Notable Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Cora Miao, Cherie Chung, Lo
Lieh, Gam Biu, Homer Cheung, Lam Ying-Fat, Tong Kam-Tong
Story of Woo Viet is a powerfully told, albeit
at times unbalanced feature by Hong Kong legend Ann Hui, featuring a subtle but
searing performance by Chow Yun-fat, to whom the title Hong Kong legend most
certainly applies to as well. This is the story of a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant
looking for a better life when entering Hong Kong, but of course, he and others
around him are brought into a world of crime and suffering. Woo Viet will do
whatever it takes for a better life. As he says, "Killing here is a lot
easier than it was during the war!".
Ann Hui pulls together an impressive string of performances
by Chow Yun-fat as the titular Woo Viet, Cora Miao as the soft-spoken and
emotionally passionate Li Lap-Quan, and even Shaw Bros. badass Lo Lieh gets to
brush up his dramatic chops here as Sarm, a co-worker who befriends Woo as they
dive deeper into the life of contract killers. Cherie Cheung is fine here, but
she doesn't have much to do as Shum Ching, Woo's love interest in
the piece.