Part of Hong Kong Cinema film series
Men on the Dragon
Description
Sunny Chan’s bright and winning sports comedy portrays a group of hapless but well-meaning company workers who join a dragon boat racing team in the wake of company shakeups and looming layoffs. By showing can-do spirit and group camaraderie, the group of engineers hopes that forming the team will help them hold on to their jobs. What initially begins as a last-ditch effort to remain employed, though, turns into a spirit-rousing endeavor that leads them each to confront unhappy circumstances in their personal lives. Nominated for 11 Hong Kong Film Awards including five for acting, Men on the Dragon is particularly bolstered by Jennifer Yu (who can also be seen in Tracey) as their no-nonsense coach, Dorothy.
“Men on the Dragon marks the directorial debut of relationship columnist and screenwriter Sunny Chan Wing-sun, who impresses with his nuanced storytelling after penning such Joe Ma rom-coms as Hidden Heroes and the Love Undercover series. It is a life-affirming gem of a film that, while never hesitating to milk its protagonists’ misfortunes for laughs, stays sympathetic till the end.” — Edmund Lee, South China Morning Post
Co-presented by
The Chinese Historical Society
After graduating from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Sunny Chan went on to write several comedies for beloved director Joe Ma, who came on board as producer for Men on the Dragon. Reflecting on his debut project and the topic of dragon boat racing, Chan says, “Dragon boat is a very Hong Kong sport … No matter how old you are, no matter what type of physical status you are in, as long as you train yourself really hard for six months, you can sort of participate in a professional-ish level of competition. So, that is part of the reason why I did it. That really reflects the Hong Kong personality in that way.”
Film Details
LanguageCantonese
Year2018
Runtime92
CountryHong Kong
DirectorSunny Chan
ProducerJacqueline Liu, Joe Ma
WriterSunny Chan
EditorAlan Wai-lun Cheng, Henry Yim
CinematographerCheung Man-po
MusicRubberBand
CastFrancis Ng, Poon Chan-leung, Kenny Wong
Print SourceOne Cool Film