‘The Heroic Mission' is named and inspired by two titles of To's films during the 90s: The Heroic Trio (1992) and The Mission (1998). The imagery of ‘hero' created by To in most of his films represents a fated statement: ‘We all came with a mission'. Influenced by the film directors King Hu, Sam Peckinpah and Akira Kurosawa, To enjoyed his international breakthrough with a film noir signature and gangster films. To specialises in angling at different characters in daily life and portraying their inner struggles and conflicts between desire and making choices. To once said, ‘I can see two to three faces of a person.' Three films have been selected in this programme and each tells a different story about heroism.
Presented jointly by UK-China Film Collab and Trinity CineAsia, this programme provides a wider context of the societal changes in Hong Kong in recent decades. It wishes to inspire a new scope for ideas and discussion. Curated by Riley Wong, MA Film Curating student at Birkbeck University of London, who wishes to bring more Hong Kong auteurs to the UK audiences and provides them a better understanding of Hong Kong cinema
During the mid-90s, by facing the depression of Hong Kong cinema, To decided to establish his own production studio, Milkyway Image, with his colleague Wai Ka Fai back in the time of working in television. Milkyway Image employs a unique business strategy among Hong Kong film production companies and produces both experimental and commercial films. The selected films in this programme are also productions of Milkyway Image.
Opening Film: Life Without Principle
7 July 2022, 6:00 pm BST
2011 | 107 mins | Hong Kong SAR, China
Director: Johnnie To – Starring: Ching Wan Lau, Richie Jen, Denise Ho
Synopsis: The story consists of three characters: an ordinary bank teller is forced to sell high risk securities to her customers, a small-time thug who delves into the futures index hoping for easy money, and a police inspector who is suddenly desperate for money.
Running on Karma
12 July 2022, 6:30 pm BST
2003 | 93 mins | Hong Kong SAR, China
Director: Johnnie To and Wai Kar Fai – Starring: Andy Lau, Cecilia Cheung
Synopsis: This is the story of a Buddhist ex-monk and bodybuilder named Big, who is endowed with the mysterious power of seeing the karma of other people. Big works as a male stripper, which turns out to be a lucrative business. During one of his shows, he meets a beautiful woman-cop and notes that she has a very bad karma. He decides to help her.
Closing Film: Breaking News
14 July 2022, 8:30 pm BST
2004 | 90 mins | Hong Kong SAR, China
Director: Johnnie To – Starring: Richie Jen, Kelly Chan, Nick Cheung
Synopsis: When the TV news unit broadcasts the embarrassing defeat of a police battalion by five bank robbers in a ballistic showdown, the credibility of the police force drops to a lowest point. While on a separate investigation in a run-down building, detective Cheung discovers the hideout of the robbers. Cheung and his men have also entered the building, getting ready to take their foes out any minute. Meanwhile, in order to beat the media at its own game, Inspector Rebecca decides to turn the stakeout into a breaking news show.
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