M+ Restored M+修復

The System, Peter Yung's debut feature, is based on the connections and information he gathered while making Opium: The White Powder Opera (1976–1977), a documentary about the drug trade, years prior. The film intricately portrays the relationship between drug dealers, the police, and informants, earning high praise. Inspector Chan (Pai Ying) persuades drug lord Hung's assistant, Tam (Sek Kin), to cooperate and gather evidence against Hung. The operation, however, does not go smoothly and is sabotaged by another team within the police, further complicating the situation.

The film’s solid and detailed depiction of investigations and drug trafficking, combined with documentary techniques such as handheld cinematography, captures a wealth of scenes on location without resorting to convenient dramatisation, allowing it to stand out among the many works of Hong Kong’s first wave of New Wave cinema. Its distinctive and cohesive style is not found in Yung’s subsequent works.

The film offers profound and contrasting portrayals of its two main characters, without a dichotomous portrayal of good and evil. Instead, it delicately explores their nuanced relationship as both adversaries and allies, highlighting their interdependence. Additionally, the film reveals the in-fighting within different anti-drug trafficking departments, illustrating how the entire drug trafficking and law enforcement system is inextricably linked through mutual interests. The film is filled with memorable scenes, particularly the police's undercover operations in street-level surveillance and Inspector Chan's solitary journey up the mountain to spend the night and observe birds at dawn.

About the Director

Peter Yung (b. Hong Kong, 1949) was already a renowned photographer when he came to specialise in making documentaries on the drug trade in the 1970s. The System is his debut feature on the same topic that has a strong documentarian influence in both form and content, unprecedented in its thorough understanding of the drug trade and its different players on a human level.

He is unique among his generation of Hong Kong filmmakers as a pioneer and an independent director who often produced his own films. In the history of Hong Kong cinema, The System is a unique example of merging tragic pathos and investigative journalism with a raw shooting style. His other works include Life After Life (1981) and The Rickshaw Boy (1982), as well as Warlords of the Golden Triangles (1987), the continuation of his exploration of drug-related themes.

Restoration details

1979 | 88 min. | Cantonese (with Chinese and English subtitles)

The restoration was made using the original 35 mm picture and sound negatives as well as the 35 mm print preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The digital restoration was undertaken at L’Immagine Ritrovata, with colour correction completed at One Cool Production.

As the picture negatives exhibited considerable shrinkage and colour fading, additional efforts were made by L’Immagine Ritrovata to scan, restore, and colour correct the opening logo sequence and reel 8 segments from the 35 mm print.

Set in San Francisco, Love Massacre (1981) follows college student Ivy (Brigitte Lin) as she tries to help her friend Joy (Tina Liu), who is depressed and delirious af­ter a breakup. Ivy soon becomes inadvertently involved with Joy's brother Chu Chung (Chang Kuo-Chu), but it is later revealed that he is married. Su­ffering from a hereditary mental illness, Chung eventually spirals into violence as he breaks into Ivy's dormitory and goes on a killing spree.

Shi­fting across genres―from drama and romance to thriller and slasher―director Patrick Tam blends elements of European arthouse films and American thrillers in this visually striking yet unsettling gem of the Hong Kong New Wave. The screenplay was written by Joyce Chan, Tam's long-term collaborator in television. This was Tam's first film that showcased the modern sensibility he developed during his years in television. The film redefined Brigitte Lin's image as the golden girl of Taiwanese romantic drama. It marked a new phase of her career in Hong Kong cinema.

Love Massacre is most notable for its use of bold colours to express emotions on screen. Although its initial box o­ffice performance and critical reception were average, it has since earned its recognition as a pioneering work of New Wave cinema. It also marked the debut of William Chang as an art director, and his striking contributions elevated the role.

About the Director

Patrick Tam (b. 1948, Hong Kong) began his career at Television Broadcast Limited. His first feature film, The Sword (1980), was an innovative wuxia film that helped initiate the Hong Kong New Wave era. His talent for visual storytelling continued to develop in Love Massacre (1981), Nomad (1982), and Final Victory (1987). He is also known for his work as a film editor on Wong Kar Wai's Days of Being Wild (1990) and Ashes of Time (1994). Tam received the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards for After This Our Exile (2006).

Restoration details:

1981 | 91 min. | Cantonese (with Chinese and English subtitles)

Restored in 4K by M+ in 2025. The restoration was made using the original 35mm picture negative found in 2025, a 35mm workprint preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, a 35mm release print preserved at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the Cantonese soundtrack from DVCAM tapes provided by Patrick Tam. This restoration reflects the director's cut as shown at the film's Hong Kong release in 1981 and is presented in the intended 1.66:1 aspect ratio.

The restoration advisor was Ross Lipman, who also completed the version conforming for this project. The digital restoration was undertaken at Colorlab, with colour correction completed at Digit Digit with the guidance of Brian Lai. The audio restoration was completed at Audio Mechanics.

Special thanks to David Yuen and Mei Ah Entertainment Group Limited.

Cageman depicts the lives of a group of middle-aged men sharing one cheap cage-home flat in Hong Kong. These forgotten members of society have become the subject of news and discourses as their dilapidated building faces demolishment, and they are forced to relocate. Featuring an ensemble cast of low-income citizens, the film steers clear of sentimental melodrama, vulgar comedy, and radical denunciation. Instead, it presents a blend of absurd realism, rich emotion, and relentless street humour that culminates in a surreal and metaphorical ending. Each resident grapples with their own struggles as a marginalised individual. The crisis of demolition creates internal divisions: should they relocate and seek compensation, or should they insist on staying? The film serves as a poignant reflection of the predicaments of pre-1997 Hong Kong.

The film premiered at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and received enthusiastic responses, but it took more than six months for a shortened version, cut by twenty minutes, to be released. It was classified as a Category III film due to the use of strong language. Although the box office results were mediocre, the film garnered critical acclaim, running for four weeks and winning four major awards, including Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Award, the following year.

Jacob Cheung is part of the second wave of Hong Kong New Wave cinema, focusing on overlooked individuals in society. Cageman stands as his representative work with outstanding performances from the cast and masterful long takes in the narrow corridors of the cage-home flat. The film also marks another achievement for Sil-Metropole, which continues its commitment to non-mainstream, social realist productions after supporting three of Allen Fong’s films.

About the Director

Jacob Cheung (b. 1959, Hong Kong) graduated from secondary school and entered the actor training class at TVB. After completing the programme, he became an assistant director. Two years later, he transitioned to the film industry, working as a producer on multiple films. His directorial debut Lai Shi, China’s Last Eunuch (1988) was a commercial hit, followed by Beyond the Sunset (1989) and Cageman (1992), both of which won Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. He is known for directing artistic films such as Always on My Mind (1993), Intimates (1997), The Kid (1999), and Midnight Fly (2001). Later, he developed his career in mainland China, with A Battle of Wits (2006) achieving both critical acclaim and box-office success. In 2014, he directed The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom.

Restoration Details

1992 | 150 min. | Cantonese (with Chinese and English subtitles)

The restoration was made using the original 35 mm picture, edit-out and optical sound negatives preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The duration reflects the original cut shown at the world premiere. The restoration was undertaken at L’Immagine Ritrovata. Special thanks to Jacob Cheung.

Cageman is one of the films under ‘M+ Restored’, an initiative supported by CHANEL.