Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Made in Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 27, 2020

Fruit Chan's "Made in Hong Kong" (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interviews with Fruit Chan, producers Daniel Yu and Doris Young; and festival director Marco Muller. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The most awkward moment in Fernando Meirelles’ film City of God comes during a stunningly beautiful sequence in which its main character joins a group of teenagers who are having a good time on the beach. The sun is shining bright, romance is in the air, Rio de Janeiro looks like paradise on earth. If one removes the narration and alters the music, the sequence can quite easily be used by one of those international travel agencies that each year bring millions of tourists to Brazil. The rest of Meirelles’ film, however, is a collage of often indescribably chaotic visuals that can quite easily convince the same tourists that Brazil is hell on earth. These visuals come from the slums of Rio de Janeiro, the favelas, where powerful drug lords and their large gangs of heavily-armed teenagers are engaged in fierce turf battles. The violence never stops. It is an integral part of life in the favelas.

There is a very similar awkward moment in Fruit Chan’s film Made in Hong Kong. Its main protagonist, Mid-Autumn (Sam Lee), the girl he has fallen in love with, Ping (Neiky Yim Hui-Chi), and his best pal, Sylvester (Wenders Li), enter a cemetery on the top of a rugged hill. From here they can't see how beautiful and vibrant Hong Kong is, but they can feel it, and for a very short period of time they look exactly like the teenagers on the beach -- almost euphoric to be alive. But the entire experience is just a temporary break from their existence in the slums, which is every bit as chaotic and almost as dangerous as that of the teenage soldiers in the favelas.

The rest of Chan’s film has a completely different vibe. Mid-Autumn lives and makes ends meet as a part-time debt collector in the slums of Hong Kong where life is often as cheap as a can of Coke. He shares a tiny place with his overworked and broke mother, but it has been a frustrating experience because she has discovered that his employer is a local ‘businessman’ with a very shady reputation. His father, a self-admitted cheater, has abandoned them and moved on with his life. Ping has been a helpful distraction, but her days are numbered because she desperately needs a new kidney and cannot afford one. The dim-witted Sylvester has been a burden because lately he has unintentionally started causing a lot more drama than his friend can handle.

During a moment of utter desperation, Mid-Autumn visits the ‘businessman’ and agrees to do a hit job in Shenzhen that would put him on the way out of the slums. If the job goes exactly as planned, he would also save Ping’s life and take Sylvester along with him. A few days later, he leaves Hong Kong and tracks down the Mainlander he has been contracted to kill, but at the decisive moment fear overwhelms him and he fails his mission.

The evolution of Mid-Autumn’s relationship with Ping and Sylvester is essentially a ruse because the film is actually about an entire generation of young people that have been doomed to fail in their pursuit of happiness. Indeed, much like the favelas in Meirelles’ film, the slums of Hong Kong are depicted as being part of a completely different reality where life is a simple cycle of utterly depressing and often extremely dangerous activities. People can freely move in and out of the slums, but they cannot escape their reality, which is precisely the reason why Chan begins his film showing a young girl jumping off a tall building. Death is the easiest, quickest and only permanent way out.

But what if one rejects death? Can one cheat one’s way out of the slums? Mid-Autumn is willing to give it a try. His macho act is the key piece of a strategy to beat the system and move to the other side, where ‘normal’ people enjoy everything that makes a life worth living. If he pulls it off, he would be a free man with an exciting future. If he fails, he would be described as just another young thug who crashed and burned in a predictable fashion.

Made in Hong Kong 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, Made in Hong Kong arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

I have never owned a copy of this film in my library, but there is no question in my mind that what is on the Blu-ray is the best technical presentation it has seen to date. The release is sourced from a wonderful organic recent 4K master and at least on my system a lot of the visuals often looked like they might have been captured by Christopher Doyle's camera. Obviously, because of some unique stylistic choices clarity and highlights can fluctuate a bit -- mostly during the hand-held camera footage and in areas with exaggerated lighting -- but this is how the film was shot. Color balance was quite impressive as well, though again, I don't have an older release to reference. Image stability is terrific. Finally, there are no encoding anomalies to report in our review. Fantastic presentation. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Made in Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean and sharp. There are some pretty substantial dynamic and balance fluctuations during 'busier' sequences, but they are not byproducts of technical flaws. The film simply blends organic noises and sounds with the narration/dialog, plus the music score introduces additional contrasts and nuances that create some unusual fluctuation. There are no technical anomalies to report in our review.

Made in Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Fruit Chan - in this new video interview, the director Fruit Chan discusses the progression of his career, the evolution of the Hong Kong film scene, his decision to shoot Made in Hong Kong, the production process, etc. The interview was conducted in 2020. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (48 min).

• Interview with Doris Yang - in this new video interview, producer Doris Young discusses her involvement with Made in Hong Kong. The interview was conducted in 2020. In Cantonese and English, with English subtitles where necessary. (8 min).

• Interview with Daniel Yu - in this new video interview, producer Daniel Yu discusses his love for Fruit Chan's work and involvement with Made in Hong Kong. The interview was conducted in 2020. In English. (13 min).

• Interview with Marco Muller - in this new video interview, Marco Muller, former director of the Locarno Film Festival, recalls his first encounter with Made in Hong Kong and discusses the film's new wave identity. The interview was conducted in 2020. In Italian, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Booklet - a collector's booklet featuring new writing by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an archival interview with director Fruit Chan, and technical credits.

Made in Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong has the genes that defined some of the greatest films of the Hong Kong New Wave. It is so alive and full of energy that certain parts of it look like they could have been lensed by Christopher Doyle. I loved it, and I think that it is a terrific addition to Eureka Entertainment's catalog. The Blu-ray release is sourced from a very beautiful recent 4K master and features a nice selection of new video interviews with the director and the producers of the film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.