Human Relationships(1959)

Family(cn)

"Family" (1953), which launched the Union Film legacy, "Spring" (1953) and "Autumn" (1954) are adaptations of Ba Jin's highly regarded novel "Torrent Trilogy". In "Family", director Ng Wui skilfully condenses the voluminous first part of the novel into an emotionally powerful and intellectually focused story of youngsters struggling to survive oppression and repression in a feudalistic family. This well-received film quickly established the company's reputation.

The Tormented Beauty(cn)

Guerrilla member Ting Siu-yuen works as a playwright and Lee, the leader of an opera troupe. They conceal their identities in the troupe in order to gather military intelligence. Yuen gradually falls in love with the lead actress Mui Law-heung. Ting is unsettled to learn that County Chief Fong covets Mui. He sneaks into Fong's residence and is astounded by the sight of his old lover Pak Kuen, now Fong's wife. Fong colludes with the military chief in conducting vicious schemes. With Kuen's help, Yuen is able to get the intelligence. But as Heung is not an insider, she reports to the Governor about the illicit relationship between Yuen and Kuen. Kuen backs Yuen to eliminate the conspirators and bring about the union of Yuen and Heung.

For Love Alone(en)

Teresa is a spirited young girl chafing under the oppressive attitudes of 1930s society, and her father in particular. She fancies her poverty-stricken Latin tutor Johnathan Crow, without realising he merely considers her a pleasant diversion and nothing more, and eventually follows him from Sydney to London. En route she meets the gentle banker James Quick. Whilst navigating her relationships in London, including with a political poet bound for the Spanish Civil War, she experiences a transformation in her understanding of love. Based upon Christina Stead's best-selling Australian novel.

Lincoln in the Bardo(en)

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln's youngest son is laid to rest. That night, Lincoln visits his son's crypt, a chorus of ghosts narrating their brief reunion. Based on the bestselling novel by acclaimed author George Saunders.

Daisy Miller(en)

Despite mixed emotions, Frederick Winterbourne tries to figure out the bright and bubbly Daisy Miller, only to be helped and hindered by false judgments from their fellow friends.

Winter Love(cn)

Inside a café, on Christmas Eve. Chim Kei meets an enigmatic woman named Mimi Wong who introduces herself as the daughter of an upper-crust family. But the infatuated writer is struck by a spasm of sorrow when he later sees Mimi make her appearance as a taxi-dancer at a party. The lovers are reconciled by the story of her plight told by her sister Annie. However, Mimi goes missing on the engagement day. By a stroke of luck, Chim runs into the elusive woman again and finds out how she was forced into prostitution by her drug-addict husband, his childhood best friend and benefactor Chan Hung-kit. Chim leaves dejectedly, and has since been idling his days away. The frail Mimi confesses her love for Chim on her deathbed, and from not far away, Chan has ended his own life.

Jons und Erdme(de)

Adaptation of Hermann Sudermann's novel about the troubled relationship between the strong willed Erdme and her irascible husband Jons in the Lithunian moors.

Autumn(cn)

Hak-ming heads the Ko Family, but he and his brothers, Hak-ting and Hak-on, and the second wife of the late Master Ko quarrel. Young Cousin Mui, who has tuberculosis, is forced by to marry an older woman. Kok-sun is guilty of being unable to stop the marriage. Sun and maid Chui-wan are wary of their feelings for each other due to class difference. Cousin Mui dies of illness. Hak-ting has his eyes on Wan. His wife, Wong, complains to their daughter, Shuk-ching, who cannot take it and commits suicide. Wong blames herself for her death. Undergone these tragedies, Cousin Kam's mother let Kam have a modern wedding with Kok-man. When Ming is ill, Ting and On want to sell the ancestral home. Hak-ming dies of angst. When the fifth uncle of Sun forces Wan to be his concubine, Wan tries to kill herself but is intercepted by Sun. Pressurised by people of the house over the issue of inheritance, Sun protests by declaring his love for Wan and leaves the family, with his mother, brother Man and Wan.

Oshidori kenkagasa(ja)

Spring(cn)

Ko Suk-ying is saddened over her arranged marriage as manipulated by her father Hak-ming. Ko Kok-sun's Cousin Chow Wai's spends the Mid-Autumn Festival before her marriage with the Kos. She has been in love with Sun. Sun finds out about her love for him when she is about to be married off, he is too weak to oppose to Wai's betrothal to another man. Sun's son, Hoi-sun, falls ill. Fearing the displeasure of his elders, Sun dares not consult a western doctor. Meanwhile, another dispute arises among members of the family over the ancestral land. When accused of being incompetent in his management, Sun takes the blame silently. Wai dies of grief while Hoi-sun becomes a victim of mistreatment. Sun is devastated at this double blow. Hak-ming instructs Sun to arrange for Ying's wedding. Knowing the kind of man Ying's fiancee is, Sun is reluctant. Not wanting to follow in Wai's footsteps, Ying fights for her own rights, and backed by an enlightened Sun, she leaves for a new start.

