(Hong Kong) It is enormously refreshing to see a Hong Kong film that has nothing to do with triad politics or wired kung fu acrobatics. Set over a few streets in Wan Chai, Crossing Hennessy is a straightforward dramedy that acknowledges the pathos of modern urban living while pointing out some of the simple truths in life.
Everybody probably has a rough picture of life in Tin Shui Wai by now. Newspaper headlines tell us it’s a place where mothers throw their children out the window before leaping to their own deaths. Lawrence Lau’s “Besieged City” tells us it’s a triad hellhole plagued by underage prostitution, underage motherhood and underage murder. Yes, it seems pretty damn rough. Ann Hui’s “The Way We Are” challenges that picture.
