Ah kam
(The Stuntwoman)
To join a stunt team is to enter the Hong Kong film industry on the lowest rung of the ladder. The non-unionised profession is traditionally a 'way in' for people without education or technical skills. For every case of a stunt performer who has graduated to the big time (examples include Samo Hung, Ching Siu-Tung and, of course, megastar Jackie Chan), there are dozens who never get beyond crashing through windows and falling from great heights.
Ann Hui's drama centres on a woman who enters the profession with two major handicaps: her gender and her identity as a recent immigrant from China. Fortunately, she's taken under the wing of veteran stunt-team leader Thunderbolt (Samo Hung, playing a role not far from his own experience), who protects and guides her. When Thunderbolt dies in a clash with Triad thugs, she becomes a surrogate parent for his young son. But the boy wants to avenge his father and the thugs want to kill him too…
Michelle Khan is used to playing superwomen in movies like The Heroic Trio, but here Hui exploits her natural humanity. She also throws interesting light on some of darker corners of the Hong Kong film business. Tony Rayns
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