Kangaroo(en)

A mild-mannered English conscientious objector moves to what he feels will be the relative calm of Australia after World War I, but gets caught in the middle of violent battles between the rising trade unions and fascist groups.

Wuthering Heights(en)

Mistreated foundling Heathcliff and his stepsister Catherine fall in love, but when she marries a wealthy man, he becomes obsessed with getting revenge, even well into the next generation. [Originally aired on CBS's DuPont Show of the Month.]

Beauty Raised from the Dead(cn)

Lau Mung-mui chances on To Lai-leung and their encounter transcends to a rendezvous in their dreams. They admire each other, but they do not know each other's names and addresses. They keep on thinking of each other and decide to take each other as their future husband and wife. Mui's father wants his son to get married, but he pays no attention to his father's wishes. Mui leaves home to look for Leung. Leung's father forces his daughter to marry her rich and powerful cousin. Leung becomes despondent and dies, following an arranged marriage with her cousin. Mui sought everywhere for Leung for three years, but to no avail. He locates the home of Leung, but the household has moved out. The house is guarded by an old servant. Mui, chasing Leung's spirit, has a brief romance with her. Acknowledging that their union will be hindered by their incompatibility as a mortal and a spirit, Leung reincarnates as a mortal so that their love may be rekindled.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall(en)

A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorises the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. The 25th anniversary of the first public performance of Phantom of the Opera was celebrated with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The Girl in the Bus(cn)

Bus Money dons various disguises on public buses to protect the defenceless from the bullies and receives heroic praise. Money meets Tai Ngau, a righteous journalist, when they bear witness to the callous response of Manager Mo to the death of his servant Ah-kwai. Tai writes to redress grievances of the deceased. When visiting the family of orphans, he chances on his kindred spirit giving the eldest daughter Ah-yin a gift of gold. Money exploits the weakness of Mo and her connection with his son Sze-fu to swindle a fortune out of the lewd man for the benefits of the fatherless children. Her rage grows learning that Mo's friend Fong Hak-sang has pulled off a lucrative fraud on returned overseas Chinese and forces Ah-yin to pledge herself in paying off her father's debts. Money, who has all kinds of tricks up her sleeve, teams up with Tai and gives Mo and Fong their comeuppance before setting off on her next mission.

The Witty Bus Girl(cn)

Industrialist Tam Kar-cheung knowingly puts the lives of his workers at risk so as to line his pocket with insurance payments. The chivalrous Bus Money gets into fisticuffs with Tam's chauffeur, Tam Biu, who bears a grudge against the assailant. When Money catches wind of Kar-cheung's vicious plot to set fire to a squatter area to clear the path for a property development project, she moves in and watches vigilantly for signs of arson. Soon, she saves Ah-hau, Biu's girlfriend and a young victim of drug rape, from her suicidal attempt by drowning. Money pursues fragments of clues which lead her to the victim's boss, Taipan Cheung who sucks up to his master Kar-cheung by drawing his prey to her trap. Money then organises squatter residences into fire brigade to guard against arson attacks and exposes Kar-cheung's evil. Realising he has been exploited for his blind loyalty, Biu teams up with Money to dispense justice.

The Atrocity Exhibition(en)

A doctor in a mental research institution is driven insane by the spectacle of the horrors of the twentieth century.

Birth of Melos(ja)

A new bold interpretation of the plot of the literary masterpiece "Running Melos", transferred to our days! A high-tension literary comedy from the popular actor Yuta Koseki and director Ryutaro Nakagawa!

Red Maid, the Matchmaker(cn)

Production company Taoyuan chose for its inaugural film a comedy and Fong Yim-fun gets to take a break from playing long-suffering roles and showcase her talents in making us laugh! She plays the spritely titled character, brandishing a fresh image. The film is an adaptation of the literary classic Romance of the Western Chamber, in which the Prime Minister's daughter (Law Yim-hing), under siege from rebel soldiers, is rescued by a plan formulated by a poor scholar (Law Kim-long), with whom she is in love. But her mother (Poon Yat On) reneges afterwards on her promise to let the rescuer marry the daughter, and the clever Red Maid steps up as go-between, devising a series of sharp-witted tactics to help the lovers.

Resurrection(cn)

Ah Hing is made pregnant by her master Fan Chun-kit. Fan soon leaves for his studies overseas while Ah Hing suffers gross prosecution and is reduced to becoming a prostitute. In a momentary slip of a struggle, Ah Hing commits manslaughter. Now a qualified lawyer, Fan acquits Ah Hing of the charge, and intends to marry her to redeem his negligence in the past. Ah Hing, however, is determined to pursue an independent life.