Too Many Ways to Be No. 1

– This arty triad flick from Wai Ka-Fai and Johnnie To is as good as genre pictures get in this era. L..

Type:
Movie
Rating:
7.70 / 10
Duration:
One Hour and 30 Minutes
Release Year:
1997
Original Name:
一個字頭的誕生
Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997) - Also known as 一個字頭的誕生

This arty triad flick from Wai Ka-Fai and Johnnie To is as good as genre pictures get in this era. Lau Ching-Wan is Kau, a small potato in the triad world who must make a fateful decision to discover who he is. With that decision, his life can diverge in two paths, each leading to an ultimate fate.

Styles:
Producing Country:
Filming Locations:
Genre:
Release Date:

14 Mar 1997

Language:

Cantonese

Director:

Ka-Fai Wai

Writer:

Ka-Fai Wai (script writer), Kam-Yuen Szeto (script writer), Matt Chow (script writer)

Main Actors:

Ching Wan Lau, Carman Lee, Francis Ng, Ruby Wong

Plot:

When Ah-Gou, a smalltime Hong Kong street rascal, visits a fortune teller and hears that soon he will face a life-changing choice, he surely can't imagine that his life reached a middle point without return. Will he go to Mainland China with his fellow gangsters to close a deal on a couple of stolen cars? Or will he instead chose to accompany his friend on a trip to kill a mafioso in Taiwan? We are presented with the outcomes of both choices, but is any of the choices really a good one won't be easy to tell... This underground action comedy not only draws inspirations from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, but can also be seen as a highly evaluated political commentary on Hongkong's transition to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Avant-garde cinematography, trippy electronic music and a variety of characteristic figures makes it a fun and memorable experience.

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
7.7/10