Taking time out to smell and appreciate the flora at the 2023 Hong Kong Flower Show (Photo-essay)

We're only a little past its half way point but this month already has had more bad news days than I would like.  It's particularly grating because March is one of my favorite months of the year -- seeing as the weather's pretty pleasant this time of the year, and March is the month that traditionally sees such as the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Hong Kong edition of Art Basel and the Hong Kong Flower Show taking place.      

Still, rather than stay at home and mope, I've been indeed out and about on a number of days this month.  And yesterday saw me attend my first Hong Kong Arts Festival event in four years and today saw me go to Victoria Park to check out the Hong Kong Flower Show for the first time in years.  With regards to the former: I'm not sure if this is the current norm but attendance was on the low side; with the concert hall just around half full.  

 

In contrast, the Hong Kong Flower Show had larger crowds today than I remember seeing in previous years; but even while it was a bit freaky at times to be surrounded by so many people (remember: the pandemic is NOT over), I did have an enjoyable time checking out the flora themselves and the ways in which they were presented for show. :)

 

Hydrangeas were the flowers officially in focus 

at this year's Hong Kong Flower Show

 

Based on the attention they were receiving them though, I'd say  that 

the most popular flowers of the show were the cherry blossoms 

(or are they peach blossoms, as a friend has suggested they in fact are?!)

 

A perennial favorite: tulips

 

Foxgloves were also in abundance, and appreciated,

at this year's Hong Kong Flower Show

 

Something I've long appreciated: the whimsy on show

at this event :)

 

It's probably just my imagination but I saw some

surprisingly yellow imagery at the show (e.g., their proximity

got me thinking of those white things as umbrellas...)

 

There definitely were a good number of yellow flowers,

including sunflowers, at the show
 

Something else on shoow that may not be "politically correct" 

in contemporary Hong Kong but still really is a fact:

Hong Kongers' love of Japan! :)

Looking forward to the Hong Kong International Film Festival even as possessing certain books is revealed to be arrestable crimes in Hong Kong

Special arrangements for the first day of ticketing

for the Hong Kong International Film Festival ;)

 

That which one URBTIX staffer once told me was the worst day of work for her has arrived once more: the first day of ticket sales for the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF).  As has become a tradition of sorts for me (since they scrapped postal applications for tickets some years back), I woke up early this morning and headed to an URBTIX outlet to get tickets for the film fest.  And even though I arrived before ticketing officially began, there already was already a queue in front out of the ticketing counter of eager film fans!

 

By the time I got to the counter to buy my tickets, tickets for three of my screening selections had already sold out.  That they were all for Hong Kong films is evidence that there most definitely is local support for Hong Kong cinema.  Another factor that has come to play in recent years is the fear that films that are screened at the fest will end up not getting (allowed to be) screened in regular cinemas.  A case in point: Stanley Kwan's First Night Nerves, which I viewed at the 2019 Hong Kong International Film Festival, has yet to be accorded a theatrical run -- in Hong Kong or anywhere else in the world.

 

Of course, since 2021, we've had films pulled out of the Hong Kong International Film Festival for what appears to be censorship reasons.  And this even though the fest programmers have become more conservative in recent years with regards to their programming.  A case in point: I don't think a work like Wang Bing's The Ditch (2011), a memorably devastating portrayal of the "anti-rightist" campaign masterminded by Mao Zedong, would get screened at the HKIFF these days.  Still, to be fair, there are films in this year's program that could be described as daring selections -- and the likes of me will be keeping an eye out to see if they get pulled (at the last minute) from the fest.  

The thing is: it's far from certain where the "red lines" are in Hong Kong.  But, at the same time, it's also clear enough that more and more things and actions are being declared illegal and grounds for arrest by the day.  

 

Indeed, after I got home from my HKIFF ticket purchasing outing this morning, I got on social media and learnt that the Hong Kong police had arrested two men for "possessing “seditious publications”, apparently the “Sheep Village” books".  Take a moment to let that sink in.  The Hong Kong police arrested two Hong Kongers for possessing books: specifically, illustrated children's books about sheep and wolves!  Produced by speech therapists!! 

 

After you do so, questions will inevitably arise in your mind.  A sample from the member of the Hong Kong Twitterverse who goes by John deFROG: "One big question for me is: how would the police know you own a seditious publication (presuming you're not spotted reading it on the MTR or whatever)? Hotline tipoff? Infiltrating social media groups? Tracking online book purchases?"  To which some people have replied "Yes" and "All of the above".

