REVIEW: ‘Hong Kong Godfather’ (1985)

Last week I wrote about Shaw Brothers movie villain Johnny Wang Lung-wei. Back when I used to work as a projectionist at the Star and China theaters in Boston’s Chinatown – was it really thirty years ago? – he was a familiar face, appearing in movies by Lau Kar-leung and Chang Cheh. But I had forgotten that he also directed a handful of action films. HONG KONG GODFATHER played on one of our screens. It made a big impression on me at the time, and it’s a shame the film isn’t better known.

HONG KONG GODFATHER was made around the same time as Jackie Chan’s first POLICE STORY, and anticipates John Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW and HARD BOILED. Like HARD BOILED, the plot involves a relatively benevolent, old fashioned Triad boss (played by Shek Kin) who is ruthlessly eliminated by a younger rival (Pomson Shi). Shek’s Uncle Han is betrayed by a cowardly underling (Shum Wai) and avenged by three of his men: Mad Dog Wei (Leung Kar-yan), Playboy Lung (Norman Chu), and Sergeant Wen (Richard Cheung Kuen). Wang Lung-wei, who choreographed the action in addition to directing, appears briefly in the beginning and during the lengthy and impressive end fight as one of the rival’s henchmen.

Much of the final sequence takes place in the same shopping mall Chan used for POLICE STORY. While the choreography may not be as inventive as in that film, it’s much more brutal and realistic. The avengers and rival gang members go at each other with wicked-looking knives that leave the actors and sets awash in blood. Wang Lung-wei came into the film industry with a reputation as a brawler, and he understands the berserker rage that keeps a man fighting against insane odds. His righteous Triad protagonists are unstoppable.

HONG KONG GODFATHER boasts an exceptionally fine cast. Shek Kin, who was 72 at the time, performs a brief kung fu set for his grandson (see the clip here), but most of the action is handled by Leung (sometimes known as “Beardy”) and Chu. These two actors were rarely seen in starring roles, which is a shame, given how good they are. The film is also notable for a breathtakingly casual attitude towards police corruption. Not only does Uncle Han have a protege, Sergeant Wen, openly serving on the force, but there’s a strong implication that the rival gang is able to shut down the police investigation of Han’s murder, leading Wen to resign in order to pursue private vengeance.

Now for the bad news. The only DVD version of HONG KONG GODFATHER currently available is from Bonzai Media Corporation, which is apparently a bootleg operation. It’s also dubbed in Mandarin, an unforgivable desecration for a Hong Kong Triad film, and, despite the promise made on the cover, it is not the “uncut version.” At least one scene that I remember from the original was missing. On the other hand, it was produced by the Shaw studio and may eventually be re-released in a legitimate version. When that day comes, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this lost gem.

A clip from HONG KONG GODFATHER can be found at Youtube.