Felicity Jones and Diego Luna in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Top five films to watch in Hong Kong this week (December 15-21), starting with Star Wars spin-off Rogue One

Compassionate study of aged care from Hong Kong documentary maker J.C. Wong and three Japanese dramas complete the line-up

Edmund Lee

Published: 8:15am, 15 Dec, 2016

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

British director Gareth Edwards takes a new but no less exhilarating approach to the first spin-off film of the Star Wars series, while his cast of Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Donnie Yen impress throughout this fierce battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire. (Opens on December 15)

Her Love Boils Bathwater

Japanese actress Rie Miyazawa stars as a terminally ill mother making her last efforts to bring her family together in this poignant drama. Gently humorous despite the gloom in the waiting, the film surrounds her with an ensemble cast that proves both quirky and endearing. (Opens on December 15)

The Long Excuse

Director Miwa Nishikawa has long been celebrated alongside her mentor Hirokazu Koreeda, although it isn’t until this grief-tinted drama – in which Masahiro Motoki’s character slowly reconnects with his kinder self in the company of young kids – that the influence fully reveals itself. (Now showing)

Snuggle

The gloomy prospect of caring for one’s ageing parents is considered in this documentary by J.C. Wong Siu-pong. The Hong Kong filmmaker has shown his care for children with 2013’s Fish Story, and here he lends his compassionate eye to the other end of the life spectrum. (Opens on December 15)

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums

As much an outdated take on women’s self-sacrifice as it is a romantic tragedy of timeless appeal, Kenji Mizoguchi’s best pre-war film – released in 1939, before Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954) – provides an early display of his signature style. (December 17, part of Cine Fan programme)

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