QCinema to screen restored classics
Scene from “Chungking Express” —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
While QCinema is dedicated to screening the newest and most exciting films of the year, the festival also believes that there is room in the lineup for an appreciation of what has come before. So every year, the festival picks some of its favorite classic films, particularly ones that have recently gone under digital restoration.
This year features a double bill of Wong Kar-wai films: his mirror image masterpieces “Chungking Express” and “Fallen Angels.” While “Chungking Express” plays out the loneliness of Hong Kong in the daylight, “Fallen Angels” works in the shadow of night, studying how that same loneliness and isolation can result in more violent ends. Originally designed to be one film, the two complement each other in creating a fuller picture of what Hong Kong was in the ’90s.
Influential, controversial
Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” —WARNER BROS.
If loneliness and desperation aren’t in the festivalgoer’s bag, there is also a different product of Hong Kong: legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. A restored version of Robert Clouse’s “Enter the Dragon” places Lee in the middle of a fighting tournament organized by a crime lord. The 1973 film is widely considered one of the most influential action films of all time, combining elements of the kung fu film, spy movies and the blaxploitation genre, creating a unique stew of very entertaining elements.
Completing the lineup is a work from one of the true masters of cinema, Stanley Kubrick. The 1971 film “A Clockwork Orange” remains one of his most controversial films. Based on the Anthony Burgess novel of the same name, Kubrick’s film questions the very definition of goodness in the societal sense as it follows Alex, a young hooligan who will undergo behavioral therapy at the behest of a nation that wants to control him and curb his impulses.
All films will be screened in beautiful 4K at the QCinema International Film Festival, taking place this year from Nov. 17 to 26 at Gateway Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, UP Town Center, Shangri-La Plaza and Power Plant Mall.
