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Asian cinema

Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
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The streets outside the KR (Krishna Rajendra) Market. Photo: Getty Images

Insider’s guide to Bengaluru: from flower markets to late-night bars

Lush parks, buzzing markets and a thriving music scene define the Silicon Valley of India.

Reading Time:4 minutes
Journalist Gonçalo César de Sá at his home in Macau. Photo: Eduardo Leal

His mother stuffed zebras. He broke the biggest story in Macau’s history

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An old Shanghai-style flat. Photo: courtesy hoo

This refurbished home is a love letter to old Shanghai

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Wing Lei Bar’s espresso martini. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

How Macau went from cocktail desert to drinks-world darling

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Chef Yoshiteru Ikegawa uses Kishu binchotan, a revered type of charcoal from Wakayama prefecture. Photo: courtesy Torikaze

He wasn’t allowed to grill for years. That’s how he mastered yakitori

Reading Time:3 minutes
A room painted in Cloud Dancer (white), Pantone’s 2026 colour of the year. Photo: courtesy Pantone

Interior design trends for 2026 reflect a decade of change

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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Tang Wei (left) and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from Lust, Caution. Photo: Edko Films
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Lust, Caution made waves for its sex scenes but overdid the caution

Although beautifully staged, this Hong Kong-US-China production starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei had a muddled story and misguided messages.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong’s Category III adult film industry laid bare in 2 films

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Profile | Adult film legend Amy Yip bares all about her soft porn career

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How the Erotic Ghost Story films shocked and seduced Hong Kong

The trio of 1990s adult movies with Hong Kong sex symbols like Amy Yip and Japanese adult-video actresses like Kudo Hitomi were a huge hit.

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(From left) Amy Yip, Man Siu and Kudo Hitomi in a still from Erotic Ghost Story.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The Hong Kong films released in 2024, ranked from worst to best

From We 12 to Papa, Fly Me to the Moon and The Last Dance, our ranking of the Hong Kong films that hit cinemas in the course of the year.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Chingmy Yau shocked Hong Kong and became one of its biggest sex symbols

Chingmy Yau’s transition from respectable actress to star of Category III adult films full of sex and violence like ‘Naked Killer’ was quite the revelation in Hong Kong in the 1990s.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

‘I’m second,’ says South Korean star Hyun Bin on life now he’s a dad

Hyun Bin says his son and his wife, Crash Landing on You co-star Son Ye-jin, are his priorities, and reveals the pressures of making Harbin.

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Korean actor Hyun Bin with his wife Son Ye-jin. The couple married in March 2022 and had their son in November the same year. Photo: Instagram/hyunbinactor
The Philippines

‘Bombas’: the Philippine sex films whose stars were household names

Cheaply made and with female characters who were either predators or victims, bombas thrived despite Catholic Church opposition; they also often represented the hardships of everyday life for Filipinos under the Marcos dictatorship.

Asian cinema: Korean films

5 career-defining roles for Hyun Bin – yes, one of them is Secret Garden

From Hyun Bin’s breakthrough in the 2005 drama My Lovely Sam Soon to huge hit Secret Garden to Netflix series Crash Landing on You, five of the Korean actor’s career-defining roles as he turns 41.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Is Simon Yam Hong Kong cinema’s hardest working actor?

Adults-only and mainstream crime films, sex films, and serious dramas with Alex Law and Ann Hui – Simon Yam has done them all. Good-looking and with an expressive face, he has a work ethic second to none.

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Simon Yam at the 2017 Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony. Photo: Edward Wong
Asian cinema: Korean films

The 10 most successful Korean art-house films of all time

As Yoon Ga-eun’s The World of Love hits Hong Kong cinemas, we look at Korean indie films that conquered the box office as well as festivals.

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Seo Su-bin in a still from The World of Love. Korean director Yoon Ga-eun’s acclaimed film is scheduled to hit Hong Kong cinemas on January 29.
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Gezhi Town: Chinese war drama with Xiao Zhan dares to entertain

Civilians try to fend off Japanese soldiers in this thrilling drama that focuses on character dynamics rather than patriotic grandstanding.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 of Hong Kong martial arts legend Alexander Fu Sheng’s more unusual movies

Chinatown Kid, The Deadly Breaking Sword and Treasure Hunters saw Fu taking on more varied projects than his usual Shaolin kung fu films.

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Icons and Influencers

Designer Hung La shares the inspo behind his ‘bad boy’ brand Lu’u Dan

La’s misspent youth crystallised into a subversive style whose celebrity fans include Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and Lewis Hamilton.

Hung La of Lu’u Dan at Fashion Asia’s “10 Asian Designers to Watch” exhibition in Hong Kong, in December 2025. Photo: Handout
Malaysia

Malaysia’s Michelle Yeoh nominated for worst actress Razzie

Three years after her historic Oscar win, Michelle Yeoh faces competition from Natalie Portman and Ariana DeBose for the dubious honour.

Michelle Yeoh poses with her Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why M+ and Chanel are bringing rare Asian avant-garde films to Mubi

Streaming platform Mubi teams up with Hong Kong’s M+ museum and Chanel to put the spotlight on 10 films, including a John Woo short.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Ciao UFO wins best picture in 2025 Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards

Nostalgic drama Ciao UFO scoops top prize, while Louis Koo (Behind the Shadows) and Fish Liew (Someone Like Me) pick up best actor awards.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why did the Hong Kong Film Awards drop 4 eligible films from its 2026 list?

