Wong Kar-Wai's follow up to 'As Tears Go By' (1988) marked a turning point in Eastern cinema, straddling both 'art house' and action features. Set in Hong Kong in 1960 during a sweltering summer it follows Yuddi's (Leslie Cheung) search for some meaning in his life. He has affairs with two beautiful women and hangs out with his friends, before leaving for the Philippines in search of his mother. Note: filed under "World of Wong Kar Wai" in Drama.
Already stretched to breaking in a loyalty tug of war between Triad bosses and his loose cannon partner, Wah (Andy Lau - Fulltime Killer, Days of Being Wild), a rising star in the HK underworld, finds himself saddled with beautiful, ailing country cousin Ngor. As an escalating test of wills with a stubborn debtor explodes into bloodshed and a mob turncoat instigates a ruthless police crackdown, Wah's growing fascination with Ngor becomes his last chance for escape from a violent past and a dubious future. Note: filed under "World of Wong Kar Wai" in Drama.
Set in the midst of the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, The Warlords stars Jet Li as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow solders by playing dead, and then joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers for a defenseless village, the three men take an oath to become "blood brothers," pledging loyalty to one another until death. However, their lives quickly derail as they become embroiled in a web of political deceit and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Wu Jing-Lei).
Starring global superstar Matt Damon and directed by one of the most breathtaking visual stylists of our time, Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), The Great Wall tells the story of an elite making a valiant stand for humanity on the world's most iconic structure. Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau also star in this sweeping epic.
A bizarre murder mystery brings together the most powerful woman in China, the soon-to-be-Empress Wu Zetian and a formerly exiled detective, Dee Renjie at the infamous Imperial Palace. Hoping he will solve the crime before her coronation, Wu appoints Dee Chief Judge of the Empire and implores him to combine his indisputable wisdom with his unparalleled martial arts skills to save the future of her dynasty.
In a young Republic of China, where greedy warlords fuel a period of war and strife, Hou Jie (Andy Lau) arrogantly shows no mercy to his enemies seeking refuge with the benign and compassionate Shaolin monks. After unscrupulously killing a wounded enemy, Hou Jie pays a terrible price for his actions and is forced to seek refuge in the same Shaolin Monastery her blatantly disrespected. Hou Jie's traitorous second-in-command Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) continues where the once-warlord left off, betraying his country and his own people.
With Infernal Affairs, Hong Kong filmmakers Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak have successfully taken a smart script and a great cast, added some stylistic cinematography, and dual-fistedly given a new twist to a formulaic genre. Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau), a young, loyal gangster, is ordered by his Triad boss Sam (Eric Tsang) to join the police force. While on the inside the young mole can keep a close eye on police activity, ensuring the gang's activities will not be interrupted. Police Superintendent Wong (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) has a similar plan.
No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen.
