An Autumn's Tale | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 秋天的童話 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 秋天的童话 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Directed by | Mabel Cheung | ||||||||||
Written by | Alex Law | ||||||||||
Produced by | Dickson Poon John Shum | ||||||||||
Starring | Chow Yun-fat Cherie Chung Danny Chan | ||||||||||
Cinematography | David Chung James Hayman | ||||||||||
Edited by | Lee Yim-hoi Cheung Kwok-kuen Chu San-kit Chan Kei-hop Kwong Chi-leung | ||||||||||
Music by | Lowell Lo | ||||||||||
Distributed by | D&B Films | ||||||||||
Release date |
| ||||||||||
Running time | 98 minutes | ||||||||||
Country | Hong Kong | ||||||||||
Languages | Cantonese English Japanese | ||||||||||
Box office | HK$25,546,552 |
An Autumn's Tale is a 1987 Hong Kong romantic drama film set in New York City starring Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung, and Danny Chan. The film is the second entry in Mabel Cheung's "migration trilogy."
The film won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film, Best Cinematography (James Hayman and David Chung) and Best Screenplay (Alex Law); [1] Chow was nominated for Best Actor for three films that same year, but won for his performance in Prison on Fire . On the other hand, Chow won his second Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for his role in this film in 1987. Cherie Chung was nominated for Best Actress and Lowell Lo was nominated for Best Original Score, respectively. The film was ranked #49 on the Hong Kong Film Awards' Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures.
This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(September 2021) |
Jennifer Lee travels from Hong Kong to New York City with plans to study with her boyfriend, Vincent. Samuel Pang is a relative of Jennifer who arrives at the airport with two friends, Cow and Bull, to pick her up. Pang takes Jennifer to her apartment, and lets Jennifer know that she may stamp on the floor if she needs anything, as he lives downstairs.
The next day, Jennifer wakes Pang up to have him show her how to take a train to meet Vincent. Pang insists on driving her to the train station himself. Waiting for Jennifer to change, he comments women are "cha bo", meaning trouble. Pang ridicules Jennifer for not knowing English.
In the train station Jennifer sees Vincent with a girl named Peggy. She attempts to hide from Vincent but is caught before she can leave. Vincent did not expect to see Jennifer at the train station, and feels it was childish of Jennifer to travel to New York City to send him a box of dolls from Hong Kong. Infuriated, Jennifer walks back to the car and throws the box of dolls onto the street. Pang's car runs over the dolls as they depart.
Later that night, Pang answers a call from Vincent. He tells Jennifer to meet with him for lunch at Silver Palace restaurant the next day. Pang works as a busboy at the restaurant and overhears their conversation. Jennifer means to study in New York to be with Vincent, but he tells Jennifer to explore the city and meet new people rather than follow him everywhere. She finds out he is leaving for Boston tomorrow.
Depressed, Jennifer goes home and makes a pot of tea. Pang smells gas from upstairs and investigates; he finds a passed-out Jennifer. He takes her downstairs and has someone call the fire department. Seeing Jennifer lovesick for Vincent, Pang takes her out for a walk.
The next day Jennifer goes to a restaurant in Chinatown. Pang walks in and sees her, but Jennifer ignores him and turns aside. Pang is about to sit with Jennifer, only to have a friend from another table call him. Pang greets them and moves toward Jennifer's table. He tries a piece of Jennifer's egg sandwich and calls a staff member over to order extra plates of food for both of them. Pang helps Jennifer build a bookcase and decorate her room. She tells him she found a part-time job as a babysitter to pay for her rent, but would need a second job for her tuition and other expenses. He finds her grandfather's watch, but the strap is worn. Pang goes to buy tickets for a Broadway show, not knowing Jennifer is busy. He tries to sell the tickets.
Jennifer alights a NJ Transit bus to help Pang, who is being questioned by an NYPD officer outside the theatre, but ends up running late for her babysitting job. Pang insists on driving her. They arrive at the home of the child Chung has been hired to babysit, but Jennifer is too anxious to enter. She asks Pang to accompany her.
Tony, one of Mrs. Sherwood's boyfriends, wants to hire Jennifer as a waitress for his restaurant. Pang is suspicious of the owner. Jennifer says he can visit her there. Pang declines, with work on his mind. He later visits Jennifer and is led to an expensive restaurant called "The Big Panda". Unable to read the English menu, he has the waiter order a simple meal for him. The waiter suggests a high-priced array of dishes, which Pang reluctantly agrees to.
While babysitting Anna, Tony visits Jennifer and walks with her into the garden. Mrs. Sherwood recently came home and sees Tony flirting with Jennifer, and calls for her to leave immediately. Having heard about Jennifer losing her babysitting job, Pang and his friends go to The Big Panda restaurant and beat up the owner.
