Between Wen and Wu: Mythologizing Hong Kong's Ghettos A Conversation with SOI CHEANG 鄭保瑞

Masterclass with SOI CHEANG 鄭保瑞

Date: Feb 4, 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:30 - 6:00 PM
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, Main Campus, HKU
Registration: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cUta5lqi4MfVdGe?Q_CHL=qr

The most accomplished Hong Kong filmmaker of his generation, Soi Cheang has not only broken local box office records with Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) but gained a cult reputation in countries like France and Japan with such dark yet stylish thrillers as Limbo (2021) and Mad Fate (2023).

While acclaimed for his virtuoso handling of genre action, Cheang has also been noted for his artistic aspirations, crafting an expressionist, mythological vision of Hong Kong's slums as a trash-strewn ghetto abandoned by polite society in which marginalized individuals -- grotesque, even monstrous figures -- struggle to defy fate and find redemption in an environment dominated by crime and misery.

The productive tension between the wen (literary) and the wu (martial) -- striving for poetry while satisfying genre requirements -- will be the focus of this talk with director Cheang that traces his development as a filmmaker, from being mentored as an apprentice by Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and others, to the emergence of his own creative vision and arriving at a personal set of working methods with a group of frequent collaborators.

Host: Dr. Derek Lam is a member of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society and a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Comparative Literature.

文武之間：神話化香港的貧民窟 與鄭保瑞對談

鄭保瑞被譽為他這一代香港電影人中最傑出的導演，不僅以《九龍城寨之圍城》（2024）打破本地票房紀錄，更憑《智齒》（2021）及《命案》（2023）等暗黑風格的驚悚片，在法國、日本等地贏得邪典地位。

雖然鄭保瑞以精湛的武打動作聞名，但他對電影風格和美學的追求同樣備受讚譽：他以表現主義手法，建構出香港貧民窟的神話景象——滿佈垃圾、被體面社會遺棄的草根舊區，邊緣人物（甚至是「騎呢」、近乎怪物的角色）在罪惡與苦難主宰的環境中，掙扎對抗命運、尋找救贖。

今次講座將聚焦鄭保瑞電影作品中「文」（文藝性）與「武」（動作元素）的互動——在滿足類型片要求之餘，如何追求詩意表達。鄭保瑞將回顧其創作生涯：從跟隨杜琪峯、林嶺東等大師當學徒起步，到逐漸形成個人創作視野，並與長期合作團隊建立獨特的拍攝方法。

主持：林瀚光博士為香港電影評論學會會員暨香港大學比較文學系講師。

Mad Fate《命案》

Screening and Post-Screening Discussion

Date: Feb 4, 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:30 - 9:30 PM
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, Main Campus, HKU
Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=104666

Cheang paints a characteristically dark picture of Hong Kong’s slums, expressionistically lit with garish neons, where a pair of misfits abandoned by society as mentally unfit – a young man with a violent streak and a middle-aged fortune teller haunted by his past – defy the odds by joining forces to combat fate while a serial killer is on the loose targeting ghetto prostitutes. Effortlessly juggling a host of entertaining popular genres Hong Kong cinema is known for, Mad Fate addresses at its heart metaphysical and spiritual notions of destiny and redemption central to Cheang’s mythology.

《命案》放映和分享會

鄭保瑞以一貫暗黑美學呈現香港當下的貧民窟，透過霓虹色調營造具表現主義的陰森氣氛：一對被主流社會排斥為有精神病的怪人——擁有暴力傾向的茶餐廳少東，以及被過往陰影纏身的中年相士——嘗試聯手對抗厄運，同時阻止一名連環殺手針對基層社區妓女所展開的獵殺。電影包含多種具娛樂性、港產片擅長的不同類型元素，核心卻探討鄭保瑞神話體系中至為重要的形而上與靈性議題：宿命與救贖。

** Credits to Makerville Company Limited and Noble Castle Asia Limited **

See below for photos of the event! Also view the video below of the event!!!