In Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, a school teacher and her would-be-fiancé link up with Chinese guerrilla fighters, forging their own path to freedom.
Direction
Ann Hui's invisible hand — every frame breathes with restraint.
Acting
Zhou Xun's eyes do what dialogue never could.
Writing
Resistance as tedious, terrifying, and deeply human.
Director
Ann Hui
Zhou Xun
Fang Lan / Fang Gu
Eddie Peng Yu-Yan
Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau
Wallace Huo
Li Jinrong / Wing
Deanie Ip
Mrs. Fong
Tony Leung Ka-fai
Ben
Ivana Wong Yuen-Chi
Comrade Four
Masatoshi Nagase
Colonel Yamaguchi
Nina Paw Hei-Ching
Fong's Aunt
Jessie Li
Cheung Wing Yin
Guo Tao
Mao Dun
Huang Zhizhong
Zou Taofen
Jiang Wenli
Mrs. Shen
Ray Lui
Tsang Sang
Suzuka Morita
Matsuko
Sam Lee
Spy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ann Hui's third WWII film, completing her 'occupation trilogy' after Boat People and The Spooky Bunch. She's obsessed with what history forgets: women, bystanders, the unheroic.
Zhou Xun learned Cantonese specifically for this role, though her character speaks Mandarin — the linguistic tension mirrors colonial Hong Kong itself.
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