Throughout the months of September and October, ByTowne Cinema is presenting the best in Hong Kong cinema from the 1980s. Films directed by the likes of John Woo, Tsui Hark and the late Ringo Lam showing the best of Hong Kong filmmaking.
Peking Opera Blues was watched on Saturday at ByTowne Cinema. Released in 1986, the film was set in the early 1900s which tells the story of three young women and two men with different means and reasons on their journeys.
The film stars Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung, and Sally Yeh as the lead characters. Also in the film are legendary actors, Paul Chun and the late Kenneth Tsang and Wu Ma.
With Shout! Studios owning the North American rights to the films, the best part was the update to the subtitles. The problem with the previous home media release of Peking Opera Blues, Yeh’s character was named Pat Neill, it didn’t make sense because the name looked too Western. With the re-release, Yeh’s character is named Bak Nau.
Another thing with 1980s Hong Kong films were the lack of boom microphones, Actors were having to dub their own voices. Rewatching it brought some laughter because the tone of the voices sounded funny and slightly not match when speaking. Just the small details.
Peking Opera Blues is full of comedy and action which still makes it enjoyable to watch. There’s a sense of nostalgia to 1980s Hong Kong films as it was shown in theatres in Ottawa like the Mayfair Theatre in the 1980 to early 1990s.
Other films showing at ByTowne Cinema from the Hong Kong Cinema Classics are A Better Tomorrow trilogy, A Chinese Ghost Story trilogy, John Woo’s The Killer and others just to name a few.
Hey there! I had an amazing time watching Peking Opera Blue at ByTowne. It was like stepping back in time, feeling like it was the Mayfair, watching Hong Kong films in a different location. It’s a shame that Hong Kong’s culture is slowly fading away because of the government’s control. We should definitely cherish the memories of what Hong Kong used to be, thanks to its iconic films.
