Dir: Mabel Cheung
Scr: Alex Law
Prod Co: Shaw Brothers
Cast: Ching Yungcho, Wu Fu-sheng (aka Cindy Ou), Liao Chungyu, Peter Lee Kui-yuen
1985 / Colour / D Beta / Cantonese / Chi & Eng subtitles / 92min

 

The first instalment of a trilogy of diaspora stories that explores the theme of migration, Mabel Cheung received the Best Director accolade at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her debut work. Cheung's nuanced tale of migration, inspired by the sensitivity to what she observed of people and things abroad, is a welcome break from the homegrown stories of New Wave works. An illegal immigrant, who lives under debt bondage and the threat of deportation, enters into a sham marriage that develops into real love but ends ultimately in defeated hope and the harsh reality of the American dream. In the true realist tradition, Cheung employs a cast from a non-acting background, who deliver the dialogues with the fullest of vitality and vigour invested in them by screenwriter Alex Law. The screenwriting and directing duo of Law and Cheung would go on to put their auteur stamp of individuality and vision in their future collaborations, turning their lens on the drama of humanity, regret and compassion that has to be reconciled with reality.

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