Golden Butterfly, the Lady Thief

Before Bus Money and Lady Bond, Mok Hong-si had already created another Robin Hood-like female figure – Golden Butterfly/Chong Ching-han, played by Ting Ying. As a thief, Golden Butterfly inherited all the martial arts skills from her father Chong Tak-ming (Sek Kin). Her father's imprisonment and her mother's untimely death initiate her thought of robbing the heartless and filthy rich to assist the poor. Ching-han remains out of the law's reach until she is actually tailed by her father who has been enlisted in the service of the police. As the narrative develops, Mok interestingly switches to lending a tender touch of the daughter-and-father relationship to the film – Chong tries to cover his daughter's secret identity as Golden Butterfly. Sek Kin's performance here is concise and impressive, plus a far cry from the villainous image he has so far established. Golden Butterfly, the Lady Thief definitely anticipates The Black Musketeer 'F', which is to be released a year later. Ting Ying's aura differs much from that of Suet Nei who plays Muk Lan-fa in that Ting is perhaps less ruthless. Throughout the film, Mok does not make an easy task for himself as the directorial techniques – the refined cinematography, the biting editing rhythm and the use of an ensemble cast – are all harder to achieve than most Cantonese films at that time. Above all, Mok knows, precisely and perceptively, how to give the film an extra layer – the warmth of family relationship – rather than falling into stereotyped characters and banal narrative structure.

Date	Time	Venue
10/6/2016 (Fri) #	7:30pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

# Post-screening talk with Sean Yim

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