Presented by The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada)
Canadian Premiere
Selection 2024
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
Thu August 01, 2024
9:15 PM
Credits
Director
Soi Cheang
Writer
Lai Chun, Chan Taili, Shum Kwan-Sin, Au Kin-Yee
Cast
Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Philip Ng
China, Hong Kong
2024 124 mins
OV Cantonese
Subtitles : English/Chinese
“A big, brutally entertaining blast that pairs real heart with a whole lot of ass-kicking... a contender for the top spot when it comes to the best action films of 2024”– Rob Hunter, FILM SCHOOL REJECTS
“Wildly entertaining, eye-poppingly violent... an old-school throwback to the action cinema heyday”– Wendy Ide, OBSERVER
At one time the most densely populated place on Earth, Hong Kong’s fabled anarchic enclave Kowloon Walled City remained an astounding urban anomaly until its overdue demolition in 1994. Its numbers swelled in the wake of the Chinese civil war, yet it remained in practice ungoverned, and by the 1950s, criminal gangs filled the void left by the absence of any municipal authority. Points of contention were settled with blades, not ballots, and none could challenge the power of gang lord Mr. Big (Sammo Hung)—until Cyclone (Louis Koo) arrived.
Fast-forward to the neon-soaked 1980s, and Cyclone, a brilliant administrator as much as a brutal martial artist, is the de facto mayor of the crumbling concrete labyrinth, while the treacherous Mr. Big nurses his resentments from his dockyard fortress. A desperate Chinese refugee, Chan (Raymond Lam), becomes a problem for both of them, but it is Cyclone who shows mercy to the capable fighter, gradually insinuating him into Kowloon’s tight community. Lifelong loner Chan has finally found a family of sorts, but what will this family demand of him—and how long will this place he now calls home remain standing?
An enormous hit on its home turf, with a constellation of Hong Kong silver-screen stars in its cast, award-winning director Soi Cheang’s grand gangster opera recalls not just the gritty history of its famous setting but also the glory days of the great Hong Kong triad flicks, full of larger-than-life performances, unrelenting energy, intense drama, and of course ferocious, concussive combat. Recreating Kowloon’s ramshackle, claustrophobic majesty most convincingly, Cheang makes it his canvas for a searing portrait of a way of life—and death—now long gone. – Rupert Bottenberg
Showings
Thu August 01, 2024
9:15 PM
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