Overview: Small-time hood Wah Dee (Andy Lau, Infernal Affairs) is enlisted by Triad boss Trumpet (Tommy Wong, The Killer) as a getaway driver for a daring heist that goes wrong. Thinking fast Dee takes Jo Jo (Jacklyn Chien-Lien Wu, The Barefooted Kid) hostage to save his skin, but the bosses order her to be killed. They escape and begin a forbidden relationship while being chased by both sides of the law.

Produced by Johnnie To (Throwdown) and Ringo Lam (City on Fire) the film is sensationally directed by Benny Chan in his feature debut. With a breakneck pace and violence reminiscent of To and Takashi Miike and the beautiful and emotive sensibility of Wong Kar-wai, the film features stunning performances from Lau, and Wu in her debut work.

Simply put, A Moment of Romance is a classic of Hong Kong cinema that has been much imitated but rarely bettered.

Blu-ray Verdict: Produced by by a trilogy of greats - Johnnie To, Ringo Lam and Wong Jing, director Benny Chan’s A Moment Of Romance was one of the finest, teen-angst drama, gangster movies of its time. Starring the never ageing and handsome Andy Lau in one of his best roles and performances, the film spawned a couple of sequels and inspired a host of wanna-be’s!

Beautiful lighting compliments the great cinematography capturing many night scenes and a raw grittiness of Hong Kong, backed by a great cast, top stunt work and violent action scenes courtesy of Yuen Bun and Bruce Law, with Bun also getting a cameo role.

Although the blend of teen drama, gangsters and romance may have been rife in Hong Kong, Andy Lau was the king of such genre and A Moment Of Romance polishes all the rough edges, delivering a blinding film that is hard to beat. The wonderful Ng Man Tat is as great as always, playing Wah Dee’s street uncle who gets picked on by the local hoodlums and likes to annoy the traffic wardens by popping quarters in the parking meters as they are about to run out.

Although many people like to criticize Andy Lau’s acting, it’s hard to deny the man his dues after 30 years of entertaining us with over 170 films (not to mention his TV and music accolades). In the same year as A Moment Of Romance, Lau had made 10 features in all, most of which are considered some of his best and some that I myself personally love. The man is a machine, and even with that pressure on him in just 12 months, can still provide such an amazing performance like this one.

At times beautiful, at others brutally violent, highly energetic, contemplative, and heart-breaking, all in equal measures, the violence is visceral and unflinching, and yet the film is strongly rooted in reality.

Tense, emotional, and playing like a modern day Romeo & Juliet, trust me when I say that A Moment Of Romance is one of Benny Chan’s finest and one of Hong Kong cinema’s best and it’s darkly violent, intense finale comes with some lump-in-the-throat moments on the stunningly lit streets of Hong Kong.

In closing, the film is superbly made and brilliantly acted and is still regarded today - overseas and over here - to be one of Hong Kong cinema’s finest glowing examples of a non-martial arts film from the golden years.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS:
4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
Newly translated English subtitles by Dylan Cheung
Audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
In Love and Danger: HK Cinema Through A Moment of Romance - A new visual essay by critic and Asian cinema expert David Desser on the genre tropes in A Moment of Romance and their use in Hong Kong cinema (2023, 26 mins)
Archival audio interview with Benny Chan who discusses his start in the industry, A Moment of Romance, and his collaborators on the film (2016, 21 mins)
Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the iconic cast and crew by critic Sean Gilman; and a profile of Benny Chan by Tony Williams, co-editor of Hong Kong Neo Noir

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