Boat People (film)
| Boat People | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ann Hui |
| Produced by | Xia Meng |
| Written by | Dai An-Ping |
| Starring |
George Lam Andy Lau Cora Miao Season Ma |
| Music by | Law Wing-fai |
| Cinematography | Wong Chung-kei |
| Edited by | Kin Kin |
| Distributed by | Bluebird Film Company |
|
Release date
|
22 October 1982 |
|
Running time
|
106 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong China |
| Language |
Cantonese Japanese Vietnamese |
| Box office | HK$15,475,087 |
Boat People (Chinese: 投奔怒海; pinyin: Tóubēn Nù Hăi; Cantonese Yale: Tau ban no hoi; literally: "Into the Raging Sea") is a Hong Kong film directed by Ann Hui, first shown in theatres in 1982. The film stars George Lam, Andy Lau, Cora Miao, and Season Ma. At the second Hong Kong Film Awards, Boat People won awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best New Performer, Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. It was also screened out of competition at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005, at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards, Boat People was ranked 8th in the list of 103 best Chinese-language films in the past 100 years.
Boat People was the last film in Hui's "Vietnam trilogy". It recounts the plight of the Vietnamese people after the communist takeover following the Fall of Saigon ending the Vietnam War.
In the late 1970s, a great number of Vietnamese refugees flooded Hong Kong. In 1979, Hui was making the documentary A Boy from Vietnam for the RTHK network. In the process of making the film, she collected many interviews conducted with Vietnamese refugees about life in Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon. From these interviews, she directed The Story of Woo Viet (1981) starring Chow Yun-fat as Woo Viet, a Vietnamese boat person in Hong Kong, and Boat People.
The People's Republic of China, just ending a war with Vietnam, gave Hui permission to film on Hainan Island.Boat People was the first Hong Kong movie filmed in Communist China. Hui saved a role for Chow Yun-Fat, but because at that time Hong Kong actors working in mainland China were banned in Taiwan, Chow Yun-Fat declined the role out of fear for being blacklisted. Six months before filming was set to start, and after the film crew were already on location in Hainan, a cameraman suggested that Hui give the role to Andy Lau. At that time, Andy Lau was still a newcomer in the Hong Kong film industry. Hui gave Lau the role and flew him to Hainan before a proper audition or even seeing what he looked like.
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