They spend their morning trying to sell her dolls for money. Walking past a vendor, Jennifer sees a watchband she likes; unfortunately, it is out of her budget ($800). At the park, she sees Vincent with Peggy but wants to flee. She asks Pang if she looks better than Peggy. Pang explains that he doesn't care how others looked, nor how others looked at him, as long as he kept his dignity. He told Jennifer that it was his dream to open a restaurant on a pier on the beach, and name it Sampan.
The next morning, Pang writes on his bedroom mirror three commandments and five goals; one goal being "If you want it, go for it", in this case Pang going for "cha bo", Jennifer.
Pang is holding a party, and invites Jennifer, but does not tell her it is his birthday. Vincent heard she was at a party, so he talked with Jennifer the entire night. The conversation became awkward when he mentioned he broke up with Peggy. Pang, serving guests leaves because he does not think he will have a chance with Jennifer. He went drinking and gambling until Bull asks for more money to pay off the gangs. Frustrated, Pang gathered a group of friends to drive in search of the gang and beat them up.
Jennifer wanders into Pang's room and sees a mirror with his handwriting on it. He wrote his name, age, and birthday in English. Feeling lonely, she walks across a park and sees Anna at her school. Mrs. Sherwood greets Jennifer and acknowledges that it was Tony who flirted with her. She invites Jenny to move in with the family on Long Island.
Pang comes back to his apartment the next morning and finds Jennifer's graduation certificate. To congratulate her, he buys the watchband as a gift. The old man did not accept his offer, so Pang sold his car for the watchband. Excited to see Jennifer with the gift, he runs to her apartment only to see Vincent helping Jennifer move furniture in his car. She gives him her address. They exchange gifts and Pang assumes she has gotten back together with Vincent. After hesitation Pang runs after her after she leaves. Unable to catch up as the car turns up the highway ramp, he walks to a beach. He opens his gift and finds her grandfather's watch. Soon Jennifer opens her gift and realizes it is the watch band she had wanted and cries.
Some time afterwards, Jenny is walking with Anna at the same beach she had visited with Samuel. To Jennifer's surprise, they come across a restaurant on the pier called Sampan. Jennifer walks up to the restaurant and approaches Samuel. After calming himself down, Pang asks her, "Table for two?"
Main Cast:
Secondary Cast:
The film grossed HK$25,546,552 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run from 16 July to 25 August 1987.
Awards and nominations | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
7th Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | An Autumn's Tale | Won |
Best Director | Mabel Cheung | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay | Alex Law | Won | |
Best Actor | Chow Yun-fat | Nominated | |
Best Actress | Cherie Chung | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | James Hayman, David Chung | Won | |
Best Original Film Score | Lowell Lo | Nominated | |
24th Golden Horse Awards | Best Feature Film | An Autumn's Tale | Nominated |
Best Director | Mabel Cheung | Nominated | |
Best Actor | Chow Yun-fat | Won | |
Best Actress | Cherie Chung | Nominated | |
Best Original Screenplay | Alex Law | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | David Chung | Nominated | |
24th Hong Kong Film Awards | Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures | An Autumn's Tale (#49) | Won |
Danny Chan Pak-Keung was a Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor. One of the first Cantopop idols in Hong Kong, he gained fame alongside performers Alan Tam, Anita Mui, and Leslie Cheung, who were collectively known as "Three Kings and a Queen" (三王一后) or "Tam Cheung Mui Chan" (譚張梅陳) in the 1980s. He is best remembered for such songs as "Waiting", "Life Expectation", "Ripples", "Loving You Alone" and "Cherish Tonight".
Christy Chung is a Canadian actress. She is best known for starring in films Mermaid Got Married, The Bodyguard from Beijing, Love on Delivery and Jan Dara.
Autumn Moon is a 1992 comedy drama film directed by Clara Law and written by Eddie Ling-Ching Fong. The film is about A Hong Kong high school girl befriending a twenty-something Japanese man who is visiting Hong Kong. The film stars Japanese actor Masatoshi Nagase therefore dialogue is a mixture of English, Cantonese, and Japanese. Hong Kong musician Tats Lau contributes to the film score.
Cherie Chung Chor-hung is a retired Hong Kong film actress. Of Hakka ancestry, she was one of the top actresses in Hong Kong film during the 1980s.
"Tian Mi Mi" is a song recorded by Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. It was first made available on 20 September 1979 and was later included on her Mandarin album of the same name, released through PolyGram Records in November of the same year. The song's lyrics were written by Zhuang Nu while the music was adapted from a 1940s Indonesian gambang kromong folk song about sampan boats, called "Dayung Sampan", by the pasindhèn Dasimah.
