Plots(1)
Young John (Wong Chung), estranged from his mother and at odds with his father, struggles with anger management and can barely hold a dishwashing job. When a criminal gang lead by plutocratic Boss Lan asks him to betray his father, John is sucked into a whirlpool of seduction, betrayal and revenge. The violent potential of youthful alienation has a long history in Hong Kong cinema. The glorious excesses of Kuei Chih-hung's spectacularly weird and entertaining action film reveal a complicated engagement with underlying social issues. Shot in the period following the 1967 anti-colonial, Cultural Revolution-inspired riots, Kuei's portrait of 'angry youth' (the original Chinese title) melds action cinema with social realism: much of it is shot on location (extraordinary for a Shaws production) in HK's gritty public housing and grimy industrial backwaters. Kuei exaggerates everything — rhythmically pumping zooms, a self-mocking 1970s jazz-pop score — as his film teeters on the borders of parody, anger, and chaos. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
(more)Cast
Michelle Yim
China
Best movies:
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972)
Secrets of the Young Master (1977)
The Butterfly Murders (1979)
Pei-chih Huang
Hong Kong
Best movies:
The Avenging Eagle (1978)
Clans of Intrigue (1977)
Death Duel (1977)
Danny Chow
Hong Kong
Best movies:
Police Story (1985)
Project A (1983)
Police Story 2 (1988)
Chuen Chan
Hong Kong
Best movies:
The Assassin (1967)
The Tournament (1974)
Police Story (1985)
Chui Fat
Hong Kong
Best movies:
The Avenging Eagle (1978)
The Master (1980)
Clans of Intrigue (1977)
Shu-Tong Wong
Hong Kong
Best movies:
Chinese Vengeance (1973)
Man of Iron (1972)
The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971)
Wynn Lau
Best movies:
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
Death Duel (1977)
Project A (1983)
Forest Chan
Hong Kong
Best movies:
Police Story (1985)
Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)
Chinese Vengeance (1973)
Lin Tung
China
Best movies:
Legend of the Mountain (1979)
King Boxer (1972)
Raining in the Mountain (1979)
Kin-Wa Chui
Best movies:
The Master (1980)
Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)
Man of Iron (1972)
Sau-Kei Lee
Hong Kong
Best movies:
Clans of Intrigue (1977)
Shaolin Abbot (1979)
Shaolin Temple (1976)
Ging-Man Fung
China
Best movies:
They Call Me Phat Dragon (1979)
Drunken Master (1978)
The Master (1980)
Queenie Kong
Best movies:
14 Amazons (1972)
Fat Wan
Hong Kong
Best movies:
Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)
The Killer (1989)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
Ti Lu
China
Best movies:
Chinatown Kid (1977)
Invincible Kung Fu Brothers (1976)
Man of Iron (1972)