Description

Gambling is Chow Cheung-sheng’s Achilles heel, but it’s his hot temper and weak moral compass that really wreak havoc on his wife and son. The Chinese family lives in small-town Malaysia, where Sheng makes ends meet, and supports his habit, as a cook, and his wife Lin works the nocturnal grind as a nightclub hostess. When Lin packs her bags and attempts to leave her family, their son –- referred to only as Boy –- alerts Sheng, who promptly beats Lin and locks her in their bedroom. When he tries to smooth things over by planning a family trip, she plays sick and stays behind, finally fleeing into the arms of whoever’s on the other end of her mysterious phone calls. When Sheng and Boy return to find Lin gone, they venture out of town to find her, entering into a pathetic life of thievery and exploitation.

After This Our Exile won Taiwan’s 2006 Golden Horse Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor for pop star Aaron Kwok (who plays Sheng) and Best Supporting Actor for the young Gouw Ian Iskandar (Boy), who delivers an effective performance as an emotionally bruised and confused kid. Supporting actresses Charlie Yeung (Lin) and Kelly Lin (who plays Sheng’s neighbour) are commendable too, but it’s Kwok -- known in his music career as “Hong Kong’s Michael Jackson” -- who carries the film with his portrayal of the failed paternal figure, reduced to desperate measures in the face of impending poverty and the threat of violence from encroaching bookies. For such a lowdown, dirty story, director Patrick Tam and cinematographer Lee Pin Bing (In the Mood for Love) have crafted a beautiful picture, many of its scenes set at dawn or dusk, with shots lingering on the natural beauty of Malaysia’s landscape, set to a lush score composed by Robert-Ellis Geiger.

—Lorraine Carpenter

“One of the few Hong Kong films today with the ambition to tackle such issues as domestic violence, parenthood, and petty crime without resorting to Category III sensationalism” – Brian Hu, ASIA PACIFIC ARTS

“If your Hong Kong movie diet just consists of kung fu and gunplay, do yourself a favor and check this movie out” – HKFILM.NET

Credits

Director: Patrick Tam
Screenplay: Patrick Tam, Tian Kai-Leong
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Charlie Yeung, Gouw Ian Iskandar, Kelly Lin, Qin Hailu, Valen Hsu
Producers: Chiu Li-kuang, Hu Dong, Eric Tsang
Distributor: Vision Films