''Ordinary Heroes'' is a 1999 Hong Kong drama film directed and produced by

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Ho ...

. Based on real-life prototypes, the film focused on social activists in the 1970s and 1980s who fought defiantly against the British Colonial government for the rights of the

Yau Ma Tei boat people Yau Ma Tei boat people refers to those who lived in the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter, Kowloon, Hong Kong from around 1916 to 1990. Yau Ma Tei boat people mainly consisted of Tanka people. In the 1980s many families moved to public housing on lan ...

and their

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

wives. Mostly leftists and Communist sympathisers, their despair after the

1989 Tiananmen Square massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

is also highlighted. The Chinese title refers to a popular

Teresa Teng Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...

song which played during the film. ''Ordinary Heroes'' was critically acclaimed, winning Best Picture at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 36th

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...

in Taiwan, among others.

Cast

Loletta Lee Rachel Lee (; born 8 January 1966), previously known as Loletta Lee, is a Hong Kong actress and a Category III film star. She started playing small roles in Hong Kong movies in the 1980s. Her first role as a lead actress was in ''Devoted to You ...

as Sow Fung-tai (credited as Rachel Lee) **Lee Kim-yu as teenaged Sow Fung-tai * Lee Kang-sheng as Lee Siu-tung **Cheung Nga-kwan as teenaged Lee Siu-tung * Anthony Wong as Father Kam *

Tse Kwan-ho Tse Kwan-ho (born 23 March 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, professionally also known as Gardner Tse. Originally a nurse, Tse Kwan-ho rose to prominence in the stage play ''The Mad Phoenix'' (), this was later remade into a feature film of the sam ...

as Yau Ming-foon *

Paw Hee-ching A paw is the soft foot-like part of a mammal, generally a quadruped, that has claws. Common characteristics The paw is characterised by thin, pigmented, keratinised, hairless epidermis covering subcutaneous collagenous and adipose tissue, ...

as Lee's mother *

Lawrence Ah Mon Lawrence Ah Mon or Lawrence Lau Kwok Cheong (劉國昌) (born 1949) is a Hong Kong film director. His films are notable for their lurid exploration of the problems of the poor in modern Hong Kong, such as ''Gangs'' (1986), ''Spacked Out'' (2000), ...

as police officer *Mok Chiu-yu as street performer *

as director (cameo)

Awards

It won the prestigious Best Picture award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards, as well as five awards at the

Golden Horse Film Festival The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

, including Best Film. It was chosen as Hong Kong's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the

72nd Academy Awards The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1999 and took place on March 26, 2000, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST ...

, but did not manage to receive a nomination. It was also entered into the

49th Berlin International Film Festival The 49th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1999. The festival opened with ''Aimée & Jaguar'' by Max Färberböck. The Golden Bear was awarded to Canadian-American film '' The Thin Red Line'' directed by ...

References

External links

* *
A review of ''Ordinary Heroes'' at loveHKfilm

HK cinemagic entry
1999 films 1999 drama films Hong Kong New Wave films 1990s Cantonese-language films Best Film HKFA Films directed by Ann Hui Films shot in Hong Kong Films set in Hong Kong Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Horse Award Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Best Feature Film Golden Horse Award winners 1990s historical drama films Hong Kong historical drama films 1990s Hong Kong films {{1990s-HongKong-film-stub

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links