Painted Faces (Restored Version)

This film was directed by Alex Law and co-written by Mabel Cheung. It tracks the childhood journeys of the ‘Seven Little Fortunes' in a realistic style, showing them prior to their entering the Hong Kong film industry during its golden age. It is also a poetic acknowledgement of the inevitability of time passing. Their teacher, Peking opera master Yu Zhanyuan, established the China Drama Academy to teach traditional Chinese opera and accepted among his pupils the boys who would become Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan. As the boys grew up, the opera tradition in Hong Kong died off. The scene in the film where Master's Senior, played by Lam Ching-ying, suffers a breakdown at the film studio, is the mourning of the passing of opera and at the same time an invitation for a new generation to step onto the stage of film. Law and Cheung show their expertise in handling complex emotions with precision, always striking the right note to stir one's soul. Throughout the bittersweet experience, a child-like innocence is maintained. Sammo Hung played his real-life master Yu Zhanyuan, lending an air of authenticity to the role that garnered Hung well-deserved recognition as the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor.

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Law's Statement

Painted Faces was my directorial debut. It is about a time several decades before, when a group of boys from all over China attended an academy of Peking opera in Hong Kong. These dozens of silly pre-pubescent boys suffered rigorous physical training as well as discrimination, hoping for better days in the future. However, masters and pupils were all unaware that the skills and techniques, to which they had dedicated their lives, were dying out in Hong Kong, and they were all victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The state of mind of those people, knowing the hardships they had undergone in the past and in the face of a completely unclear future, strikes a new level of relevance and meaning in today's society.

But the adage ‘when the heavens shut the door, somewhere they open a window' is always true. These silly kids went to the film studios to be stunt doubles, and, with their persistence and hard work, have become international film stars. Their faith, hope and determination are inspirations to us.

# Post-screening talk with Mabel Cheung, Alex Law, Sam Ho

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.