In today's lacklustre film market, a gangster picture like Life Will Never Be Twice might not have caused too many ripples - until the fictionalised version of the life and crimes of the notorious Yip Kai-foon was banned.
The film had been heavily advertised with posters around town, and was shown at the usual Saturday midnight and Sunday preview screenings. A few days later, Yip's lawyers sought an injunction, claiming the film would prove prejudicial to the trial. The court agreed, and Life Will Never Be Twice is now in cinematic limbo.
But it is sure to be released eventually, and if the trial proves sensational, producers Chan Chi-ming and Chan Chi-sun may make a killing.
Meanwhile, the court order has led to more-than-usual curiosity about Life Will Never Be Twice, whose Chinese title, 'Criminal Number One', more accurately sums up the protagonist.
The film opens with the usual disclaimer, that all characters are fictitious and any semblance to reality is a mere coincidence. Not that any movie-goers will mistake the film with reality, but neither will they have any doubts it is a highly romanticised 'interpretation' of the rise and fall of a real Hong Kong gangster.
Instead of calling him Yip Kai-foon, the movie's outlaw is dubbed 'Yip Foon' - although in one or two spots the film-makers seem to forget this and refer to the criminal by his real name.