My Heart Is That Eternal Rose

The idyllic, beach-side life of a retired Triad boss, his daughter Lap (Joey Wong) and her boyfriend Rick (Kenny Bee), shatters when a mob favour turns into a bloody shootout. Trading her freedom for her father’s, Lap becomes mistress to Godfather Shen, while Rick goes into exile. Years later, as Shen unknowingly hires Rick as a hitman, Lap sees her chance at escape, while doe-eyed Triad gofer (Tony Leung) completes the doomed quadrangle.

Directed by the foremost stylist of the Hong Kong New Wave (and a mentor to Wong Kar-Wai), My Heart Is That Eternal Rose is the apotheosis of Patrick Tam’s time within the strictures of the Hong Kong mainstream. Fulfilling commercial requirements while elevating formula with a lush sense of style, My Heart Is That Eternal Rose sings with the painterly cinematography of Christopher Doyle and David Chung as Tam’s dream-like direction bridges the distance between the bullet ballets of a John Woo and the festering darkness of a David Lynch. It the blue jewel in the crown of the Hong Kong heroic bloodshed sub-genre, shining bright to this day.

Presented alongside two episodes from celebrated TV series C.I.D. (1976) directed by Patrick Tam; shot by David Chung; written by Joyce Chan.

Two sisters have taken to random muggings to fuel their independence. Without boyfriends and no longer in touch with their family, Officer Sum (Cheung Lui) struggles to track them down.

Season 1, Episode 14 "Dawn, Noon, Dusk, Night"

A rookie cop (Simon Yam) follows up on allegations of child abuse; a jaded officer (Cheung Lui) stakes out buildings for a peeping tom and finds something much darker; a veteran detective (Ho Bik Kin) sadly investiages a violent murder at an old age home; their supervisor (Wong Yuen Sun) struggles to let loose after a long day of being interrogated by the newly formed Independent Commission Against Corruption.

These episodes of C.I.D were originally shot on 16mm reversal film, transferred to betacam in the 2000s and digitized in the early 2010s by Television Broadcasting Company (TVB).