Reccomend me some.............

[LemonNB]

Ok very new to HK films, but love HK itself. I guess thats why I love the films that show lots of street footage etc.

So all I have seen are Young And Dangerous 1-4, Prequel and another 5 of the spin offs. Loved them all. As did my girlfriend, due mainly to ho the films really concentrate on building the characters and relationships.

So where to next, please reccomend me some that along the same lines. Don;t need to be the latest as I said I have hardly seen anything. Love the whole young triad genre.

Thanks.

[shaolindiehard]

If you're into HK crime stuff, you might like some movies by RINGO LAM, check out "full alert". You might also like the MAD MISSION series, and if you haven't seen it yet, check out the old JOHN WOO classics like A BETTER TOMORROW 1/2, HARD BOILED and THE KILLER.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Whenever I've tried to explain the lure of contemporary-set Hong Kong cinema to friends, family or, better yet, someone who's looking to get into the movies on a deeper level, I've nearly always found myself explaining how much more immediate, more urgent and the films are in comparison to the American cinema I grew up with thanks to their being shot in REAL locations throughout the city.

I've never been to Hong Kong, but I like to imagine that through the two-thousand-odd movies I've watched from the former colony, I've seen nearly every square inch of the city, from the dingiest back alleys to the interiors of just about every building imaginable. It's that vibrant, street-level reality that, for me, tempers some of the more outlandish plots that prevail in these films.

When I see an impossibly large throng of chopper-swinging triad teddy boys chasing each other through the nighttime (or daytime!) streets of Temple Street Market or Tsimshatsui, of cops pursuing robbers through bustling Kowloon, I'm not so much watching the chase as I am the often puzzled reactions of literally dozens of innocent bystanders caught in the mise-en-scene (to do this often necessitates use of the slow-motion button on my DVD remote). Those are REAL PEOPLE who are unwittingly conscripted as unpaid extras - and the filming and editing of such sequences is so speedy that their initial reactions are almost subliminal if your focus is on the foreground action. And best of all, to the filmmakers, it’s FREE production value if you know how to use it! No paid extras standing around wasting time and money like they do in Hollywood. No ignorant tourists accidentally sauntering into the frame and ruining the shot, something I had the hilarious (and unintentional) misfortune of doing in Toronto several years ago thanks to some inattentive production personnel.

It’s this sort of financially-driven compromise that, at least for me, heightens the experience of watching Hong Kong cinema to levels that no amount of Hollywood special effects, closed sets and outrageous star salaries can ever hope to duplicate.

Two moments in particular come to mind, although there are literally hundreds of them to pick from (and these do not necessarily mean you’ll enjoy the films):

Late in the film PARAMOUNT MOTEL, two principal characters are walking down a Hong Kong sidewalk stuffed with people when suddently a gunshot rings out. This is no foley effect added later - you actually see a great many of these people REACT in shock, albeit briefly to the piercing sound. At the same moment, a squib goes off and one of the characters drops to the ground, the other screaming frantically for help. Some people close to the “incident” stop and survey the scene, others back away as if to quickly remove themselves from a potential “witness” situation, and still others closer to the camera look back, see nothing (from their vantage point) and continue on their merry way. Before ANYONE betrays any sense of catching on to the ruse, the screen fades to black. As written, the scene is meant to come as a shock, and what better way to convey that emotion than by shocking a large, unsuspecting crowd. The scene is absolutely brilliant in both its execution and its effect.

Another brief momet comes in EBOLA SYNDROME, after Anthony Wong’s despicable murderer, knowingly a carrier of the titular virus, has started infecting the people of Hong Kong after indulging in some particularly reprehensible behaviour in South Africa, where be caught the bug during intercourse with a dying native woman. All at once, and in several quick scenes, people begin to spasm and fall down. One woman in particular stands out in this sequence, as she goes through the motions of an excruciating death in the middle of a crowded crosswalk filled with completely unsuspecting Hong Kong citizens, several of whom rush to her aid! (Others, as in Paramount Hotel, do their best to move away from the “situation”)

In Hong Kong movies, you can always tell when an action sequence or stunt in a public place took too long to set up or had to be filmed a second time - the bustling crowds have suddenly become AUDIENCES, massing along the curb or packing all four corners of an intersection to watch the festivities! This usually means the filmmaker’s have to employ closer cropping and faster pans to conceal the crowds, but once again, the slow-motion button reveals all!

To return to your main question, though, here’s a few “street-level” Hong Kong pictures you might enjoy. These aren’t all perfect tens in my book, but they do show off the “real” Hong Kong quite effectively:

MEANS STREET STORY
THE CHEATERS
YOU SHOOT I SHOOT (only on VCD)
METADE FUMACA
PTU
PRINCE OF TEMPLE STREET
BIO-ZOMBIE
BEYOND HYPOTHERMIA
HIGHWAYMEN
FULL THROTTLE

Hoping that helps!

[JohnR]

I never stopped to think about all the street scenes in HK movies, but you're right, they do make the films more interesting and are something I really enjoy without ever having given much thought to.

Fallen Angels is a favorite of mine; Hong Kong at night seems to be one of the characters. (It's not really a crime movie, though one of the leads is a killer for hire.)

I highly recommend the Infernal Affairs triology, though I don't recall the city being a prominent feature; but it's a great cop movie. And One Nite in Mongkok is a masterpiece (though there's a violent scene toward the end that might get to your girlfriend); it's like doing a ride-along with HK detectives for one long, adventurous night.

The Sleepless Town will give you a taste Tokyo, if you want a change of scenery. The shots under the opening credits are fantastic; you'll feel like you're walking down those lanes yourself, rather than just looking at them.

[LemonNB]

Its because I have grown to love the place so much during my visits that HK films give that little fix I need until i next am lucky engouh to return. Thanks for the suggestions guys. Will try and hunt some of them down.

[MrBooth]

Edmond Pang shows a particular love for Hong Kong the city in his films, especially BEYOND OUR KEN.

Also make sure you check out the animated film MY LIFE AS McDULL