Hong Kong movie quiz: how many of these 80s and New Wave classics can you name, starring Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Cherie Chung?
If you are a fan of Hong Kong culture, many of the movies of the 80s should be on your must-watch list. Now, sit down to STYLE’s quiz below, and see how many movies you can name from a screenshot alone – plus our casting clues:
1. You can’t miss this blockbuster from 1986, starring Chow Yun-fat, Tommy Tam and Leslie Cheung. This was the only movie in which Cheung portrayed a policeman throughout his showbiz career.
2. This movie – an adaptation of a novel with the same title by Lilian Lee – won the Best Picture Award at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards.
3. Mushroom hairdo, tomboy dress sense and Coke-bottle glasses: this iconic style came from this goofy slapstick comedy directed by John Woo, with Josephine Siao as leading actress.
4. Set in New York, this romantic drama starred Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung and Danny Chan in the leading roles. The film was ranked 49th on the Hong Kong Film Awards’ “Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures”.
5. Sung by the leading actor Alan Tam, this supernatural romance film's main song, Illusion, played throughout the movie from a music box and was nominated at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards as one of the best original film songs.
6. Chow Yun-fat played Chow Ting-fat in this film, a bigamist who made himself a schedule so he could divide his time carefully and comfortably between his two wives – portrayed by Sally Yeh and Joey Wong – without being found out.
7. Released in 1984, this romantic film starring Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui was about chasing love in the MTR system. Anita Mui won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards.
8. Loosely adapted from Yi Shu's novel, this romantic movie was directed by Yonfan. In order to raise money for this movie, he sold a painting, named Peach Blossom Spring by Zhang Daqian, a well-known Chinese artist, for HK$1.87 million (US$240,000) in 1987.
9. This was a comedy about three high-school girls and the spirit of a Qing dynasty scholar, whose magic the girls depend on for everything. The film was so successful that sequels followed in 1985 and 1986.
10. Chow Yun-fat played the lead in this movie as a single father and low-income truck driver. Chow together with Sylvia Chang, who played his ex-lover, shared screen writing duties. Chow was awarded the Best Actor Award for the role at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Answers:
1. A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色)
2. Rouge (胭脂扣)
3. Plain Jane to the Rescue (八彩林亞珍)
4. An Autumn's Tale (秋天的童話)
5. Esprit D'Amour (陰陽錯)
6. Diary of a Big Man (大丈夫日記)
7. Behind the Yellow Line (緣分)
8. Last Romance (流金歲月)
9. Happy Ghost (開心鬼)
10. All About Ah-Long (阿郎的故事)
Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter .
Don’t call yourself a fan of Hong Kong cinema if you can’t identify these 10 blockbuster films, all from the ‘Hollywood of the East’s heyday, from just a single frame