From Made in Hong Kong to Anita, 12 classic films that defined Hong Kong cinema in the past 25 years and shaped a generation of moviegoers’ memories

Featuring stars including Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Sandra Ng, Stephen Chow and Donnie Yen, the films on this list have all left their mark on Hong Kong cinema

Notable directors include Fruit Chan, Wong Kar-wai, Samson Chiu, Stephen Chow, Johnnie To, Wilson Yip and Dante Lam

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Andy Lau (left) and Tony Leung in a still from Infernal Affairs. The Hong Kong police thriller became a trilogy of movies and the original was given a Hollywood remake in The Departed.

Published: 6:15pm, 29 Jun 2022

On the cusp of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty, we look back at some of the films that particularly echoed public sentiment at the time of their release and left a lasting legacy on both Hong Kong cinema and the collective consciousness of the city.

1. Made in Hong Kong (1997)

It is a quirk in the exceedingly commercial nature of Hong Kong cinema that some of its most historically influential films were made on a tiny budget.

Famously shot on leftover film stock with a full cast of non-professional actors, Fruit Chan Gor’s unforgettable tale of wasted youth remains one of the bleakest indictments of Hong Kong’s prospects under mainland Chinese rule in any creative format.

The film overcame its outsider status to win both the best picture and best director prizes at the 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards.

2. In the Mood for Love (2000)

Audiences in Hong Kong have never really regarded Wong Kar-wai quite as reverentially as many film lovers around the world do, and so it may surprise some of them to learn that this 1960s-set romance is now commonly recognised as one of the greatest films ever made in the history of world cinema.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai was named best actor at the Cannes Film Festival, and the film also won five prizes at the 2001 Hong Kong Film Awards – although it was pipped to the best picture award by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

3. Infernal Affairs (2002)

The identity crisis experienced by Hong Kong people over the city’s transition from a British colony to Chinese rule finds its most intriguing form of expression in this utterly engrossing undercover police thriller – or at least that’s how most critics and academics agreed to interpret the film.

It was quickly turned into a trilogy, with the 2003 second film – a prequel by nature – being almost as good as the first. Martin Scorsese then won the only Oscar of his career in 2007 with The Departed, a Hollywood remake of Infernal Affairs.

4. Golden Chicken 2 (2003)

Nobody was mistaking this comedy-drama about an idealistic prostitute – played by Sandra Ng Kwan-yue in one of her most iconic roles – for a cinematic masterpiece.

But director Samson Chiu Leung-chun’s sequel to his 2002 hit Golden Chicken did strike an unusually emotional, almost cathartic chord with audiences when it opened in Hong Kong cinemas during the Christmas period in 2003 – shortly after the city lived through one of its most traumatic episodes, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), earlier that year.

5. Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Stephen Chow Sing-chi made his last undisputed classic to date in this martial arts comedy.

Having completely won over his home crowd with the beloved sports comedy Shaolin Soccer just three years prior (with a box office take of HK$60 million), the king of comedy then narrowly eclipsed his own local record with Kung Fu Hustle’s HK$61 million.

Chow’s unique flair in using special effects to create insanely inventive slapstick action even earned him a lot of fans in the United States for a time.

6. Election 2 (2006)

Johnnie To Kei-fung’s Election won best picture at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards, although there’s a valid argument to be made that this direct sequel is the far more historically significant film of the two.