Unemployed actor Fay (Chow Yun-Fat) and petty gangster Keung become firm friends, refusing to let their mutual affection towards Nam, the only child of a local merchant, come between them.
Relationships between the three friends are put to the test when the Japanese invade Hong Kong. Seemingly a collaborator, Fay secretly aids the resistance as he looks for a way for the trio to escape.
Hong Kong 1941 is an interesting, competently made film whose obvious good intentions are undercut by constraints of budget and genre. Predominantly a dramatic and sometimes romantic essay on themes of loyalty, honour and friendship, the isolated action sequences tend to feel perfunctory, jarring with the rest of the film, or being hamstrung by limited resources.
The three leads deliver convincing performances. Yun-Fat demonstrates the casual charisma that was soon to make him an international superstar, while Cecilia Yip is far better than one could expect a model turned actress appearing in only her second feature to be.
The cinematography is beautiful, though its contribution to the epic sweep of the film is counterbalanced by some historical anachronisms – Japanese jets in 1941 – awkward Mockney-style English dubbing and a score that tends to aggravate the ear rather than add emotional gravitas.
Hong Kong 1941 is a frustrating film – you can sense a great movie trying to escape, only to be dragged back down each time. Even so, it should appeal to Chow Yun Fat fans.
Picture quality on this Region 2 DVD from Hong Kong Legends is good. Taken from digitally restored and remastered materials, the widescreen anamorphic presentation is enhanced for 16:9 televisions and allows the award winning cinematography to shine through.
Sound-wise, there's a choice of 2.0 Dolby Digital Cantonese, which I chose to watch with English subtitles, and 5.1 Dolby Digital English dub, which purists will probably want to avoid.
The main extra is a full-length audio commentary from Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan, who clearly knows his stuff and keeps things interesting throughout. Particularly enjoyable was his revelation that the practiced Hong Kong film-fan could tell when an action sequence was about to come up because you started to see the faces of stuntmen rather than actors among the extras!
There are also interviews with stars Chow Yun-Fat and Cecilia Yip-Tong. Yun-Fat's interview, running approximately ten minutes, is conducted in English and seems to suffer from his relative unfamiliarity with the language. He gives his views on acting and film-making, and discusses his relationship with director John Woo. One thing he doesn't mention, however, is Hong Kong 1941.
Yip-Tong's interview, running just under half-an-hour, is conducted in Cantonese and subtitled in English. In contrast to Yun-Fat, she spends the majority of her time discussing Hong Kong 1941 and her character in the film.
There is also a useful mini-biography of Yun-Fat, covering his career from Hong Kong television series in the 1970s through his collaborations with Woo in the late Eighties, to his more-or-less successful transition to Hollywood in recent years, and a stills gallery.
The package is rounded off with a selection of trailers for the film – the contrast between the original domestic trailer and Hong Kong Legends' trailer is telling – and other releases on the Legends label.
All in all, a well put together package that fans of Hong Kong cinema should appreciate.
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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