Flying Dagger is a 1993 wuxia comedy film directed by Kevin Chu and written and produced by Wong Jing. The film features a large cast of stars and parodies numerous Hong Kong films.
A Man Called Hero is a 1999 Hong Kong wuxia film directed by Andrew Lau. It is loosely based on the manhua series Chinese Hero: Tales of the Blood Sword by Hong Kong artist Ma Wing-shing. It won the 1999 Golden Horse Award for Best Visual Effects.
Aberdeen is an area on southwest Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Southern District. While the name "Aberdeen" could be taken in a broad sense to encompass the areas of Aberdeen (town), Wong Chuk Hang, Ap Lei Chau, Tin Wan, Wah Kwai Estate and Wah Fu Estate, it is more often used to refer to the town only. According to the population census conducted in 2011, the total population of the Aberdeen area is approximately 80,000.
Life Without Principle is a 2011 Hong Kong crime drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To and starring Lau Ching-wan, Richie Jen and Denise Ho. This film was screened in competition at the 68th Venice Film Festival on 9 September 2011. The North America distribution rights was purchased by Indomina Group shortly after the Festival. The deal was made between Indomina and the film's sales agent Media Asia Group.
Blind Detective is a 2013 Cantonese-language action crime romantic comedy film directed by Johnnie To and starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng.
97 Aces Go Places is a 1997 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Chin Kar-lok and starring Alan Tam, Tony Leung, Christy Chung, Donna Chu and Francis Ng. The film is the sixth and final installment of the Aces Go Places film series and features a different cast and storyline. It is the first film in the series to not feature Samuel Hui or Karl Maka as the main characters.
Dances with Dragon is a 1991 Hong Kong romantic comedy film directed by Wong Jing and starring Andy Lau as a rich businessman who ends up being mistaken as an illegal immigrant from China on Lantau Island, where falls in love with an employee of his company who is unaware of his real identity.
Walk on Fire is a 1988 Hong Kong action film directed by Norman Law and starring Andy Lau and Cherie Chung.
Embrace Your Shadow is a 2005 Hong Kong romance drama starring Fiona Sit, Dylan Kuo, Cheung Kwok-Keung, Chung Ching-Yu and Samuel Pang, written and directed by Joe Ma.
Lavender is a 2000 Hong Kong romantic film written and directed by Riley Yip Kam-Hung. The film stars Taiwanese actor singer Takeshi Kaneshiro, Hong Kong actress singer Kelly Chen and actor singer Eason Chan. The title of the film is derived from Kelly Chen's character Athena's deceased boyfriend favorite scent, which was lavender. The film is the third collaboration between Kaneshiro and Chen, the two previously co-starred together in 1996 Lost and Found and 1998 Anna Magdalena.
Brick Slaves is a 2015 Hong Kong romantic-comedy television drama created and produced by TVB, starring Vincent Wong and Selena Lee as the main leads. Filming took place from August to October 2014. The drama is broadcast on Hong Kong's Jade and HD Jade channels from August 3 till August 28, 2015 every Monday through Friday during its 8:30-9:30 pm timeslot with a total of 20 episodes.
Conman in Tokyo is a 2000 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Ching Siu-tung and starring Louis Koo, Nick Cheung, Athena Chu and Christy Chung. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Conmen in Vegas in title only.
Tracey is a 2018 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Jun Li and starring Philip Keung as the titular protagonist, a 51-year-old married man and father whose craving for feminization increases, leading him to transition from male to female both mentally and physically. Filming for Tracey began on 5 December 2017 and the film premiered at the 2018 Tokyo International Film Festival on 28 October 2018 before it was theatrically released on 22 November 2018 in Hong Kong.
Protégé de la Rose Noire, also known as Black Rose Academy, is a 2004 Hong Kong action comedy film co-directed by Wong Chun-chun and Donnie Yen. It follows Jeffrey Lau's 1997 film Black Rose II as the last in a series of updated Black Rose films but features a different plot and no returning cast members. All of these films are ultimately inspired by Yuen Chor's 1965 film Black Rose and its sequels. The film was a vehicle for the Cantopop duo Twins, who had previously starred in the 2003 vampire film The Twins Effect that was also co-directed by Donnie Yen. Co-director Donnie Yen, who also functioned as action director, had previously had a small role in Black Rose II as a boxing school owner. Protégé de la Rose Noire was Donnie Yen's last directorial effort until 2023, and his real life sister Chris Yen plays the role of Enchantress, a gang member in a schoolgirl uniform.
The Illegal Immigrant is a 1985 Hong Kong film directed by Mabel Cheung with the screenplay written by Alex Law. As Cheung's debut film, it tells about the story of a Chinese illegal immigrant in the United States seeking for his legal status through a sham marriage falls in love with his fake bride.