EVENT DESCRIPTION
From 23 Jun to 4 Oct, Tai Kwun’s Duplex Studio will highlight decades of high-stakes filmmaking camaraderie both in front of and behind the camera. Curated by film director Sunny Chan Wing San (Co-Curator and Creative Director of last summer’s Undercover Underworld), presented in association with the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Better Together features immersive re-creations of scenes from classic “partner” films over the past several decades, including replicas of many on-screen props from the original films, with recollections from film-industry collaborators responsible for shaping and capturing those breathtaking moments. This summer exhibition is made possible with core funding provided by The Hong Kong Jockey Club through its Charities Trust as one of Tai Kwun’s arts and heritage programmes, with Oriental Watch Company as Lead Sponsor.
Better Together traces the Hong Kong team spirit through numerous films and multiple decades, reflecting the shifts in social values in different eras. Beginning in the 1960s, The Black Rose (1965) is a portrayal of personal chivalry, when Hong Kong’s development led to a widening gap between rich and poor and the social welfare system proved insufficient for the city’s problems. The characters put vivid faces to the values of people helping each other, and the quest for justice and a fair society. By the 1980s, Aces Go Places (1982) addresses the issue of meritocracy, changing the variables in the debate over how best to use divergent talents and abilities for the common good. Whether in local archetypes or the story’s global mindset, the self-consciousness of Hong Kong’s rise as an international metropolis is ever-present.
Better Together traces the Hong Kong team spirit through numerous films and multiple decades, reflecting the shifts in social values in different eras. Beginning in the 1960s, The Black Rose (1965) is a portrayal of personal chivalry, when Hong Kong’s development led to a widening gap between rich and poor and the social welfare system proved insufficient for the city’s problems. The characters put vivid faces to the values of people helping each other, and the quest for justice and a fair society. By the 1980s, Aces Go Places (1982) addresses the issue of meritocracy, changing the variables in the debate over how best to use divergent talents and abilities for the common good. Whether in local archetypes or the story’s global mindset, the self-consciousness of Hong Kong’s rise as an international metropolis is ever-present.
The films of the 1990s, after Hong Kong secured its place in the global community, unveiled a new chapter in the city’s cultural development: Once a Thief (1991), the quintessential embodiment of romanticism, reveals what happens when ideals face reality; Police Story III – Super Cop (1992) focuses on cultural integration marked by mutual respect and thoughtful understanding, offering a vision of the future for Hong Kong people; and Gen-X Cops (1999) witnesses an inter-generational passing of the torch and the search for newly relevant identity in a changing world.
Once in the new millennium, Rob-B-Hood (2006) examines how, when literally facing a new generation, human nature and values can change with the circumstances, yet still fit well within traditional moral standards. By the 2010s, Blind Detective (2013) highlights how strategic partnerships are built on mutual benefit and individual aspirations, rather than the loyalty that had been characteristic in earlier partnerships. Most recently, Rob N Roll (2024) follows men on divergent paths sharing the same journey, a testament that different circumstances and demands need not derail a common goal. All of these bear testament to Hong Kong’s changing times and an increasingly complex web of interrelationships, reflecting a collective team spirit that underpins social connection and resilience.
After introducing its selected films, Better Together departs on a thematic exploration of collaboration through immersive re-creations of scenes from eight films (and sometimes their sequels), often finding common ground in different cinematic worlds and occasionally finding differences in the same world over time. After an extended introduction to the films in Scene 1 “Partnership”, the journey begins with Scene 2 “The World Turns Upside Down”, recreating the iconic upside‑down heist scene in Once a Thief. Scene 3 “Conflicts from Within”, juxtaposing characters from sequels to two of the exhibition’s featured films (Aces Go Places II and Gen-Y Cops), features two robotic figures from the two films, looking at frequent periods of adjustment needed for partners to put aside their differences and focus on a common enemy.
Centring on the third film in the Aces Go Places series, Scene 4 “A Test of Trust” explores what happens when trust between two partners is strained to the breaking point, featuring a signature lie‑detector sequence capturing the dynamic tension when one partner loses faith in the other. Scene 5 “Traces of the Past” follows the legacy of characters from The Black Rose in its later pan-genre homage 92 The Legendary La Rose Noire (1992). The scene recreates the home of the Black Rose, evoking a space where superfans and true disciples alike become scarred when trust dissolves. Scene 6 “Sharing the Same Path” highlights the partners in Blind Detective – one physically agile but inexperienced, the other supremely intelligent but blind – to underscore the secret to successful partnerships by complementing each other’s strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses. The scene is further enriched by exclusive interviews with teams both on screen and behind the scenes, offering deeper insight into the nature of partnership and trust.
Scene 7 “Breaking to Rebuild” presents an immersive action scene inspired by Police Story III – Super Cop and uses an unlikely pairing of a Hong Kong special police officer and a Chinese Mainland public security officer – to show how meaningful collaborations can emerge after an initially explosive collision. Scene 8 “Embracing Difference” finds in the accidental meeting of two down-and-out men and a robber in Rob N Roll that a shared goal can result from opposite directions. Featuring action‑film props, the scene also reflects how cinema transforms unlikely alliances into moments where working together makes the seemingly impossible possible. Finally, Scene 9 “Life Goes On” reveals through Rob-B-Hood the point where partners can become like family, sustaining a legacy of trust and collaboration while looking ahead to the future, passing on values across generations.
