The effortlessly charismatic Chow Yun-Fat stars in this excellent historical drama about the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Yip Fai (Chow), a young man living with his aunt and hostile uncle, befriends a local tough named Kong (Alex Man). Fai wants to flee the city for Australia or America, but Kong is too attached to his home, as well as to the daughter of a local rice importer, Anna (Cecelia Yip). Passions shift among the three as the Japanese invade, creating a tortured world of collaborators, rebels, and black market thugs. Half Jules & Jim, half The Deer Hunter, Hong Kong 1941 successful juxtaposes the conflicted emotions of the three friends with the larger social chaos of the occupation; the personal and the political intertwine powerfully. Chow Yun-Fat, young and handsome, radiates a compelling mix of intelligence, integrity, and doubt. --Bret Fetzer

$9.98