Kani Releasing Picks Up Five Classic Hong Kong Pics for North America

North American distributor Kani Releasing has chosen 5 basic Hong Kong movies for its upcoming catalog rollout, spotlighting socially minded works from the Nineteen Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties by filmmakers including Jacob Cheung, Johnnie To, Allen Fong and Lawrence Ah Mon. The deal was unveiled at Hong Kong Filmart.

The lineup is led by “Cageman” (1992), directed by Jacob Cheung and starring Roy Chiao, Liu Kai-chi and Teddy Robin. The drama facilities on the lives of Hong Kong’s so-called “cagemen,” single middle-aged males dwelling in cramped wire-mesh sleeping cubicles inside overcrowded residences. Through its ensemble of marginalized residents, the movie exposes the poverty and social tensions that existed beneath the metropolis’s financial growth.

“Cageman” was certainly one of the most acclaimed Hong Kong movies of its period, profitable best movie, best director and best screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards, with Liu Kai-chi also taking best supporting actor. The movie additional obtained recognition at festivals including the Asia-Pacific Film Festival, the Singapore Intl. Film Festival and the Shanghai Intl. Film Festival.

“The Enigmatic Case” (1980), an early feature directed by To, is also a part of the choice. Set against mountainous landscapes and rural lakes, the story follows a wandering swordsman who’s falsely accused of stealing a cargo of gold and must unravel an online of intrigue involving bandits, palace guards and corrupt officers while making an attempt to clear his title.

The slate also contains Fong’s “Just Like Weather” (1986), a hybrid drama that blends documentary components with fiction to painting a younger Hong Kong couple navigating marriage, financial strain and the query of emigration.

Two movies from director Ah Mon round out the package deal. “Gangs” (1988) focuses on youngsters dwelling in public housing estates who change into entangled in triad-organized crime, depicting the pressures that draw younger people into Hong Kong’s underworld.

Also included is “Queen of Temple Street” (1990), starring Sylvia Chang as a lady struggling to help her household while navigating the prison networks surrounding the Temple Street district. The movie earned a number of Hong Kong Film Award honors, including best screenplay and performing prizes for Rain Lau.
Together, the 5 titles supply a portrait of Hong Kong society during a interval of fast change, reflecting the socially engaged filmmaking that outlined a lot of the territory’s cinema in the late twentieth century.