''Summer Snow'' (, also known as ''Woman, Forty'') is a 1995 Hong Kong

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed 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 Hon ...

. It stars

Josephine Siao Josephine Siao Fong-fong () is a Hong Kong film star who became popular as a child actress and continued her success as a mature actress, winning numerous awards including Best Actress at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival (for ''Summ ...

and

Roy Chiao Roy Chiao (16 March 1927 – 15 April 1999) was a Hong Kong actor, most notable in the United States for playing the minor villain Lao Che in the 1984 movie ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. Biography Chiao was born in Shanghai in 1927. ...

in leading roles. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

68th Academy Awards The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Overview

The film's Chinese title literally translates to Woman, 40. Its alternative titles are Loey Yen Sei Seup, or Nuiyan, Seisap.

Plot

''Summer Snow'' tells the story of the relationship between a widower with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

and his daughter-in-law, May Sun, who is a housewife in her forties trying cope with the upheavals in her family. Her supportive mother-in-law has just died and her husband, who is a driving test examiner, is not giving her support.

Cast

as May Sun *

as Lin Sun *

Law Kar-ying Dr Law Kar-ying BBS MH (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor. Background Born Law Hang-tong on September 22 (August 27 Lunar), 1946 in Shunde, Guangdong as the eldest son of actor Law Kar-kuen (羅家權) an ...

as Bing Sun *

Sin-hung Tam Sin-hung Tam () is a Chinese opera singer and actress from Hong Kong. Tam is credited with over 140 films. Early life On August 28, 1931, Tam was born in Macau. Career At age 13, Tam entered the entertainment business and started her career ...

as Ying Sun (Bing's Mother) * Allen Ting as Allen Sun * Koon-Lan Law as Lan Sun *

Ha Ping Teresa Ha () (October 6, 1937 – August 5, 2019) was a former Chinese television and film actress from Hong Kong. Ha is credited with over 260 films. Career In 1956, Ha started her acting career in Hong Kong films. Ha first appeared in The Soul ...

as Mrs. Han * Shun Lau as Mr. Lo *

Patricia Ching Yee Chong Patricia Ching Yee Chong () is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Chong is known for Sword Stained with Royal Blood, the 1985 Wuxia TV series that was broadcast on TVB. Early life On December 13, 1959, Chong was born in Hong Kong. Career In ...

as Carrie Chin (Daughter-In-Law) * Gin Tsang as Janice *

as Neighbour * Fai Chow as Bing's Brother *

Stephen Fung 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_coordinates ...

as Cannon

Awards

In 1995, ''Summer Snow'' won four Golden Horse 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 ...

and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and Silver Berlin Bear at the

45th Berlin International Film Festival The 45th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 22 February 1995. The Golden Bear was awarded to French film '' The Bait'' directed by Bertrand Tavernier. The retrospective dedicated to American actor Buster Keaton was show ...

. Josephine Siao also won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

at Berlin. The following year it won the Grand Prix at the

Créteil International Women's Film Festival The Créteil International Women's Film Festival (in French Festival international de films de femmes de Créteil) is an annual event in Créteil, France, founded by Jackie Buet in 1978 to showcase the directing talents of female filmmakers who, ...

, several

Golden Bauhinia Awards Golden Bauhinia Awards () is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996. The award attracted controversy in 2007, when ten nominations were given to Pang ...

, several

Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, ac ...

and the

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards () are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong since 1994. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the mem ...

for Best Actress and Best Film. 1st

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 us ...

* Won: Best Film * Won: Best Actress (Josephine Siao) * Won: Best Supporting Actor (Law Kar-Ying) * Won: Best Cinematography (Lee Pin-Bing) * Nominated: Best Director (Ann Hui)

15th Hong Kong Film Awards The 15th Hong Kong Awards ceremony, honored the best films of 1995 and took place on 28 April 1996 at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The ceremony was hosted by Sandra Ng, Dayo Wong and Veronica Yip Veronica Yip ...

* Won: Best Film * Won: Best Director (Ann Hui) * Won: Best Actor (Roy Chiao) * Won: Best Actress (Josephine Siao) * Won: Best Supporting Actor (Law Kar-Ying) * Won: Best Screenplay (Chan Man-Keung) * Nominated: Best Art Direction (Wong Yank) * Nominated: Best Film Editing (Wong Yee Shun) * Nominated: Best New Performer (Allen Ting) * Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (Law Koon-Lan) 2nd

* Won: Best Film * Won: Best Actress (Josephine Siao)

References

External links