May 5th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)
The last few years of the 1970's marked the beginning of what would come to be known as the Hong Kong New Wave, an era of unparalleled originality. This film is arguably one of the most accomplished examples of that wave made by one of its greatest visionary directors. The story is deceptively simple, it follows the activities of a group of police officers and a rather pathetic wannabe criminal gang as they liver their lives before eventually colliding in a disturbing cinematic tornado.
Alex Cheung Kwok-Ming, the films director, was one of the few excremental film makers when he was only in his teens. Winning a series of student awards and competing against other young film makers including John Woo, Cheung became an accomplished director, screen writer and cinematographer eventually going into television commercials before directing this, his first feature at the age of twenty-eight. This disturbing tale had a gritty, raw feel that was highly unusual in Hong Kong cinema of this era.
You could, in all seriousness, favorably compare Cops and Robbers to the best films of Martin Scorsese as they are both similar in tone and the level of genius demonstrated. But Cheung was also able to include that strange, whimsically unbalanced and highly original quality of Hong Kong cinema. He would later go on to direct a diverse range of films including the late era Shaw Brothers science fiction comedy Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983.)
Hong Kong, Director Cheung Kwok Ming, Cast Wong Chung, Gam Hing Yin, Cheung Kwok Keung and Hui Bing Sam, 92 minutes, in Cantonese with English and Chinese subtitles
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