Age of Valiant
HK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
11'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
Young John (Wong Chung), estranged from his mother and at odds with his father, struggles with anger management and can barely hold a dishwashing job. When a criminal gang lead by plutocratic Boss Lan asks him to betray his father, John is sucked into a whirlpool of seduction, betrayal and revenge.
The violent potential of youthful alienation has a long history in Hong Kong cinema. The glorious excesses of Kuei Chih-hung's spectacularly weird and entertaining action film reveal a complicated engagement with underlying social issues. Shot in the period following the 1967 anti-colonial, Cultural Revolution-inspired riots, Kuei's portrait of 'angry youth' (the original Chinese title) melds action cinema with social realism: much of it is shot on location (extraordinary for a Shaws production) in HK's gritty public housing and grimy industrial backwaters. Kuei exaggerates everything — rhythmically pumping zooms, a self-mocking 1970s jazz-pop score — as his film teeters on the borders of parody, anger, and chaos.
IFFR 2020
Programme IFFR 2020
Hong Kong, the most cinematic city in the world, reveals through its films – old and new – the political, social and economic tensions tearing it apart today.
Read more about this programmeHK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
11'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
A social critique of class-based ultra-dense living conditions; a political critique of anti-democratic politics; and a masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema.
145'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
A unique, virtually wordless dance poem: a thrilling pop/art tribute to the power of Hong Kong's indomitable people.
73'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020