles.

Singapore

‘Overwhelming’ demand sparks extra Teochew shows for Dear You in Singapore

TV shows and streaming video

Who is Zhang Linghe, the Pursuit of Jade star and Gucci ambassador?

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Cantopop star, scandal, redemption: Andy Hui’s turbulent 40-year career

Hui had a dream career and marriage to Sammi Cheng, then a 2019 cheating scandal threatened it all. Seven years on, he has turned things around.

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Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Hui Chi-on in 1997. Hui, one of Cantopop’s “New Four Heavenly Kings”, was embroiled in a cheating scandal in 2019 that threatened to destroy his legacy. Photo: Dickson Lee
Chinese language cinema

Review | Dear You: nostalgic Teochew family drama is a surprise box office hit in China

Lan Hongchun’s film on love, loyalty and immigrant struggles is a sensation in China, with lead Li Sitong giving a career-making performance.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Palimpsest: The Story of a Name – Mary Stephen’s riveting study of identity

Hong Kong-born director Mary Stephen’s documentary explores her obscure heritage against a background of colonialism and self-reinvention.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Dog Day Evening: Kafkaesque comedy reflects on a Hong Kong hostage incident

Inspired by a true story, Dog Day Evening explores the often infuriating world of customer hotlines and service cancellations.

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Yukki Tai as the frustrated Tak (left) and Michael Ning as desk agent Ringo in a still from Dog Day Evening.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Pang Ho-cheung’s early black comedies disrupted Hong Kong cinema

The writer-director’s You Shoot, I Shoot (2001) and Men Suddenly in Black (2003) injected a dose of dark satire into a waning local industry.

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China-Asean relations

Dear You – the Chinese migration film igniting a propaganda debate in Southeast Asia

Some are worried that the Teochew-language drama represents a new, softer era of propaganda targeting the diaspora.

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American cinema

When RZA cut his teeth as a kung fu director in The Man with the Iron Fists

The Wu-Tang Clan leader’s directorial debut with Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu was an ambitious ode to the martial arts films he grew up loving.

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RZA in a still from The Man with the Iron Fists. The Wu-Tang Clan leader directed, starred in and co-wrote the 2012 movie about a former slave turned blacksmith in 19th century China caught between warring clans, a shipment of government gold and a brothel.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Beyond Hostage Crisis: Manila tragedy spawns misguided faith-based movie

This dramatisation of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, in which eight Hongkongers died, fails to explore the tragedy in any depth.

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A still from Beyond Hostage Crisis (category IIB, Cantonese, English), directed by Tony Leung Hung and starring Chris Tong (first from right) and Zhang Yaodong (second from right). Sahronizam Noor and Fish Liew co-star.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Furious: an instant classic if you like gory, bone-crunching violence

Generic, unfunny and emotionally hollow, The Furious will nevertheless delight those who simply want to watch people getting slaughtered.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How the Young and Dangerous films of the 1990s made triad gangsters sexy

As Young and Dangerous turns 30, we look back at the six-film series that marked a shift in how gangsters were portrayed.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Hong Kong wuxia ‘princess’ Michelle Yim has kept shining for 55 years

After her wuxia TV roles wowed viewers across Asia in the 1970s, Yim moved to movies and plays. Now 70, she will hold her first solo concert.

Michelle Yim has enjoyed a prolific career in television, movies and on stage, and recently announced her first solo music concerts, which will take place in June 2026. Photo: Instagram/mixue_michelleyim
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Sharla Cheung excelled next to Stephen Chow in 1990s Hong Kong cinema

Sharla Cheung Man’s cool glamour and movie-star looks were a feature of 1990s Hong Kong cinema. Here are some of her best films.

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Sharla Cheung Man in a still from the Ming dynasty wuxia drama Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media
Chinese language cinema

Review | Unexpected Courage: Rene Liu’s mid-40s career woman risks life over pregnancy

Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The best car stunts in Hong Kong cinema: Police Story, Initial D and more

The most famous car stunt in Hong Kong movie history, and one that made its stuntman instantly famous, feature on our list of the best.

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China’s film industry

Editorial | Indie hit Dear You shows the power of storytelling over big budgets

The surprise hit, filmed on a shoestring budget and shot entirely in a southern Chinese dialect, has resonated strongly with audiences.

A poster for Dear You, an independent film set in Chaoshan, Guangdong province, which has become an unexpected box office hit in China. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Alex Law and Mabel Cheung’s nostalgic films are among their finest

Two of the most poignant movies by life partners Law and Cheung explore migration and memory, and star the likes of Sammo Hung and Simon Yam.

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China’s film industry

How a tiny indie movie sparked a major tourist boom in southern China

Made on a shoestring budget, the hit drama Dear You has triggered a surge of interest in the history of southern China’s Teochew diaspora.

Chinese language cinema

Review | A Man and a Woman: Hong Kong-set quarantine drama is a tough watch

Neighbouring hotel guests develop a relationship over the course of their 21-day quarantine in Hong Kong in Guan Hu’s pandemic-set drama.

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Ni Ni (left) and Huang Bo in a still from A Man and A Woman.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Lau Ching-wan’s best mid-1990s films, from Loving You to Big Bullet

Several of Lau’s mid-1990s roles strongly hinted at the greatness to come for the four-time best actor winner.

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Hong Kong actor Lau Ching-wan attends an interview with the South China Morning Post in 1996. We look at three of his best films from the mid-1990s. Photo: SCMP
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | ‘I don’t want to be a diva or a billionaire’: Kay Tse’s 20-year Cantopop legacy

Cantopop singer Kay Tse’s two-decade career has been built on authenticity, a commitment to social issues and her love of Hong Kong.

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Fame and celebrity

Ludi Lin – Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 2 – talks childhood and representation

Before he resumed his Mortal Kombat role, the actor worked on Power Rangers, Monster Hunt, DC’s Aquaman and Netflix’s Black Mirror.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Angela Mao, aka ‘the new Bruce Lee’, was a better fighter than Michelle Yeoh

Angela Mao, star of hits like Hapkido and Lady Whirlwind, was billed as the ‘new Bruce Lee’ by Golden Harvest after his death.

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Angela Mao (right) and Carter Wong in a still from The Tournament (1974). Mao learned martial arts at a Peking opera school in Taiwan. Photo: Fortune Star Media
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Cold War 1994: Hong Kong crime thriller prequel is a star-studded blast

Terrance Lau leads this unrealistic but fun 1990s-set actioner that’s stuffed with stars including Aaron Kwok, Chow Yun-fat and Louis Koo.

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Louise Wong and Terrance Lau in a still from Cold War 1994 (category: IIB, Cantonese, English), directed by Longman Leung and co-starring Daniel Wu and Tse Kwan-ho.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Hong Kong crime films have adapted in the national security law era

From Donnie Yen’s The Prosecutor to Cold War 1994, recent Hong Kong police thrillers are navigating tightened censorship in ingenious ways.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The bloody legacy of The One-Armed Swordsman film sequels

The two follow-ups to The One-Armed Swordsman are somewhat different to the original hit film but plenty of blood runs through all three.

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