 

In any event, lawyer-political commentator Antony Dapiran has pointed out that: "*Possessing* a seditious publication: penalty is up to 1 year in prison & HK$2000 fine. To the extent any publications (like these sheep/wolf books) are ruled to be “seditious publications” in future, merely possessing them will be a crime for which you can be imprisoned in [Hong Kong]."  So while it can seem farcical, it's no joke for those who get arrested and found guilty of this "crime".

 

The arrests of these two as-yet-unidentified men brings the number of people arrested for sedition in Hong Kong in recent years to 75.  And it's also worth remembering that "Before apprehending the pair, national security police had already made four arrests in the past week"; including those of veteran activist Elizabeth Tang, her sister, Marilyn, and her lawyer, Frederick Ho, and a 23-year-old woman arrested last Wednesday under the security legislation for allegedly publishing messages online inciting Hong Kong independence.

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: this should not be -- and is not -- a normal, acceptable state of affairs.  Also making the news today: the League of Social Democrats' "Bull" Tsang Kin-shing being told at a hearing today that he will face trial, along with two others, this July for "allegedly displaying posters without government permission last May".  Honestly, each time the authorities dig up something obscure to prosecute and persecute people with, they remind us of the freedoms previously taken for granted and now lost in Hong Kong. 

For the record: "Tsang Kin-shing has now been prosecuted 5 times since 2019, all protest “crimes”: unlawful assembly twice; littering (for displaying props); flying a balloon in controlled airspace (the balloon said “release Political Prisoners”); [and] now displaying/affixing posters on [government] land."  And while "The Bull’s “crimes” are minor (he’s yet to be charged w/ an NSL offense)[, t]hey represent the regime’s use of “the law” to constantly persecute opponents who insist on being active [and] its absolute determination to wipe out the presence of political opposition in public places."

Chow Hang-tung shows once again that she is a woman of courage and principle even while Hong Kong reveals once more that it is not a normal place

Chow Hang-tung in better times (Photo of her that was

part of the Focus on the Frontlines 2021 exhibition)
 

Two Saturdays ago, lawyer-human rights activist Chow Hang-tung and two fellow Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China standing committee members, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong, were found guilty by a national security law judge of failing to comply with a notice from the national security police demanding information, including personal information about standing committee members and staffers.  This weekend, the former members of the now defunct group that used to organize Hong Kong's annual June 4th vigils were sentenced to jail for four and a half months.

 

Chow and co are appealing the verdict.  Somewhat surprisingly, he trio were granted bail pending appeal.  In an action that might also raise eyebrows, Chow refused to be bailed.  The reason why though is entirely in keeping with what we have come to know about this courageous, principled woman: "she didn’t accept a bail condition that would restrict her speech." 

 

Yesterday, Chow made a statement in court to the presiding judge that brought to mind fellow pro-democracy Hong Kong lawyer Margaret Ng's  "I stand the law’s good servant but the people’s first" speech from close to two years ago.  It's available to view in full in both Traditional Chinese and English, and has sections that I think are very much worth quoting:

Your Worship, we know as a matter of fact that we are no foreign agent, and nothing has emerged in this year long ordeal that proves otherwise. To sentence us in such circumstances is about punishing people for defending the truth.

The truth is that national security is being used as a hollow pretext to wage an all out war on civil society. The truth is that our movement for human rights and democracy is home grown and not some sinister foreign implant. The truth is that people here have a voice of their own that will not be silenced.

The Alliance is no stranger to the cost of speaking truth to power. We should know as we have been guarding the truth of the Tiananmen Massacre for over 30 years and have campaigned for many of those jailed and harassed and humiliated for telling that truth. We have long been prepared to pay the price.

With the notices and the degrading designation as foreign agent, the government was effectively saying to us, bend your knees, betray your friends, betray your cause, accept the state’s absolute authority to know all and decide all, and you shall have peace.

What we are saying with our action is simply one word: NEVER. An unjust peace is no peace at all. Never will we surrender our independence from the state. Never will we help delegitimise our own movement by endorsing the government’s false narrative. Never will we treat ourselves and our friends as potential criminals just because the government says we are.

