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Hong Kong cinema

Hong Kong cinema
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Hong Kong cinema. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Actress Shu Qi in a sceneSex and Zen II. Photo: Wong Jing’s Workshop Ltd
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

From a ‘Chinese RoboCop’ to Shu Qi sex scenes, Hong Kong exploitation films

Hong Kong cinema was late to the exploitation genre, but made up for lost time. We recall three 90s classics full of sex, violence and gore.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung rolled with the punches to emerge on top

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Montages of a Modern Motherhood: Hedwig Tam shines in bleak drama

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong Film Awards 2025: who will win and who should win

Twilight of the Warriors and The Last Dance are expected to scoop up most of the prizes, but are any films more deserving of the awards?

(From left) Terrance Lau Chun-him, Louis Koo Tin-lok and Philip Ng Wan-lung in a still from Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, a top contender at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2025.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Lust, Caution made waves for its sex scenes but overdid the caution

Although beautifully staged, this Hong Kong-US-China production starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei had a muddled story and misguided messages.

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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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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.
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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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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Maggie Cheung in a still from In the Mood for Love 25th Anniversary Special Edition. Presented in a brand new 4K restoration, this extended edition of the 2000 masterpiece boasts nine minutes of never-before-seen footage.
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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Donnie Yen in a still from Drunken Tai Chi (1984), his debut movie as a young actor. Photo: Dragons Group Film
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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Hong Kong society

On This Day | Pop star Leslie Cheung dies in fall from Hong Kong hotel in 2003 – SCMP archive

The 46-year-old fell from the 24th floor window of the Mandarin Oriental hotel and was found lying in Connaught Road.

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.
Art

The best inspiration is found at home, this artist finds

Chow Chun-fai has chosen veteran journalist-turned-gallery owner Sharon Cheung as his muse for his latest series of paintings to be displayed at Art Basel Hong Kong.

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
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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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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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Riley Ip’s 3 best Hong Kong films, with stars such as Shu Qi and Eric Tsang

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Riley Ip made films featuring stars such as Takeshi Kaneshiro and Anthony Wong. Here are the 3 best.

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Eric Tsang (centre) and Nicholas Tse in a still from Riley Ip’s 1999 film Metade Fumaca, one of five he made around the turn of the century.
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Fala Chen started out as a beauty queen. Now she’s a Hollywood star

From a chance pageant win to starring in international blockbusters, Fala Chen’s journey is a testament to her talent and determination.

TV shows and streaming video

How Superstar Specials sparked a Hong Kong TV revolution in the 1970s

With movie stars in their first TV roles and cinematic camerawork, the show marked a new era for Hong Kong TV when it premiered 50 years ago.

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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Cheng Pei-pei (left) and Yueh Hua in a still from Dragon Swamp (1969).
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | True Love, for Once in My Life: self-indulgent Hong Kong romance

A self-financed autobiographical story, this film about a wife’s devotion to a love-cheat ex-husband is melodramatic and ill-judged.

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Tse Kwan-ho as unfaithful husband Andrew and Cecilia Yip Tung as his devoted ex-wife, Sabrina, in a still from True Love, for Once in My Life.
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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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Sam Hui, the ‘father of Cantopop’ whose music and film roles struck a chord

He popularised Cantopop and helped revive Hong Kong cinema after Bruce Lee died. We look at the enduring legacy of the ‘Elvis of The Orient’.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Little Red Sweet: Stephy Tang, Simon Yam in Hong Kong family drama

A family and their dessert shop are turned upside down by illness in a film that chooses nostalgia over substance.

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(From left) Jeffrey Ngai, Simon Yam, Mimi Kung and Tang in a still from Little Red Sweet.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

10 of the best movies from the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival

Sex, love, spies, fame, family, trauma and plenty of politics were on the menu at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.

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Marion Cotillard in a still from The Ice Tower, screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong cinema had a terrible time in the early 2000s. Here’s why

Hong Kong’s film industry suffered a huge slump from 2000-2009, but did the mainland Chinese market and China co-productions save it?

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Hong Kong society

Mainland China’s Ne Zha 2 earns HK$5.6 million on first day in Hong Kong

Animated feature draws more than 64,000 viewers as families and patriotic groups help sell out showings.

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