An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 30, 2025

Mabel Cheung's "An Autumn's Tale" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by author and critic Walter Chaw; archival program with Mabel Cheung; archival program with screenwriter Alex Law; and original trailers. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Jennifer (Cherie Chung, The Story of Woo Viet, The Postman Fights Back) arrives in New York City to study and reunite with her boyfriend, Vincent (Danny Chan, Job Hunter). At the airport, she is picked up by Figgy (Chow Yun-Fat), a distant cousin whom she has never met before, and his friends. Her immediate impression is that he has absolutely no style and talks too much.

Figgy’s place is in a part of the city where garbage trucks are rarely seen and graffiti artists roam free. Strangely enough, his front door is always unlocked, and his neighbors are always somewhere else. There are no cops around either.

Jennifer’s room has not been cleaned in years, but she does not care. She is grateful that is letting her stay with him and excited that she is finally going to meet Vincent. It is only a matter of hours before she will be able to kiss him again.

On the following day, Figgy takes Jennifer to the train station to meet Vincent. Much to her surprise, however, he appears with his new part-time girlfriend, with whom he has just spent a lovely weekend in Boston. Heartbroken and outraged, Jennifer warns Vincent to stay away from her and then leaves with Figgy.

A few days later, Jennifer gets a job as a waitress in a small restaurant somewhere in Chinatown. Figgy also goes to work -- occasionally waiting tables and regularly gambling with his friends.

The more time Jennifer and Samuel spend together, the more they begin to like each other. Eventually, while taking a walk on the beach, Samuel confesses to Jennifer that one day he would like to open up a restaurant -- with that special girl right next to him to help him manage it.

Before Samuel could save enough for a down payment, however, Vincent reappears. Jennifer also agrees to babysit for a wealthy family somewhere in Long Island. On the day she moves out of Samuel’s place, the two finally realize that they have fallen in love.

Most North American viewers know Chow Yun-Fat primarily from the sizzling action films he made with John Woo and Ringo Lam during the late '80s and early '90s. The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992), and Full Contact (1992) solidified him as an international action star. However, in some of the very best films he made during the years, Chow Yun-Fat never had a gun in his hand. For example, in Stanley Kwan’s little-seen on this side of the Atlantic gem Women (1985), he plays a man who desperately tries to win back his wife. The film was a tremendous success in Hong Kong, where it was nominated for nine Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

In Mabel Cheung’s An Autumn’s Tale, Chow Yun-Fat plays a charming gambler who falls madly in love with a very distant and very naïve cousin. Most of the time, he looks extremely vulnerable and insecure, almost like a teenager who simply does not know how to properly express his feelings. The woman he loves does not know how to interpret his behavior either.

Chow Yun-Fat is the heart and soul of the film. There are hardly any surprising twists or intriguing subplots in it, but his character’s constant struggle to impress his cousin without being pushy is quite the treat. Men who suddenly fall in love after years of living alone look a lot like him -- inspired but completely lost.

*In 1988, An Autumn's Tale won three Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay (Alex Law).

An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, An Autumn's Tale arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

I like An Autumn's Tale a lot and have several different releases of it in my library. They are Blu-ray and DVD releases. The one that offers the best presentation of the film is from British label 88 Films, which we reviewed last year here. This British release introduced a recent, very good 4K restoration of the film, completed under the supervision of Mabel Cheung. Imprint Films' Blu-ray release brings the same 4K restoration to Australia.

I viewed Autumn's Tale again last night and still think that the 4K restoration is a tremendous upgrade in quality over every other presentation of the film that I have seen over the years. It produces very healthy and very attractive visuals that look equally great on regular and large screens. Also, the film has a convincing period appearance now because the 4K restoration is graded well. You can see from the screencaptures we have included with this article that there are various healthy primaries and supporting nuances that are carefully balanced. (I must admit, however, that during my second viewing of the 4K restoration, I noticed a couple of shots, all from daylight footage, where a tad of creamy yellow sneaks in and could have been managed slightly better. Still, balance is convincing). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Grain is nicely exposed and, despite some obvious fluctuations, well resolved. I do think that the encoding could have been optimized a bit better, but there are no troubling anomalies to report. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks immaculate as well. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to access itscontent regardless of your geographical location).

An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, and Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The British Blu-ray release of An Autumn's Tale that I have presents the film with Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks. I think I prefer the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. I do not think there is anything wrong with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but the balance on the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track seems better to me, which is why it should have been included as an option on this release as well.

An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Alex Law - in this archival program, screenwriter Alex Law reveals that many of the stories he wrote over the years came from personal experiences or those of close friends, and that he loved tweaking them, if necessary. Law also discusses the conception of the screenplay for An Autumn's Tale and reveals that initially it was supposed to emulate the story told in Midnight Cowboy. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (22 min).

• Interview with Mabel Cheung - in this archival program, director Mabel Cheung discusses the early stages of her career, her experience as a student in New York's Chinatown and how it impacted the tone and style of An Autumn's Tale. There are some particularly interesting comments about the shooting of a key sequence featuring New York's famous sunset and the need to get it right during the course of multiple days, as well as Chow Yun-Fat's excellent character transformation. In Cantonese, English subtitles. (18 min).

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, author and critic Walter Chaw shares different information about the production of An Autumn's Tale (including its funding, which was approximately $500,000), the period from which it emerged, its style and attractiveness as a time capsule, Chow Yun-Fat's career, etc.

• Music Video Trailer - presented here is a vintage music video trailer for An Autumn's Tale. Fully restored. In Cantonese, English subtitles. (5 min).

• Theatrical Trailer - presented here is a vintage Hong Kong trailer for An Autumn's Tale. In Cantonese, English subtitles. (5 min).

• International Trailer - presented here is a vintage international trailer for An Autumn's Tale. With music and English on-screen text. (3 min).

An Autumn's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chow Yun-Fat will always be remembered as one of Hong Kong cinema's greatest action men. However, some of his best work is in films that did not require him to carry a gun. One of these films is An Autumn's Tale, a romantic charmer from the '80s shot entirely on location in New York City. I like An Autumn's Tale a lot, and even during the DVD era always kept a copy of it in my library. Imprint Films' Blu-ray release brings to Australia the recent, very good 4K restoration of it, which was completed under the supervision of its director, Mabel Cheung. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.