after chicken, sister thirteen was the most interesting (and criminally under used) character in the 'young and dangerous' films. with andrew lau having moved on to pastures new, after helming seven films in the series, raymond yip takes over the mantle to tell us sister thirteen's story...

sister thirteen (sandra ng) is the only female branch leader of the hung hing triad group, running their affairs on portland street; famous for its sex industry. after a run in with fa-fit (peter ngor), a local rascal who wants to move in on her territory, thirteen heads off for a drink with ben (vincent wan) and, as she's a little drunk, begins to tell him her story.

tat (ng man-tat), thirteen's father, was a low ranking triad with ties to ting sung, but ended up being a member of hung hing; a good soul, but more interested in gambling than anything else. thirteen, or teenie as she was known, is a lively teenager who works scams with her friend, yun (kirsty yang), but soon falls foul of sob (john ching), a sleazy and vicious boss. and so begins thirteen's journey from chancer to branch leader...

sandra ng has always been one of my favourite hong kong actresses and she really gets to show off her range here. from her youthful, cheeky, teenie; in love, having fun, suffering tragedy and searching for her identity, to the bad-ass, lesbian (bi-sexual?), triad boss; she is never less than great and fully deserved the two 'best actress' awards that she received for this role. it is also very interesting to see how her sexuality is dealt with in the film; hong kong film has a bit of a reputation for treating homosexuality with a less than progressive attitude, yet thirteen's sexuality is portrayed with an unexpected depth. sure, she is shown as a bit of a tomboy, but her character is never reduced to a simple stereotype or an object of titliation.

ng man-tat puts in a fine performance, whislt kirsty yang and shu qi (who plays an ex-prostitute, turned heroin addict, and is given a suitably well constructed backstory) provide more than adequate support. also, being a 'young and dangerous' spin-off, we also get a good few cameos; francis and frankie ng, ekin cheng, lee siu-kei, jerry lamb, jason chu all show up.

it's great to see sister thirteen's backstory being given the treatment that it deserves, with a film that is as good (if not better) as any of the 'young and dangerous' series.

good stuff.