City On Fire

In City on Fire, which he directed and scripted, Ringo Lam was determined to forge a distinctive cinematic style, he enlisted the talents of the rising cinematographer Andrew Lau, whose innovative visual approach was already attracting attention. Chow Yun-fat stars as Ko Chow, an undercover police officer who infiltrates an armed robbery gang and gradually develops a close bond with gang member Fu (Danny Lee). Torn between duty and friendship, his commitment to his girlfriend (Ng Ka-lai), and a power struggle within the police force, Ko finds himself trapped in increasingly agonising moral dilemmas.

The film earned Chow Yun-fat a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, while Ringo Lam won Best Director. It also marked a major breakthrough for Andrew Lau, whose highly stylised cinematography captivated both audiences and filmmakers. His dynamic handheld camerawork, cool-toned lighting and bold use of high-speed film stock transformed Hong Kong's neon-lit streets into a vibrant urban landscape, bringing fresh visual energy to the undercover crime thriller. The film launched Ringo Lam's acclaimed ‘On Fire’ trilogy, paired for the first time Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee who reunited two years later in John Woo's The Killer (1989), and has long been cited as an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).

Date	Time	Venue
5/9/2026 (Sat) #	7:30pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

# Post-screening talk with Andrew Lau Wai-keung and Thomas Shin (moderator)

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