The four films missing from the provisional list feature actors or themes unpopular with authorities in Hong Kong and mainland China, say industry insiders.

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Anthony Wong in a still from Valley of the Shadow of Death. The film is one of four - also including Vital Signs, Finch & Midland and Mother Bhumi - that do not appear on the list of films to be considered for the 2026 Hong Kong Film Awards, despite their eligibility. Photo: Golden Scene
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Ronny Yu’s The Postman Fights Back is an unusual wuxia gem

Starring Leung Kar-yan and with a young Chow Yun-fat on the cast, 1982’s The Postman Fights Back is an intriguing mix of Western and wuxia.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Nancy Sit went from child star to Hong Kong’s most beloved TV matriarch

After leaving the spotlight at the height of her fame, Nancy Sit overcame personal struggles, reinvented herself and returned to superstardom.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Loved Back to the Past? 10 Asian time travel gems you may also enjoy

After the success of Louis Koo’s Back to the Past, here are 10 other Asian time-travelling movies that are well worth checking out.

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Louis Koo in a still from Back to the Past. In celebration of the film’s success, here are 10 more of the best examples of big-screen time-travel escapism from across Asia.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Unexpected Family: Jackie Chan trades kicks for tears in sentimental drama

Chan excels as a man with Alzheimer’s disease in this well-meaning but ham-fisted film about the importance of family.

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Jackie Chan (right) and Peng Yuchang in a still from Unexpected Family (category I, Mandarin), directed by Li Taiyan.
Hong Kong entertainment

Hong Kong Cantopop singer Raymond Lam cancels 2 concerts in Japan

Lam’s shows scheduled for January 31 and February 1 at the Tokyo Garden Theatre have been postponed indefinitely.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Finch & Midland: Anthony Wong and Patrick Tam can’t save grim diaspora drama

A strong cast is wasted in this undignified tale about Hong Kong immigrants struggling in Canada, which mistakes grimness for profundity.

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Hong Kong culture

Editorial | Amid Back to the Past’s success, Hong Kong cinema should look to the future

Although its heyday may be over, the city’s film industry must focus on quality over quantity as it adapts to the changing world of entertainment.

Hong Kong filmgoers look at a poster advertising “Back to the Past” in Causeway Bay, on January 2. Photo: Nora Tam
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 of Gong Li’s surprising 1990s Hong Kong movie roles

Gong switched gears after making it in Chinese art-house films, starring with Stephen Chow, Brigitte Lin and others in lesser-known movies.

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Gong Li and Stephen Chow attend a promotional event for Flirting Scholar in 1993. Gong rose to fame as the muse of China’s Fifth Generation directors, starring in art-house classics such as Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, but found time during the 1990s to make a batch of lesser-known commercial films in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP
Asian cinema: Korean films

Korean film icon Ahn Sung-ki remembered: 5 of his best films

Known affectionately as ‘The Nation’s Actor’, South Korea’s Ahn Sung-ki starred in more than 100 feature films during his long career.

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South Korea

South Korean ‘nation’s actor’ Ahn Sung-ki dies at 74

Ahn collected over 40 major movie awards in his lifetime, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Jet Li and Wong Jing’s The New Legend of Shaolin is underrated

The 1994 cult classic The New Legend of Shaolin blends comedy, action and child martial artists in a fresh take on the Shaolin myth.

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Jet Li in a still from The New Legend of Shaolin, which married lighthearted comedy and above-average action in an underrated gem of a film.
Jet Li in a still from The New Legend of Shaolin, which married lighthearted comedy and above-average action in an underrated gem of a film.
Singapore

Small market, global competition: can Singapore’s filmmakers break out abroad?

The government has rolled out a US$155.6 million programme to help local filmmakers reach wider markets amid shrinking cinema audiences.

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Hong Kong economy

Back to the Past, starring Louis Koo and Raymond Lam, smashes Hong Kong record

Historical sci-fi action film earns HK$10.91 million in debut, the most for a Chinese film opening in city.

China consumption

China’s box office up 22% in 2025 to US$7.4 billion, led by smash hit Ne Zha 2

World’s second-largest movie market sees domestic films capture nearly 80 per cent of sales, while Disney’s Zootopia sequel sets new high for imported titles.

A display promoting the record-breaking animated hit Ne Zha 2 is seen in China’s Liaoning province on February 13. Photo: Xinhua
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Jordan Chan went from Hong Kong bad boy to patriotic family man in China

Jordan Chan came from poverty in Guangdong, moved to Hong Kong as a child and worked odd jobs before joining TVB as a dance apprentice.

Hong Kong actor and singer Jordan Chan Siu-chun at an interview with the Post in 1997. Photo: SCMP
Hong Kong actor and singer Jordan Chan Siu-chun at an interview with the Post in 1997. Photo: SCMP
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Back to the Past: Louis Koo, Raymond Lam lead nostalgic film sequel

This big-budget sci-fi fantasy may be an emotional watch for fans of the 2001 Hong Kong show A Step into the Past, even if it falls short.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The 12 best Asian films of 2025: Ne Zha 2, Kokuho and more

Our pick of the best Asian films of the past year includes a record-breaking animation and a movie that is nothing short of breathtaking.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Stephen Chow and Donnie Yen reinvented Bruce Lee’s classic Chen Zhen

Fist of Fury 1991 with Stephen Chow and TV series Fist of Fury with Donnie Yen saw two different versions of Bruce Lee’s famous character.

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Donnie Yen in a still from the television drama series Fist of Fury (1995).