The 10 essential films from the Hong Kong New Wave

“I never studied film formally at school, but as a kid, I spent most of my time
in cinemas.” – Wong Kar-wai

Before the New Wave arrived in the late 1970s, the film industry in Hong Kong was propped up by a robust mass-production studio system which produced countless world-renowned kung-fu action flicks. Global stars like Bruce Lee had helped introduce the genre to international audiences but after Lee’s death in 1973, there was a significant decline in the quality of martial arts films that were being produced at the time. This is where the Hong Kong New Wave filmmakers stepped in to challenge the status quo and to create a cinematic tradition that was separate from the mainstream works.

This movement is often divided into two distinct periods: the Hong Kong New Wave, which included eminent directors like Ann Hui and Tsui Hark, and the Second New Wave that followed. Unlike other famous film movements like the French New Wave, Hong Kong’s burgeoning filmmakers did not share overtly similar styles or thematic obsessions. They are grouped together because they injected their creative flair into a stagnant industry in their own ways, moving away from studio productions and using new technology, like synchronous sound, new editing techniques and filming on location.

One of the leading figures of the Second New Wave, Stanley Kwan said, “I think that the Hong Kong cinema has always favoured the commercial aspect. Until the late 1970s, before the arrival of the New Wave, all the films produced in Hong Kong focused on the market, aiming for a success at the box office. Whether cape and sword, kung-fu, musical movies, popular comedies, or the erotic films of Li Han Hsiang: all were produced in order to earn money first.”

He added, “I wouldn’t even dare to speak about my artistic ambitions. It’s difficult to exist in the film industry in Hong Kong. As a filmmaker, I try to print a particular style to my movies. Take people like Ann Hui, Wong Kar-wai or myself: from our very beginning, we wanted to shoot with the greatest comedians, because we knew that their names on the bill will allow our films to be distributed properly, and perhaps to meet the success at the box office. It was only after obtaining those actors consent that we can begin to try to impose our own style, our artistic point of view.”

We take a look at some of the definitive works from the Hong Kong New Wave in order to understand the unique artistic sensibilities of this important movement in the history of cinema.

Hong Kong New Wave 10 best films:

Pre-cursors to the New Wave:

Story of a Discharged Prisoner (Patrick Lung Kong – 1967)

This seminal 1967 black-and-white film has a formative influence on the crime genre and has partially inspired John Woo’s famous 1986 work A Better Tomorrow. It tells the story of a prison inmate and how he struggles to assimilate into normative society after being released from prison. It is a powerful investigation of people who solely believe in condemnation and not reformation.

“I entered the Cantonese movie business as an actor in the 1950s and became a director…