Devoted to You / Love Unto Waste

In-person:

Introduction by guest programmer Janet Louie, Ph.D. candidate, Harvard University. Post-screening Q&A with Louie and Michael Berry, director of UCLA Center for Chinese Studies.

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

Devoted to You

痴心的我, Hong Kong, 1986

In this D&B Films production, Jane (Loletta Lee), a rebellious student from a lower-class background, is saved by May (May Lo), who comes from a wealthy family. The film follows their friendship and respective romances in this coming-of-age tale, engaging with the changing economic and social realities of Hong Kong’s booming 1980s. Devoted to You was one of many youth romance films starring teen idols that also functioned as quasi-music videos — especially as a vehicle for Cantonese pop star Jacky Cheung, who plays May’s love interest.

35mm, color, in Cantonese with English subtitles, 87 min. Director/Screenwriter: Clifton Ko.. With: May Lo, Loletta Lee, Jacky Cheung, Michael Wong.

Love Unto Waste

地下情, Hong Kong, 1986

Here, one of the Hong Kong New Wave’s most renowned directors, Stanley Kwan, crafts a haunting portrait of urban disillusionment. Produced by D&B Films, this melancholic drama stars Tony Leung and Chow Yun-fat as part of a circle of young dreamers undone by romance, betrayal and tragedy. Blending noir mystery with aching sadness, Kwan transforms a tale of pleasure and decay into a meditation. Under the neon glow of a restless city, intimacy, ambition, and despair unceremoniously coexist to poignant effect.

35mm, color, in Cantonese with English subtitles, 105 min. Director: Stanley Kwan. Screenwriters: Lai Kit, Yau-tai On-ping (Chiu Kang-chien). With: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Elaine Jin, Irene Wan, Chow Yun-fat.

—guest programmer Janet Louie

Part of: Echoes from Spring Street: The World of Sing Lee and Chinese-Language Cinema in L.A.