KANI RELEASING PRESENTS
MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE (殺手蝴蝶夢)
New 2K Restoration ∙ Hong Kong | 1989 | 90min
SYNOPSIS
Once only ordinary drama came between Lap (Joey Wong) and Rick (Kenny Bee). The lovers worked together at Lap’s father’s bar, where business was slow but enough. But then her father Cheung and Rick are coerced into one last job with the Triad that goes terribly wrong. Her father now a target wanted dead, Lap seeks the tutelage and haven of a slippery rival boss named Godfather Shen, whose desires she must answer in return. After hiding in the Philippines for six years, Rick is assigned a hit job back in Hong Kong, where he finds his old flame, Lap, nestled reluctantly in the arms of Shen and fawned after by her young friend Cheung (a very early turn by Tony Leung). Reunited, the love triangle erupts a bloody gang war.
Directed by Patrick Tam, Wong Kar-Wai’s mentor and a key figure of the Hong Kong new wave, shot by venerated co-cinematographers Christopher Doyle and David Chung, and with music by Danny Chung (Happy Together), this pulpy 80s classic looks and sounds as lush as ever in its lavish new 2K restoration.
In Chinese with English subtitles
CREDITS
Directed by Patrick Tam
Produced by Johnnie To
Written by Koon-Chung Chan, Kan-Cheung Tsang
Edited by Chi Wai Chan
Cinematography by David Chung & Christopher Doyle
Music by Danny Chung
Art Direction by Kwan Kit Mok
Cast: Kenny Bee, Joey Wang, Tony Leung
PATRICK TAM BIOGRAPHY (1948-Present)
Patrick Tam (1948, Hong Kong) is a key director of the 1980s Hong Kong New Wave. While attending highschool in the 60s, he was inspired by some of the film critics and journalists of “The Chinese Student Weekly,” such as Law Kar, Kam Ping Hing, and Tin Gour. He befriended them by attending youth seminars and joining film clubs like Studio One, which showed contemporary foreign films. After graduating high school in 1967, he began his film career at Television Broadcast Limited, where he experimented with music videos and zany TV dramas. Directing Superstar Special, which featured a movie star every episode, he got to work with some of the biggest actors as a young director.
Filmmakers like Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, and Yim Ho also eventually joined TVB. After garnering enough experience, Tam left TVB to direct his debut feature film, The Sword (1980).
In CineAction (Winter 2007), he cited as influences the work of Bresson, Godard, Renoir, Ophuls, Murnau, Naruse, and the Cantonese Cinema produced by Hong Kong's Union Film Enterprise. In the same article, Tam says he “wasn't influenced by Chinese Cinema much, as when I was growing up in Hong Kong in the 50's and 60's, we didn't want anything to do with communism. I did go with some friends to try a couple of Chinese hits like Third Sister Liu (1961), but I found the film language too conservative, offering me no excitement.”
Patrick Tam is considered the mentor of Wong Kar-wai and edited two of his films, one of which, Ashes of Time (1994), won him a Best Editing award at the Golden Horse Film Festival.
RESTORATION NOTES
The digitization and restoration of My Heart is that Eternal Rose was commissioned by Steve Law’s IST Hong Kong (a member of Mei Ah Entertainment Group). It was scanned from 35mm color negative on ARRI 4K and graded in Blackmagic Resolve. The film restoration was remastered primarily in Phoenix and Diamant, and is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
ABOUT KANI RELEASING
Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America.
Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context.
