Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan’s take on grim reality of 1997 for many in the city, and how the groundbreaking independent film was conceived
- A critique of Hong Kong’s education system, marriage break-ups and the popular infatuation with portrayals of triads as glamorous, Chan’s film made waves
- Produced with a skeleton crew and an amateur cast, and using donated and leftover film stock, it marked a turning point for independent filmmaking in the city
In 1997, independent filmmaking as it is usually thought of did not exist in Hong Kong. Smaller companies would usually broker funding deals with the big studios like Golden Harvest and Media Asia. Digital technology, which cuts filmmaking costs, had not yet arrived on the scene.
“From out of nowhere comes Made in Hong Kong, a gritty, energetic romp that is everything an independent film should be,” this writer said in the Post in September 1997.
“Made in Hong Kong is both witty and pointed, and manages to place its finger on the pulse of Hong Kong youth in the way few commercial films ever could.”
Chan’s film, which also featured the debut of actor Sam Lee Chan-sam, is set in a grim public housing estate, where the residents are continually harassed by triads and loan sharks.
Lee plays Autumn Moon, a teenager who collects money for the triads. During one such visit, Moon meets and falls in love with a girl who needs a kidney transplant.