Advertisement
Advertisement
TOPIC

Asian cinema

Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
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

The Southeast Asian nation’s ever more popular running events pass through scenery so beautiful even racers stop to take photographs.

In partnership with:Cambodia Tourism Board
Reading Time:4 minutes
Ornate structures at the Tiger Balm Garden, in Tai Hang, in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Haw Par Mansion and the long-lost Tiger Balm Garden

Reading Time:1 minute
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
The Renegades, a Hong Kong-based all-women dragon-boat team, train at Stanley Main Beach. Photo: Alexander Mak

How Hong Kong’s all-female Renegades dragon-boating team is making waves

Reading Time:6 minutes
An exhibit in "Dan Flavin: Grids" at David Zwirner's Hong Kong gallery. Photo: courtesy David Zwirner

Dan Flavin’s luminous legacy shines in Hong Kong’s first solo exhibition

Reading Time:2 minutes
Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop, in Hong Kong's Yau Ma Tei district, has harnessed the power of social media to attract young diners. Photo: Alexander Mak

Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng cafes thrive globally as Gen-Z embraces nostalgic dining

Reading Time:4 minutes
MORE IN POSTMAG
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Haruka Ayase in a still from Sheep in the Box, Hirokazu Koreeda’s latest sci-fi drama. Daigo Yamamoto co-stars.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Why Hirokazu Koreeda paired Haruka Ayase and a TV comic in Sheep in the Box

A-lister Haruka Ayase and television comic Daigo Yamamoto star as a grieving couple confronting an AI ‘resurrection’ in Sheep in the Box.

videocam
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

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

videocam
K-drama news

Profile | Meet Park Ji-hyun, star of Flex X Cop and See You at Work Tomorrow!

Hong Kong society

Paul Chan praises blockbuster film about Teochew community during local premiere

Hong Kong’s finance chief, who is of Teochew descent, applauds Dear You for moving depiction of characters’ deep-rooted sense of home, kinship.

4
Paul Chan (centre) at the film premiere of “Dear You”. Photo: Dickson Lee
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.

videocam
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong animations are finally turning heads. Meet the artists behind them

Hong Kong animators making waves at global festivals talk about growing the city’s niche but resilient industry and the challenges they face.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
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.
Law

Legal Tales | ‘We’re Nothing At All’: why Hongkongers must avoid collective apathy

Charity screening of Herman Yau’s latest film sparks reflection on marginalisation, justice and social responsibility in Hong Kong.

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.

videocam
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.

videocam
(From left) Jordan Chan, Michael Tse, Ekin Cheng and Jason Chu in a still from Young and Dangerous (1996). Jerry Lamb also stars. Photo: Golden Harvest
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
Fame and celebrity

Bridgerton’s Katie Leung on her love of Hong Kong film stars and motherhood

In an interview with Style at Hong Kong’s first Comic Con, the actress speaks about representation and being at peace with herself.

American cinema

The rise of liminal space horror movies like Backrooms and Exit 8

Box-office hit Backrooms highlights a growing obsession with eerie liminal spaces like hallways, alleyways and empty shopping centres.

videocam
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.

videocam
Sharla Cheung Man in a still from the Ming dynasty wuxia drama Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media
China’s Communist Party

Actress Lin Chi-ling quits Taiwan culture board amid backlash

Lin withdrew from the board of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency after backlash from the island’s arts community and Beijing.

videocam
13
Actress and model Lin Chi-ling at a jewellery promotion event in 2023 in Taipei. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
India

Reel politik: India tells filmmakers to drop ‘China-bashing’ as ties warm

India’s diplomatic thaw with China is causing films about the 2020 Galwan Valley clash to be retitled, reshot or shelved entirely.

videocam
5
Asian cinema: Chinese films

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.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
ByteDance

ByteDance AI films shake up Cannes as TikTok owner challenges Hollywood norms

A new cinematic tool, Seedance 2.0, can generate feature-length movies for a fraction of traditional costs.

videocam
In this photo illustration, the logo of ByteDance’s AI video model, Seedance 2.0, is displayed on a smartphone screen in China’s Jiangsu province. Illustration: Getty Images
European cinema

Best movies from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, from Fjord to Minotaur

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival may have lacked its usual blockbusters, but that gave indie films more exposure. Here are 10 of the best.

videocam
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.

videocam
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Samurai and the Prisoner: Kiyoshi Kurosawa back with feudal-era thriller

The veteran Japanese director’s new film with Masahiro Motoki as a besieged warlord is an intelligent, captivating spin on the samurai genre.

videocam
(From left) Yuriko Yoshitaka, Masahiro Motoki and Ryota Miyadate in a still from The Samurai and the Prisoner.
Asian cinema: Korean films

How Colony features a new kind of zombie to reflect modern fears

Director Yeon Sang-ho of Train to Busan fame explains how AI and social media anxiety inspired the zombies in his new horror film.

videocam
A still from Colony.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Hope: director Na Hong-jin of The Wailing fame returns with a monster mess

A promising beginning and strong performances are not enough to save Hope from being a messy spectacle with woeful CGI monsters.

videocam
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.

videocam
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Sheep in the Box: Hirokazu Koreeda tackles grief in sci-fi drama

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes entry probes grief, artificial intelligence and family bonds, but its subplots leave the film scattered.

videocam
(From left) Daigo Yamamoto, Rimu Kuwaki and Haruka Ayase in a still from Sheep in the Box.
K-drama news

Profile | Who is Cha Eun-woo, K-pop idol starring in Netflix K-drama The Wonderfools?

Since his 2014 debut, the ‘Face Genius’ has embodied a fantasy figure in many roles. His latest hits screens as he performs military service.

Cha Eun-woo as Lee Un-jeong in a still from The Wonderfools. Photo: Netflix.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Colony: Jun Ji-hyun returns in slick but empty zombie thriller

Jun Ji-hyun stars as a biotech professor battling bloodthirsty zombies in Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho’s new film.

videocam
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | All of a Sudden: Ryusuke Hamaguchi wows with Paris-set drama

Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the three-hour movie on caregiving and capitalism is anchored by a profound bilingual conversation.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement