Lee Chi-ngai chose the manga Dr Kumahige, written by Sho Fumimura and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu to adapt, to be written and directed by himself. But he put in a lot of his own elements. The only things of the original that he kept were the concept of a heroic doctor roaming the land, and his righteousness, kindness and humanitarian spirit. The story was tailor-made for Tony Leung Chiu-wai. His character Dr Mack Lau is handsome, charming, witty and humorous. Like the original character, this doctor possesses outstanding medical skills, but that's it. This doctor's appearance, with his sexy eyes and slightly rugged five o'clock shadow, is miles apart from the original's rough and tough doctor, nicknamed Dr Bear. The location of Dr Lau's clinic is also changed from the original's red-light district of Shinjuku's Kabukicho to a stage-set version of a poverty-stricken area of Hong Kong where all kinds of villainous elements gather.

Dr Mack Lau does things in a non-traditional way and cares nothing about social conventions. In healing patients, he often breaks the norm and treats the sick with compassion. At the same time, he makes fun of the hypocritical colonialist elite system, where the medical system protects only those with a vested interest, and has lost its original purpose of the practice of medicine. With several stories interwoven within the film, including the romance between the little doctor (Andy Hui Chi-on) and his patient (Hilary Tsui), as well as the foolish, passionate detective (Sean Lau Ching-wan) who had fallen for a prostitute (Eileen Tung), Lee Chi-ngai expresses his innocent and sincere sense of mission to serve society, and his thoughts on moral choices are very clearly seen. A Hong Kong film that injects new energy in adapting Japanese manga.

Courtesy of Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Group

# Post-screening talk with Keeto Lam

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