Last week, Carina Lau Ka-ling expressed concerns to this newspaper that local audiences may not get her latest film, the political yarn Let the Bullets Fly. But judging by the positive reactions of the audience at a special screening on Monday - including a who's who of local celebrities - the film should do just fine.

A diverse group of guests, from pop star Joey Yung Cho-yee to director Benny Chan Muk-sing, to 70s comic icon Michael Hui Koon-man, turned up in support of Jiang Wen's latest production.

With Bullets, released on the mainland early last month, already having surpassed 600 million yuan (HK$702 million) at the box office there, the cast and crew - minus Chow Yun-fat, who is shooting a film on the mainland - were in a celebratory mood. Emperor Entertainment Group, the film's distributors and financers, presented the director and Lau with a golden egg, which the two cracked open to reveal a Lunar New Year red emblem that read: 'Let the Bullets Fly Box Office Fly!'