Immerse:
The Glory Days of Hong Kong
Curator: Donna Tang
As Hong Kong finds itself in turbulent times, we look back at the former glory of Hong Kong cinema. There was a time when Hong Kong cinema was at the top of its game and you couldn't think of foreign arthouse cinema without naming at least one Wong Kar Wai film. In honour of past days and in the hopes it will one day be revived, here's our list of Hong Kong films that take you back to Hong Kong's glory days.
1. Days of Being Wild (1990)
Directed by acclaimed director Wong Kar Wai, the film centres around the boyishly handsome Yuddy, who gets entangled in a relationship with two women, while searching for his real mother.
2. Chungking Express (1994)
Another Wong Kar Wai favourite, the movie follows two melancholic Hong Kong cops who fall in love with a mysterious female underworld figure.
3. Fallen Angels (1995)
A Hong Kong crime drama revolving around a hitman trying to get away from his job and his detached and unavailable partner.
4. In the Mood for Love (2000)
Two neighbors find each other after they suspect their spouses are having an affair together. A Hong Kong classic.
5. King of Comedy (1999)
A Stephen Chow comedy about a bar girl hiring an actor to give her acting lessons to make herself more likeable to her customers.
6. A Simple Life (2011)
The film follows a man and his bond with the maid who raised him, after she suffers a stroke and has no one to care for her.
7. Infernal Affairs (2002)
A mole in the police department and an undercover cop discover each other's existence. Remade in 2006 by Martin Scorsese in The Departed.
8. Doctor Mack (1995)
Lau Mack, a medical school drop-out running a humble clinic in a shabby neighborhood, runs into an old friends from college, Dr. Jaw., a reputed surgeon and both lives get entangled.
9. Golden Chicken (2002)
After a robbery fail, a thief gets charmed by a prostitute who begins to tell him her life story.
10. Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)
Two people from mainland China find each other in Hong Kong and form an unlikely friendship.
11. Rouge (1987)
Fleur falls in love with Chan in the thirsties. But after agreeing to a suicide pact, they jump fifty years to modern Hong Kong, where they meet each other again
12. Ip Man (2008)
The story of Ip Man, a martial artist forced to leave his home during the Japanese invasion of China and trying to find a way to survive.
13. Love in the Buff (2012)
Two former lovers discover that getting over each other isn't easy.
14. PTU (2003)
A detective loses his gun to four gang thugs and the Police Tactical Unit try to recover the gun and clean up the mess before daybreak.
15. The Lunatics (1986)
A psychiatrist is accompanied by a reporter, intrigued by the psychiatrist's efforts to help the mentally ill people on the streets of Hong Kong.
16. Election (2005)
Rival gang leaders fight to become the new chairman of Hong Kong's Triad society.
17. Summer Snow (1995)
The film follows family Sun, a typical Hong Kong family, as their lives get torn apart when the patriarch is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
18. The Mission (1999)
Lung, a triad boss, escapes an assassination and hires five killers for his protection.
19. Throw Down (2004)
A retired judo champion, who now runs a nightclub, is thrown back into the judo tournament world when a new hallenger appears.
20. Made in Hong Kong (1997)
A triad member in Hong Kong, struggles to find meaning to his life in the hopeless violent gang world.
21. Still Human (2018)
A paralyzed man hires a new Filipino worker — the two strangers discover more about life and themselves while living together.
22. Nomad (1982)
A group of youngsters who are lost, try to find the true meaning to life.
23. Lost in Time (2003)
Two strangers find each other after a car accident and are confronted with the harsh reality of life.