Instead we will continue doing what we have always done, that is to fight falsehood with truth, indignity with dignity, secrecy with openness, madness with reason, division with solidarity. We will fight these injustices wherever we must, be it on the streets, in the courtroom, or from a prison cell. This battle including what we have done in this case, is a battle we have to fight, here in this city we call home. For our freedom to be ourselves is at stake. For the future of our city - and even of the wider world - is at stake...

Sir, sentence us for our insubordination if you must, but when the exercise of power is based on lies, being insubordinate is the only way to be human. This is my submission.

Also yesterday: Elizabeth Tang (who was arrested on the national security law charge of "colluding with foreign forces" this past Thursday) has been freed on bail. But don't celebrate just yet: the bail's a hefty HK$500,000 and she also had to surrender her passport.  

 

For the record: "She [has] said she did not expect [to be arrested] when she returned to HK and she does not understand why her work would endanger national security."  And I'm sure she most certainly did not expect what would happen just a few hours afterwards: that is, the national security police proceeded to arrested her sister and also her lawyer "on suspicion of “conspiracy to pervert the course of justice” for “taking away exhibits” in Tang’s case""!

 

As a member of the Hong Kong Twitterati was moved to Tweet this afternoon: "[R]eally feels like they've dialled up the prosecution efforts this week or something, wtf."  This upon reading "a report that the home/office of a person that works in media was served with a search warrant last night relating to interview footage of persons associated with the 2019 protest movement."

 

Honestly, it's not like we needed further proof that Hong Kong is NOT back. Or if this is what the authorities mean by "normal", I don't think many peoople consider this to contribute to the making of a "Happy Hong Kong".  Also, Hello Hong Kong? Surely not if people are getting arrested seemingly daily for alleged crimes many are not even just denying they have committed but also don't actually know what "wrong" they did to deserve getting arrested!

The Hong Kong national security police arrest veteran female activist Elizabeth Tang the day after International Women's Day :(

  

A female deity worshipped by many in Hong Kong --

what a pity there's not as much as mercy being shown 

by the authorities in this part of the world though! 

 

A couple of days ago, I visited a Taoist temple dedicated to a goddess (Tin Hau) which also is where the Goddess of Mercy's worshipped.  Perhaps it'd have been more appropriate to have made the visit yesterday, International Women's Day.  More seriously though, my sense yesterday was that there wasn't much for Hong Kongers, female and male, to celebrate.  Indeed, many of the Tweets by Hong Kongers that specifically mentioned it being International Women's Day that I saw yesterday were more intent on serving up reminders that Hong Kong has the world's highest percentage (19.7%) of women in its prison population; with a number of female political prisoners in the mix.  

Consider the Twitter thread by the Hong Kong Democracy Council which named and highlighted the following Hong Kong women political prisoners: Chow Hang-tung ("Already convicted in 3 trials, now on remand awaiting sentencing plus a trial for “inciting subversion”); Gwyneth Ho (a fellow Nobel Peace Prize nominee "On trial [with] 46 others for “conspiracy to commit subversion” for participating in pro-democracy primary; remanded for >2 years"); Wong Yuen-lam and Chu Wai-ying, leaders of Student Politicism; Carol Ng (a trade unionist who's another of the 47 together with Gwyneth Ho); Winnie Yu (ditto); Claudia Mo (another of the 47); Tiffany Yuen (ditto); and Prince Wong Ji-yuet (ditto).  

 

Also mentioned in the thread were Melody Yeung and Lai Man-ling, who were among the speech therapists jailed for sedition as a result of their publishing children's books about sheep and wolves but released last October anly after serving 19 months of prison time.  And singer-actress-activist Denise Ho, who's been arrested twice: once each for being on the board of Stand News, and being a trustee of 6.12 Humanitarian Fund; and technically still “under investigation” and barred from leaving Hong Kong.  

 

The thread went on to recognise the exploits of other Hong Kong women who fought for freedom and democracy, and who continue to resist.  But even as it paid tribute to them and tried to end with a rallying point, the fact of the matter is that it's one that makes for generally grim reading.    

And even grimmer still is the news that came today that of the arrest of yet another woman, and on a charge that carries a possible life sentence.  Veteran union leader Elizabeth Tang was arrested after she visited her pro-democracy activist husband, Lee Cheuk-yan, who is jailed at a high security prison, according to a source close to the couple and domestic media.  As per a Reuters report: "Tang is the General Secretary of the International Domestic Workers Federation and the former chief executive of the now disbanded Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU)."

