Hong Kong 1941 Limited Edition Blu-Ray

Po-Chih Leong is a versatile British-Chinese filmmaker whose career spans almost fifty years. He has worked in a variety of genres, from action in Foxbat to horror in The Island, comedy in Ping Pong, and gangster films in Shanghai 1920, which was nominated for Best Film at the Chicago International Film Festival. However, his masterpiece is Hong Kong 1941, a gripping war drama starring Cecilia Yip (Nomad), Alex Man (Rich and Famous), and Chow Yun-fat (The Killer) in his breakthrough role.

Hong Kong 1941, with Sammo Hung as executive producer, follows three Hong Kong residents who are forced to negotiate for their lives during the occupation when their homeland falls to the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Ha Yuk-nam (Yip) is a young woman caught in a love triangle with her close friends Yip Kim-fei (Chow) and Wong Hak-keung (Man). While they dream of escape, their complicated personal relationships unfold against the backdrop of the oppression and brutality that Japanese rule brought to Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945.

Leong's film is a story of loyalty and love that deals with one of the darkest periods in Hong Kong's history. It was nominated for no fewer than eight awards at the 1985 Hong Kong Film Awards and won for its breathtaking cinematography by Brian Lai (The Postman Strikes Back). It also made Chow Yun-fat a star two years before his first collaboration with John Woo in A Better Tomorrow. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time outside Asia.

• Limited edition O-Card slipcase with new cover art by Time Tomorrow

• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration

• Original Cantonese mono soundtrack

• Optional English dubbing

• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release

• New audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)

• New appreciation of Hong Kong 1941 by film writer, programmer, and East Asian film expert Tony Rayns

• Crossing Cultures – an interview with Po-Chih Leong by Frédéric Ambroisine

• Po-Chih Leong on Hong Kong 1941 and cultural identity (Masterclass at Udine FEFF 2023)

• Two archive interviews with Chow Yun-fat.

• Three archive interviews with Cecilia Yip.

• Archive interview with Paul Chun.

• Movie trailer.

• PLUS: A limited edition collector's book with new texts about Hong Kong 1941 and Po-Chih Leong by Gary Bettinson, editor of Asian Cinema magazine.