Film - "Made in Hong Kong" series, 2004

(adapted from archive.org's August 19, 2004 record of the Freer Gallery's page on the 2004 "Made in Hong Kong" film series)

Ninth Annual Made in Hong Kong Film Festival

This festival is cosponsored with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.

Running on Karma
Friday, July 9, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, July 11, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Part comedy, part thriller, and part love story, this collaboration between codirectors Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai was the big winner at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards. It features Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau as a former Buddhist monk now reduced to working as an exotic dancer. Blessed with the ability to see other people's karma, he teams up with a cop (Cecilia Cheung) to catch a dangerous murderer and head off the tragic future he sees in store for her. Hong Kong / 2003 / 92 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Inner Senses
Friday, July 16, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, July 18, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
This ghost story with a twist stars Karena Lam as a depressed young woman who moves into a spacious new apartment apparently haunted by ghosts that only she can see. Leslie Cheung, in his final film performance, plays her psychologist, who, as it turns out, suffers from a haunting of his own. With its creepy atmosphere and some truly goosebump-inducing scenes, director Law Chi-leung's film is Hong Kong's answer to The Sixth Sense. Hong Kong / 2002 / 100 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Golden Chicken
Friday, July 23, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, July 25, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
This crowd-pleasing comedy finds humor in a most unexpected subject: the life story of a prostitute named Kum, played by the endlessly charming Sandra Ng. While trapped during a power outage in an ATM booth with would-be mugger Bong (Eric Tsang), Kum regales him with bawdy tales from her long career between the sheets. Director Samson Liu slyly uses the ups and downs of Kum's career as a metaphor for a quarter-century of Hong Kong history, serving up a feast of period detail along with the laughs. Hong Kong / 2002 / 106 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Red Rose, White Rose
Friday, July 30, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, August 1, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Based on a classic novel, this gorgeously filmed period melodrama is a true Hong Kong classic. Directed by the acclaimed Stanley Kwan, it follows the story of a 1920s playboy torn between his mistress and his new wife. Visually stunning, psychologically acute, and emotionally powerful, Kwan's film is a masterful dissection of love, desire, and tradition. Hong Kong / 1994 / 110 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Lost in Time
Friday, August 13, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, August 15, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Director Derek Yee's touching drama stars Cecilia Cheung as a grieving young widow befriended by a bus driver (Lau Ching Wan) who was the last person to see her husband alive. This deeply moving film explores the conflicted emotions of its two protagonists with honesty and maturity and boasts wonderful performances from Cheung and Wan. Hong Kong / 2003 / 109 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Men Suddenly in Black
Friday, August 20, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, August 22, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Four men devise a complicated plan to cheat while their wives are out of town. The problem is that they have only fourteen hours to complete their philandering, and their spouses just might be wise to the plan. Liberally sprinkled with hilarious slapstick gags, director Edmond Pang's film turns this battle of the sexes into a brilliant send-up of the Hong Kong gangster genre. Hong Kong / 2003 / 99 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

[NOTE: "Infernal Affairs" was originally scheduled for August 27 and August 29, 2004, but was pulled from the schedule (in connection with Miramax's purchase of the rights for what became "The Departed"), and was replaced with "Chungking Express."]

Chungking Express
Friday, August 27, 2004, 7 pm, Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, August 29, 2004, 2 pm, Meyer Auditorium
A dizzying ode to love in Hong Kong after dark, this early film from Wong Kar-wai (director of the highly acclaimed In the Mood for Love) established him as one of the world's most uniquely talented directors. Awash in neon colors and pop music, propelled by gorgeous visuals and innovative camerawork, and populated by a cast of endearing eccentrics, it tells two separate but connected tales of thwarted love.
1995/102 min./Cantonese with English subtitles.

(description below from archive.org's June 21, 2004 record of the Freer Gallery's page on the 2004 "Made in Hong Kong" film series)

Infernal Affairs
Friday, August 27, 2004, 7 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Sunday, August 29, 2004, 2 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak codirected this gripping, stylish police thriller that became one of Hong Kong's highest grossing films of all time and was a multiple award winner at the 2003 Hong Kong Film Awards. Tony Leung and Andy Lau (not to be confused with the director) star as an undercover cop and a gangster posing as a detective who find themselves on a collision course when a drug bust goes wrong. This irresistibly engrossing film---an innovative new twist on the classic action movie---is a must-see for fans of Hong Kong cinema. Hong Kong / 2002 / 97 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

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