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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Heung Gong jai jo" or "Made in Hong Kong")

 

Directed by Fruit Chan
Hong Kong 1997

 

Released to critical acclaim in 1997, the year of the Hong Kong handover, Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong was praised as an anarchic masterpiece, a powerful distillation of urban alienation and youthful despair.

Moon (Sam Lee) is a small-time triad, stuck in an endless cycle of pointless violence with no hope of escape. After he and his friends witness the suicide of a young girl, they embark on a journey to deliver two letters she had on her when she died.

Produced on a shoestring budget, with non-professional actors and using discarded film reels for stock, the film was rescued from obscurity and fully restored in 4K in time for its 20th anniversary in 2017, thanks to the Far East Film Festival, in collaboration with Andy Lau's Hong Kong production company, Focus Film.

***

Autumn Moon is a young, go-nowhere triad whose self-regard far outstrips his talents or accomplishments. While working as a debt collec­tor, Moon meets feisty teen Ping, who suffers from renal failure and needs a kidney transplant, though her chances of receiving one are slim. Nevertheless, Moon falls for Ping and idealistically resolves to improve himself and become her saviour. But that goal may be futile for someone of Moons station and temperament.

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 1997 (Locarno Film Festival)

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Metrograph - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

 

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:49:27.561          1:49:30.333
Video

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 36,959,852,160 bytes

Feature: 31,125,372,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 33.87 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 40,567,279,740 bytes

Feature: 34,575,335,424 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.94 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Masters of Cinema Blu-ray:

Bitrate Metrograph Pictures Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio Cantonese 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit

DTS-HD Master Audio Chinese 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 256 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / DN -31dB
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB

Subtitles English, None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Masters of Cinema

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 36,959,852,160 bytes

Feature: 31,125,372,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 33.87 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

New interview with director Fruit Chan (47:20)
New interview with producer Doris Yang (7:16)
New interview with producer Daniel Yu (12:54)
New interview with Marco Muller, former director of the Locarno Film Festival (4:29)
A collector's booklet featuring new writing by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; and an archival interview with director Fruit Chan


Blu-ray Release Date:
September 21st, 2020
Transparent Blu-ray Case inside slipcase

Chapters 15

Release Information:
Studio:
Masters of Cinema

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 40,567,279,740 bytes

Feature: 34,575,335,424 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.94 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio Commentary by Film Critics Sean Gilman and Ryan Swen
• Re-Release Trailer (1:19)
• Interviews with Director Fruit Chan (47:20), Producer Doris Yang (7:16), and Producer Daniel Yu (12:55)


Blu-ray Release Date: December 19th, 2023

Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 10

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Metrograph Pictures Blu-ray (December 2023): Metrograph Pictures have also transferred Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong to Blu-ray. The presentation starts with the same restoration description as the Masters of Cinema (see below) from 3 years ago. There are differences in the transferred image- but they are slight enough that we won't make issue - they had a lot of parity in-motion. For the audio, Metrograph have a dual-mono DTS-HD Master (24-bit) track option or a 1.0 channel mono lossy Dolby. Both in the original Cantonese language. It is authentically flat and clear again suffering only the imperfections of the original source - generally dialogue is very audible and there is a score credited to Wah-Chuen Lam (more highly noted as the cinematographer for Made in Hong Kong along with Sing-Pui O), sounding supportive and heightening energy in sequences. Metrograph offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

For the supplements, Metrograph offer three of the four interviews that were, new, on the 2020 Masters of Cinema Blu-ray; Director Fruit Chan, Producer Doris Yang, and Producer Daniel Yu - running over an hour in total. We lose the, less than a 5-minute, piece with Marco Muller, former director of the Locarno Film Festival, but we gain a new commentary by film critics Sean Gilman and Ryan Swen. They discuss the 'handover' of Hong Kong to China in 1997 - how it relates to the production, pacing, the characters and their names etc.. They talk about comparisons to filmmaker Johnny To, actor Louis Koo and the teen-suicide movies that were part of this timeframe. It's quite informative. The package has no liner notes. 

I continue to be impressed by Fruit Chan's seminal Made in Hong Kong. A deeply layered piece of, modestly-budgeted (made using leftover film reels), essentially independent, character-driven cinema. I could watch films like this for the rest of my days. Such a beautifully realized work for another 4K-restored Blu-ray - this with the revealing commentary and the previous interviews. A double-dip for the commentary might be in order for others who were as impressed by the film as I was. For Region 'A'-ers that don't own the MoC - the Metrograph is strongly recommended!     

***

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (September 2020): Masters of Cinema have transferred Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K digital restoration". Prefacing the film  are text screens which read "The 4K restoration of Made in Hong Kong was promoted by the Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary since the film's first public screening in 1997, the same year as Hong Kong's handover to China. The restoration was made from the original camera negative with the supervision of director Fruit Chan and was carried out in 2017 in the Hong Kong and Bologna headquarters of L'Immagine Ritrovata. The color correction was done at One Cool Production Ltd. in Hong Kong. " This looks very good considering it was a low budget film out of Hong Kong in the lat 90's. Colors are detail are very pleasing and there are instances of weaker visual but more to the production limitations. I think the 4K-restoration is a huge step beyond SD and the 1080P presentation was frequently impressive with rich grain, deep colors and frequent depth. Wonderful.

NOTE: We have added 76 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Cantonese language. Masters of Cinema offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offers new interview with director Fruit Chan (for over 3/4 of an hour!), producers Doris Yang and Daniel Yu (separately) and with Marco Muller, former director of the Locarno Film Festival where it debuted. The package has a collector's booklet featuring new writing by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; and an archival interview with director Fruit Chan.

Gary Tooze

 


Menus / Extras

 

Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


 


 

 

 


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Masters of Cinema Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

 

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Masters of Cinema - Spine #238 Region 'B' - Blu-ray Metrograph Pictures Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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