Hong Kong Cinema Classics: City on Fire (1987)

Between August, 1986 and February, 1987, two movies came out that kicked the Hong Kong film industry into high gear, turned Chow Yun-fat into a superstar, and revived their directors' careers. The first was the romantic, hyper-stylized gun opera, A Better Tomorrow, directed by John Woo, and the second was the gritty, socially outraged heist film, City on Fire, directed by Ringo Lam. Where Woo's movie was full of grand gestures and larger-than-life characters, Lam's film was masterfully underplayed with characters who were ripped from the headlines. City on Fire is one of the most iconic and legendary Hong Kong movies of all time (so legendary that Quentin Tarantino stole the plot and certain shots for Reservoir Dogs) and it is almost never screened today.

Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fat) is an undercover cop torn between his duty as a police officer and his loyalty to his friends on the wrong side of the law. He wants out – and his commanding officer Inspector Lau reluctantly approves his resignation – but only after he completes one final assignment. Tasked with infiltrating a notorious gang of criminals, Chow bonds with their leader (Danny Lee, The Killer), building a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. But when a planned heist turns into a violent shootout with the law, the tension among the thieves heats up … and they begin to suspect there is an informant in their midst.

The Hong Kong Cinema Classics program is presented by Shout! Factory and GKIDS.

Directed by Ringo Lam

1987 | Hong Kong | Cantonese language with English subtitles | DCP

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