Title: The Last Brother (1990): Stephen Chow’s Subversive Swan Song to Hong Kong’s Gangster Golden Age In the pantheon of Stephen Chow’s filmography, The Last Brother (江湖最後一個大佬) stands as a provocative anomaly—a gritty, melancholic gangster drama that dismantles the mythos of triad heroism while foreshadowing Chow’s comedic genius. Released in 1990 during the twilight of […]
Title: The Lucky Guy (1998): Stephen Chow’s Overlooked Ode to Hong Kong’s Post-97 Anxiety and the Myth of Control Amid the glittering chaos of Hong Kong’s handover era, Stephen Chow’s The Lucky Guy (行运一条龙) stands as a sly, subversive masterpiece that masquerades as a slapstick rom-com. Released in 1998—a year after the city’s return to […]
Title: My Hero (1990): Stephen Chow’s Underrated Blueprint for Absurdist Rebellion While Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle often dominate Western discussions of Stephen Chow, My Hero (original title: A Kid from the Comics) remains a hidden gem that crystallizes his early genius. Released in 1990, this genre-blending dark comedy—part gangster parody, part meta-comic-book fantasy—is […]
Title: Why “Peking Opera Blues” Is the Perfect Gateway to Stephen Chow’s Genius When introducing Stephen Chow’s filmography to global audiences, Peking Opera Blues (1988) often gets overshadowed by later slapstick hits like Kung Fu Hustle or Shaolin Soccer. Yet, this gritty yet absurdist crime-comedy—Chow’s breakout role—is a masterclass in balancing social satire, raw humanity, […]
Why Legend of the Dragon (1991) Is Stephen Chow’s Forgotten Masterpiece on Cultural Identity and the Myth of Heroism In the pantheon of Stephen Chow’s films, Legend of the Dragon (龙的传人) often languishes in the shadows of Kung Fu Hustle or Shaolin Soccer. Yet this 1991 gem—a chaotic blend of martial arts satire, generational conflict, […]
Why All’s Well, Ends Well (1992) Is Stephen Chow’s Timeless Masterclass in Chaos, Love, and the Art of Absurdity In 1992, as Hong Kong grappled with its impending return to China, Stephen Chow unleashed All’s Well, Ends Well—a raucous family comedy that transcends cultural boundaries to dissect universal human follies. More than a slapstick romp, […]
Why All’s Well, Ends Well 1997 Is Stephen Chow’s Subversive Ode to Family, Feminism, and Postcolonial Identity Amid Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997—a year steeped in political uncertainty—Stephen Chow’s All’s Well, Ends Well 1997 (家有喜事1997) reimagines the family comedy as a riotous, genre-defying manifesto on love, power, and cultural metamorphosis. More than a […]
Why The Tricky Master (1999) Is Stephen Chow’s Unflinching Mirror to Millennial Greed and Identity Chaos In Stephen Chow’s filmography, The Tricky Master (千王之王2000) often gets dismissed as a “late-career comedy,” but beneath its absurd gambling showdowns and slapstick lies a prescient critique of capitalism, performative masculinity, and the Y2K-era identity crisis. Set in a […]
Why Hail the Judge (1997) Is Stephen Chow’s Darkest Satire on Power, Absurdity, and the Myth of Justice Amid Stephen Chow’s pantheon of slapstick classics, Hail the Judge (算死草) stands apart as a subversive masterpiece that weaponizes comedy to dissect systemic corruption, colonial hypocrisy, and the theater of law. Set in late Qing Dynasty Hong […]
Why The Magnificent Scoundrels (1991) Is Stephen Chow’s Unsung Masterclass in Absurdist Comedy While Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle often dominate Western discussions of Stephen Chow, The Magnificent Scoundrels (情圣) remains a criminally overlooked gem that distills his genius into 90 minutes of meta-comedy, existential satire, and Chaplinesque pathos. Set in a Hong Kong […]