Jeremy Irons in a still from The Man Who Knew Infinity.

Top 5 films to watch in Hong Kong this week: June 23-29

Maths genius, Mad Max, sexual tension on a boat and in a swimming pool, and some martial arts from 1943 feature in this week’s pick of must-see movies

Edmund Lee

Published: 8:00am, 23 Jun, 2016

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1. The Man Who Knew Infinity

Considerably more entertaining than its by-the-numbers biopic formula is bound to offer, Matthew Brown’s dramatisation of the life of early-20th-century mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan is elevated by the great performances of Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons. (Opens on June 23)

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller’s exhilarating 2015 reboot of his post-apocalyptic car-chase franchise didn’t only prove to be one of the best action movies of the year, but also made an unlikely feminist statement with Charlize Theron’s one-armed heroine. (June 25, part of Cine Fan programme)

3. Knife in the Water

Two men, one woman and a yacht at sea are all it took for Roman Polanski to stage his 1962 feature debut, a minimal yet effective thriller which exquisitely tackles his favourite themes of sexuality, fear and repressed emotions. (June 25, part of Hong Kong Film Archive’s Restored Treasures series)

4. A Bigger Splash

Remaking Jacques Deray’s cult 1969 film La Piscine was never going to be a straightforward endeavour. But the Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, with the help of an enviable veteran cast, has made a great fist of the undertaking with this superbly sensuous thriller. (Now showing)

5. Sanshiro Sugata

The 1943 martial arts tale that inspired Johnnie To’s Throwdown (2004), the great Akira Kurosawa’s first feature is an exemplary adaptation of Tsuneo Tomita’s novel, poignantly depicting the divide between judo and jujitsu. (June 25, part of UA CineHub’s FilmSporting programme)

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