Ka-Fai Wai

  • Ka-Fai Wai – He ping fan dian AKA Peace Hotel (1995)

    Ka-Fai Wai1991-2000ActionAsianHong Kong

    Quote:
    Chow Yun Fat’s last film in the pre-Handover Hong Kong film industry before he went on to try his luck in Hollywood, Peace Hotel was directed by regular Johnnie To collaborator Wai Ka Fai, produced by John Woo, and has the feel of a swan song. Indeed Chow Yun Fat’s next Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking film would come almost 20 years later. So it is quite suitable that his character in the film is known only as “the Killer”, echoing arguably the apex of his Hong Kong career and his legendary collaboration with John Woo. The Killer, as a gorgeous black-and-white prologue tells us, once wiped out an entire gang of horse thieves responsible for the death of his wife (Wu Chien Lien). His killing spree led him to an abandoned hotel, where after an experiencing an epiphany he spared the life of the last gang member. 10 years later, the hotel is not abandoned anymore : it has become a safe haven for fugitives and outlaws, run by the Killer himself. Read More »

  • Ka-Fai Wai – Yi ge zi tou de dan sheng AKA Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997)

    Ka-Fai Wai1991-2000ComedyCrimeHong Kong

    John Woo protégé Wai Ka-fai follows up on his acclaimed Chow Yun-Fat vehicle Peace Hotel with this wild and woolly black comedy. With a nod to both Tarantino and Kieslowski, Wai fashions an inventive narrative based around ideas of fate and accident.

    The film follows Wong Ah-kau (Lau Ching-Wan), an inept gangland foot soldier with no self-esteem, no money, and no clue. One day, a friend of his offers him a stack of cash to deliver some cars to Mainland China for a big crime boss. It seems like easy money. Around the same time, he gets another offer to go to Taiwan and do a mob hit for an even bigger sum of dough. Due to some narrative trickery, both options are explored.

    Over the years, this film has become something of a cult classic for mavens of Hong Kong cinema.Read More »

  • Johnnie To & Ka-Fai Wai – Sau sun nam nui AKA Love on diet (2001)

    2001-2010AsianComedyHong KongJohnnie ToKa-Fai Wai

    Synopsis
    A depressed, obese woman tries to lose weight in order to win back her ex-boyfriend with the help of a fellow Hong Konger whom she met in Japan.Read More »

  • Ka-Fai Wai – Joi sun ho AKA Written By (2009)

    Drama2001-2010AsianHong KongKa-Fai Wai

    Synopsis
    A lawyer who is killed in a car accident finds himself resurrected as a character in his daughter’s novel.Read More »

  • Johnnie To & Ka-Fai Wai – Chuen jik sat sau AKA Fulltime Killer (2001)

    2001-2010AsianCrimeHong KongJohnnie ToKa-Fai Wai

    Quote:
    O (Takashi Sorimachi) is the number 1 assassin in all of Asia. Tok (Andy Lau) wants to dethrone him and become the premier hitman in the world. What these two have in common is that they are in love with the same woman, Chin (Kelly Lin). And Chief Inspector Lee (Simon Yam) wants to catch them both. Thrown into a gauntlet of razor blade shoot-outs and a feeding frenzy of warfare, this film is a story about two men of the most excessive lifestyles competing in a world where men die young and the victor not only walks away with the most money, but with the most valuable reputation. Bursting of style and pimp slapped with full on octane entrenched cinema, Johnny To presents his action masterpiece, “Fulltime Killer.”Read More »

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