 

Known to her colleagues and friends as "Sister Ngor", Tang "is one of the most veteran and prominent female activist for labour rights and independent union movement in Hong Kong" but had moved to the United Kingdom in 2021.  Recently, however, she returned to Hong Kong to, among other things, see her husband.    

 

As noted in a Hong Kong Free Press report, "Tang was the target of reports by Beijing-controlled local media outlet Ta Kung Pao in September 2021, when the newspaper accused her of receiving funding from foreign organisations as a board member of labour rights advocacy group Asia Monitor Resource Centre."  Meanwhile, lawyer Antony Dapiran was moved to wonder "if the [colluding with foreign forces] charge [levelled on her] is based on any of her activity while in the UK".  

 

In any case, this "development" is extremely concerning; and not just because it shows that the national security law arrests have not stopped.  Among other things, it's very much worth noting that the "colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security" charge levelled at Tang had hitherto "only" been used in the Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily cases. Put another way: this appears to mean that she's a prime target of the Chinese regime; even more so than her husband, in fact.

In all honesty, Elizabeth Tang's arrest came as a bombshell to me.  More so than, say, the cancellation of a Women's Day rally and march over the weekend "amid threats from [the Hong Kong] police that they would arrest key activists".  When news first came that such an event would be staged, I was skeptical that it would be allowed to take place.  But while I definitely did not think that the national security arrrests had stopped, it still came as a shock to learn of Tang's arrest today.  And yes, I know that there are people who'll say that she should have stayed in the U.K. rather than return to Hong Kong.  But to blame her for doing so would seem to add to the cruelty already on display.  Surely. :(

Lost Love is a quiet gem of a movie that's full of love, and very much worth seeking out (Film review)

 

I really love this film so much!

 

Lost Love (Hong Kong, 2022)

- Ka Sing-fung, director and co-scriptwriter (with Lo Kim-fei)

- Starring: Sammi Cheng, Alan Luk, Hedwig Tam

 

More than 20 years ago now, Sammi Cheng charmed her way into my heart with her portrayal of the wacky but endearing OL (office lady) in Johnnie To's Needing You.  Over the years, she continued to make me laugh in films such as Love on a Diet, (2001) and Blind Detective (2013) and was, I felt, the funniest as well as best part of 2018 Chinese New Year comedy, Agent Mr Chan.  And although there are Hong Kong cinema fans who question her dramatic talent, she's actually been incredibly successful in making me cry when the occasion and movie demands it; with her performance in My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) causing me to shed far more tears than I ever expected to! 

In her latest film, Sammi Cheng got me tearing up again in at least one scene, and also thoroughly moved me with her unshowy -- and all the better for it -- portrayal of a woman with a big heart who becomes the foster mother for a succession of children in need of care and love.  Sometimes seemingly more comfortable in their company (even though they are not her own flesh and blood) than her husband, Bun (portrayed by Alan Luk), Mei (Cheng's character) is not biologically incapable of having children but hesitates to do so after a tragedy befalls the couple.

 

Initially in Lost Love, the sense is given that Mei and Bun have become foster parents primarily to supplement their income. And their case worker, Miss Mok (played by Hedwig Tam), looks to have misgivings about them; worrying about such as the couple being smokers and thus not providing an ideal living environment to the children entrusted to their care.  But it gradually becomes apparent that fostering children is a labor of love for the pair, especially Mei; even if the first child they take into their cosy rural New Territories abode, an ultra taciturn boy named Sam (essayed by Sean Wong Tsz-lok), proves more challenging to deal with than they -- who are not without issues of their own -- probably had anticipated.  

Over the years (whose passing is subtly indicated by such as Mei's hairstyle changes and upgrades in phone technology), Mei and Bun become foster parents for six more children: usually singly; with the exception being the case of a spirited elder sister-younger brother pair (played by Maya Tsang and Tsui Ka-him), who need a home to stay in, and adults to care for them, while their father is in prison.  Among the strengths of Lost Love is how each and every character, child as well as adult, comes across as three-dimensional human beings; this even when, in such cases as that of the oldest of the children the couple welcome into their home, a teenager named Hang (played by Gordon Lam) who's taller than Mei, the character is accorded just a few minutes of screen time. 

 

Added pluses with regards to this quietly impressive gem of a movie come by way of everyone of the child actors putting in winning performances rivalling those of the adults.  In particular, Ng Tsz-ku as the cleft-lipped Fleur (who is inclined to address Mei as "Mother" rather than "Aunty"), will tug at your heart but Leona Li as Ching, the girl brought up by her grandmother (rather than the mother who's effectively abandoned her), and Matt Jiu Kai-nam as Ming, a boy who tries hard to be no trouble at all, also can't help but move.

