''City of Glass'' (玻璃之城) is a 1998 Hong Kong

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

written and directed by

Mabel Cheung Mabel Cheung (, born 17 November 1950) is a film director from Hong Kong. She is one of the leading directors in Hong Kong cinema and is considered one of the three women (along with Ann Hui and Clara Law) to achieve acclaim in the New Wave/Se ...

and starring

Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...

Shu Qi use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

, Nicola Cheung and

Daniel Wu Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...

Summary

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1997, a car accident in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

claims the lives of Raphael (

) and Vivien (

). The couple was once young lovers during their days at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

in the 1970s, but had drifted apart and eventually ended up marrying other people and raising their own families. However, they reunited in the 1990s and their love partially rekindled. After their funeral, Raphael's son, David (

), and Vivien's daughter, Susie ( Nicola Cheung), learned of their parents' affair and embark on a journey to discover their secret lives. In the end, the two fall in love.

Cast

as Raphael Hui Kong-sun *

as Mrs. Vivien Hung * Nicola Cheung as Susie Hung *

as David Hui *

Vincent Kok Vincent Kok Tak-chiu (; born 15 August 1965) is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director. Vincent's ancestral hometown is Shandong province. Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing wi ...

as Derek * Pauline Yam as Raphael's wife *

Eason Chan Eason Chan Yick Shun (born 27 July 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Chan was ranked sixth in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List. In 2006 Chan's Cantonese album ''U87'' was named one of ''Time'' magazine's "Five Asian Albums W ...

as Hung Ping-ching *

Elaine Jin Elaine Yan-ling (; born 15 December 1954), also known as Elaine Kam, is a Hong Kong–Taiwanese actress. She began her career in Taiwan in 1973 before moving to Hong Kong in 1981. She has been nominated seven times in the Hong Kong Film Award ...

as Vivien's mom (special appearance) *

Joe Cheung Joe Cheung Tung-cho () is a Hong Kong director, producer, scriptwriter and actor. Filmography As director * ''The Incredible Kung Fu Master'' (1979) * '' Killer Wears White'' (1980) * '' Dan bo dan'' (1981) * ''Pom Pom'' (1984) * ''Feng liu zho ...

as Raphael's dad (special appearance) * Henry Fong as Vivien's dad * Chan Ka-hung as Taxi driver #1 * Jimmy Wong as Taxi driver #2 * Benny Tse as Taxi driver #3 * Wong Sze-yan as Flat buyer * Hung Yip as Flate buyer's wife * Tong Man-yee as Tiger Singh * Laura Clarke as Marliane Griffith * Richard Hampton as London detective * Muk Sing as Leader of students' protest in '70s * Poon Wai-ka as Student of the '70s * An Mei-tik as Student of the '70s * Wong Fat as Student of the '70s * Tam Tik-si as Student of the '70s * Leung Suk-chin as Student of the '70s * Mak Nga-ka as Student of the '70s * Chang Yat-man as Student of the '70s * Man Wai-ling as Student of the '70s * Yu Hoi-man as Student of the '70s * Chan Kit-chi as Student of the '70s * Ngai Hoi-yin as Student of the '70s * Poon Man-wai as Student of the '70s * Yip Tin-pui as Student of the '70s * Leung Sin-hang as Student of the '70s * Chan Chun-shing as Student of the '70s * Leung Kwok-po as Student of the '70s * Yan Shui-tong as Student of the '70s * Luk Yuk-wai as Student of the '70s * Cheung Wing-hang as Student of the '70s * Cheung Sau-wai as Student of the '70s * Ng Wai-san as Student of the '70s * Cheung Hok-ming as Student of the '70s * Ben Cheung as Student of the '70s * Szeto Chi-kit as Student of the '70s * Tang Wing-san as Uncle Henry * Chow Ka-lai as Veterinarian * Fong Jing-to as Member of band * Poon Pau-lok as Member of band * Leung Kam-biu as Member of band * Carthy Rosslyn as Warden of Lady Hall * Chui Wing-suen as Dr. Bernadette Tsui * Hung Man-ling as Student of the '90s * Lam Yuk-jan as Student of the '90s * Lam Siu-bing as Student of the '90s * Luk Yan as Student of the '90s * Yeung Lam as Student of the '90s * Cheung Pui-san as Student of the '90s * Yeung Yat-man as Student of the '90s * Lee Pui-ling as Student of the '90s * Cheung Yuet-fan as Student of the '90s * Chan Ka-ying as Student of the '90s * Yiu Koon-tung as Student of the '90s * Lee Hon-wai as Student of the '90s * Chan Chui-hung as Student of the '90s * Wong Yan-wing as Student of the '90s * Chan Man-ho as Student of the '90s * Ng Shiu-wa as Student of the '90s * Lee Hon-ban as Student of the '90s * Chan Cheuk-wing as Student of the '90s * Chiu Kin-tong as Student of the '90s * Yau Wai-hung as Student of the '90s * Leung Wing-ban as Chinese language teacher * Paul Cliff as Pilot trainer * Hogan Ho as Pilot trainer * Charles Montgomery as Pilot trainer * Sam Pau-man as Paul * Paul Harrington as Riot Central Officer * Craig Leeson as Riot Central Officer * Verner Dickley as Judge * David Rosslyn as Professor

Reception

The film was deemed a modest commercial success, grossing HK$9 million in its 1998 Hong Kong theatrical release. Critical commentary perceived the film as a metaphorical comment on the end of British rule in Hong Kong after

the handover Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...

to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Yingjin Zhang, ''Chinese National Cinema'' (

Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, 2004), , p. 270
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
HK Cinemagic entry
{{Golden Horse Award for Audience Choice 1998 films 1990s romance films Hong Kong romance films 1990s Cantonese-language films Golden Harvest films Films set in 1997 Films set in the 1970s Films set in London Films shot in London Films directed by Mabel Cheung 1990s Hong Kong films