Zen and Sense in King Hu's Films

Film Screenings


Home, Sweet Home

Dir:  Griffin Yueh Feng    Scr: Ma Kwok-leung
Cast: Yan Jun, Chen Chuan-chuan, Kung Chiu-hsia, Luo Lan, Wang Yuen-lung
1950 / B&W / D Beta / Mandarin / 128min

In one of Yueh's most left-winged movies, it detailed a couple’s flight from the civil war in China to Hong Kong, only realising their arrival to an even more exploitative society: the rich were still ruthless and the poor fell even lower. Followed by Guangzhou’s liberation, they and their poor comrades took the train headed north back to their home. The movie gives a rich and realistic depiction of the refugee lives on the streets and in the living quarters through various characters and dialects. It was the vibrant “south” we watched, yet the tagline called people to “wake up and return to the north”. Such conflicting stance on business and politics was not unusual among the leftist movie companies at the time. Yueh and most of his crew in this movie were expatriates but would eventually stay in this British colony for the rest of their lives.

24/8* (Sun) 1:30pm Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive  

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter.
The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.