 

Ka Sing-fung seems to have such a sure hand at the helm that it's hard to believe that he's yet another debutant director that is helping Hong Kong cinema have what amounts to a revival in the past year or so.  Like Oliver Chan Siu-kuen did with Still Human some five years ago now, he's come up with a mature dramatic offering that's full of humanity, and also feels so very honest and genuine. 

 

So much do I love this film, in fact, that I actually feel pretty cross that Lost Love was not Hong Kong's official nominee for the Best International Feature Film Oscar rather than Where the Wind Blows -- which I viewed in the same week as it!  And for the record: as much as I do respect Tony Leung Chiu-wai, I truly think that Alan Luk turned in a better performance in this movie than Little Tony did in that disappointing blockbuster!        

 

My rating for this film: 9.0

Bad news blues in Hong Kong, including another guilty verdict delivered against Nobel Peace Prize nominee Chow Hang-tung

It's going to take more than kitschy decorations to

cheer up Hong Kong!

 

I viewed a film last night that I count myself privileged to have done so; this not least since it's inaccessible to those living in Hong Kong who don't have access to a virtual private network (VPN).  But while Chan Tze-woon's hybrid documentary-drama exploring Hong Kong identity and the struggles of Hong Kong people through the years is very good work indeed, viewing Blue Island put me in a melancholy as well as reflective mood.

 

Which may be why I felt the blow meted out by the Hong Kong legal system earlier today even more than might otherwise be the case.  This especially so when I already tried to mentally prepare myself for bad news after being reminded yesterday that the verdict in the national security law trial of Chow Hang-tung and fellow Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China standing committee members, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong, was going to be handed out today.  

A brief re-cap: Chow Hang-tung and co were accused of failing to comply with a notice from the national security police demanding information, including personal information about standing committee members and staffers. First brought to court in September 2021, the trial finally commenced on  July 13th of last year.  Chow Hang-tung has been in custody since September 2021.

AFP's Xinqi Su was Tweeting away this morning, producing an informative thread as magistrate Peter Law read out his verdict on the case.  Among the revelations: "Throughout the trial , the prosecution was granted a "public interest immunity" [PII], which allowed them to redact more than 90% of the information in their evidence. Police said it was necessary as the investigation was still ongoing and targeting other orgs". 

 

Also, get this: "Under the PII, information was withheld not only from the defence - who normally would need to know what evidence was being used against them to defend themselves - but also from Magistrate Peter Law who granted the PII himself"!  And "Magistrate Peter Law, who did not get to read the documents himself and said so repeatedly throughout the trial, trusted the national security police officer behind the investigation, and confirmed multiple times that that officer was "in the best position" to decide what to tell"!!

 

To see what documents with 90% of their contents redacted look like, go here, here and here.  On a related note: During the trial, Chow Hang-tung petitioned for the ties that the national security police purported to have found between the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and six foreign entities to be revealed.  She was unsuccessful and they stayed redacted. 

 

The way things are in national security law era Hong Kong, it sadly came as little surprise that a guilty verdict was delivered against Chow, Tang and Tsui.  Not that it matters to the authorities but I think it's worth noting here that: Chow Hang-tung is a human rights activist who -- together with Lee Cheuk-yan, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Jimmy Lai, Gwyneth Ho and Joshua Wong -- has been nominated this year for the Nobel Peace Prize.  

 

For the record: Two other defendants, Simon Leung and Chan To-wai, pleaded guilty earlier and were sentenced to three months in prison.  Sentencing for Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong is due to take place next Saturday (March 11th). The trio face a maximum six month prison sentence and a HK$100,000 fine each.  

 

Compare and contrast the financial penalty vis a vis crime: The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which is best known for being the organizers of the (previously) annual June 4th candlelight vigil at Victoria Park, "was accused by government prosecutor Ivan Cheung of being a "foreign agent" for an unnamed group, after allegedly receiving HK$20,000... from it".  As for the prison sentences: A reminder that Chow has already been behind bars since September 2021 (i.e., some one and a half years).  And that she's also a defendant in a second national security law case which has yet to go to trial.

 

Ahead of International Women's Day (which falls on March 8th and thus is just four days away), I think it's worth bringing up that Chow is by no means the only female accused of breaking China's national security law for Hong Kong.  Nor the only one of them who's been denied bail and thus behind bars for some time now.  

 

Another is former journalist and legislative councillor, Claudia Mo; one of the 47 pro-democracy politicians and activists accused of national security law crimes because they took part in or organised democratic primaries for the legislative council elections back in 2020.  Earlier this week, a group of 54 British MPs and public figures have called for her release she can visit her husband, journalist Philip Bowring, who has been hospitalised for some weeks now.  Sadly, their calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears as far as the Hong Kong authorities are concerned, and Claudia Mo -- along with Chow Hang-tung and others -- have continued to be among the 19.7% who are female in Hong Kong's prison population. :(

The long-delayed, star studded Where the Wind Blows badly disappoints (Film review)

A film I finally viewed some two years 

after I first heard of -- and wanted to view -- it

 

Where the Wind Blows (Hong Kong-Mainland China, 2022)

- Philip Yung, director and scriptwriter

- Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Du Juan

 

Back in March 2021, that which already was being described as "Philip Yung's long-awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed Port of Call" (2015) was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and be that fest's Opening Film (along with Septet).  Days before the fest commenced though, news came of Where the Wind Blows having been pulled from the program due to unspecified "technical issues"; which many took to mean that it had encountered censorship problems.  And it wasn't until the next Hong Kong International Film Festival (some 15 months later) that it finally was screened in public.

 

There may have been a typo involved but, apparently, between 2021 and 2022, Where the Wind Blows gained one minute of running time (to make it 144 minutes in total length).  When viewing this period crime drama about two real life Hong Kong cops who were famously corrupt and rich which covers a time period from the 1940s through to the 1990s though, I found myself wondering how much of the original film had been edited out (to do such as pass the censors both in Hong Kong and Mainland China) and, also, suspecting that bids to please (or, at the very least, placate) the authorities may have played a role in making the final product as all over the place as it is.

 

Or am I being too generous in ascribing one of Where the Wind Blows major weaknesses to censorship problems?  Here's the thing: It may have an incredible cast (headed by Aaron Kwok, playing the notorious Lui Lok; and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, portraying his less flashy partner in crime, Nam Kong), and many other attributes of a blockbuster production.  But this sprawling, meandering work, which rather improbably, was Hong Kong's entry this year for the Best International Feature Film Oscar also has a number of fault: including a multi-stranded story that can feel all over the place along with factual errors that grate (such as British characters played by American and Antipodean-accented actors) and took this (re)viewer right out of the wanna-be epic (especially during a near farcical scene involving not only dancing in the street but snow in urban Hong Kong!).

 

One might consider it already overly ambitious to make a movie spanning some five decades but director-scriptwriter Philip Yung also decided to add romantic stories to the drama and intrigue enveloping the lives of two individuals who really can come across as larger than life.  Thus it is that Lui Lok not only is shown going from righteous young cop to one far more bent on acquiring vast sums of money than upholding the law but also having a number of love affairs, including with the woman he ended up marrying (played by Du Juan) but also earlier in his life (essayed by Jessie Li); with Nam Kong similarly shown evolving from a straight arrow, sharpshooter of a police cadet to a smooth-talking senior police officer -- at ease speaking English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Teochew alike -- whose polished facade belies his losses in life, including the woman he aored to another man.

 

While I am usually in favor of women having not insignificant roles to play in a film, I do think that Where the Wind Blows would have been better served without the scenes and subplots involving them.  As it stands, they are among the movie's cringiest.  (Speaking of which: I know that Aaron Kwok is famed for his dancing but I really could have done without the scene involving Lui Lok performing a tap dance to impress the woman he was wooing.)  Perhaps the time spent on the romances could have been better used to flesh out the characters of the men who currently are too much like cyphers (despite being played by capable actors such as Patrick Tam Yiu-man, Michael Chow, Louis Cheung and Tai Bo).  

 

About the only supporting actor in the Where the Wind Blows who comes out with real credit is Michael Hui, playing an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) officer who delivers a bravura speech in English, filled with declarations about Hong Kong that came across as genuinely heartfelt.  If only there had been more of moments and scenes in the movie that felt substantive and like they truly had something to say.  Instead, too much of this undoubtedly flawed work  didn't feel all that emotionally engaging; and, in fact, left me largely cold, underwhelmed and downright disappointed.

 

My rating for the film: 5.5