Hong Kong New Wave Essentials – Shout! Factory (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Hong Kong, 1988 (Painted Faces), Hong Kong, 1990 (The Story of My Son), Hong Kong, 1985 (Women)
Directors: Alex Law (Painted Faces), Johnnie To (The Story of My Son), Stanley Kwan (Women)
Cast: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Lam Ching-ying, Cheng Pei-pei, John Shum, Wu Ma (Painted Faces), Damian Lau, Cheng Pak-Lam, Huang Kun-Hsuen, Lee Sze-Kei, Ng Man-Tat, Lam Suet (The Story of My Son), Cora Miao, Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung, Elaine Jin (Women)

Release Date: December 16th, 2025
Approximate Running Times: 112 Minutes 31 Seconds (Painted Faces), 78 Minutes 20 Seconds (The Story of My Son), 95 Minutes 6 Seconds (Women)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $45.99

Painted Faces: "Long before the world discovered Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, they were members of a children's Peking opera troupe. Painted Faces is the colorful story of the adolescent years of Jackie, Sammo, and others who grew up to transform Hong Kong cinema." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Story of My Son: "Li Tzu-liang (Damian Lau) is newly widowed and leading an impoverished life with two young sons (Huang Kun-hsuan and Cheng Pak-lam). He attempts to make a fortune gambling at the horseracing track but is subsequently debt-laden even as more heart-wrenching events begin to unfold." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Women: "A woman (Cora Miao) joins the carefree 'Spinsters' Club' when she discovers her husband (Chow Yun-fat) is having an affair. Despite the seemingly happy front that her 'sisters' put on, underneath it all each of them secretly yearns for a man in their lives. When her repentant husband begs forgiveness, she is forced to decide on what she truly wants." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (All Films)

Painted Faces comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.3 GB

Feature: 29.2 GB

The Story of My Son comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 24.3 GB

Feature: 20.3 GB

Women comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41 GB

Feature: 24.7 GB

All three films are in excellent shape; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5 (All Audio Tracks)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Cantonese. The Story of My Son includes some dialogue in English, while Women features some dialogue in French. All audio tracks are free of distortion or any background hiss; dialogue comes through clearly and ambient sounds are well represented. Included are English subtitles that can only be removed via the audio setup menu.

Extras:

Extras for Painted Faces include two theatrical trailers (5 minutes 33 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with film historians John Kreng and Ric Meyers titled Brush Strokes: A Look Into Painted Faces (11 minutes 29 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese film clips), an interview with film critic David West titled A Formidable Face, in which he discusses Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (20 minutes 31 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Mabel Cheung titled Painted Provocations (28 minutes 44 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historians Frank Djeng And F.J. DeSanto.

Extras for The Story of My Son include a Celestial rerelease trailer (1 minute 20 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with John Kreng and Ric Meyers titled The Story Behind My Son (12 minutes 41 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese film clips), and an audio commentary with James Mudge, veteran Hong Kong film critic at EasternKicks.

Extras for Women include a Celestial rerelease trailer (1 minute 29 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with John Kreng and Ric Meyers titled Jade Vases (11 minutes 30 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese film clips), an interview with academic and author Lin Feng titled Hong Kong Romance (15 minutes 32 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese film clips), an interview with academic and author Victor Fan titled Female Problems (22 minutes 57 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese film clips), an interview with actor Fung Chi Fung titled A Woman's World (21 minutes, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with James Mudge.

Summary:

Painted Faces: The story revolves around Master Yu, who operated a Beijing opera school. His students included notable figures such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, and Corey Yuen.

Painted Faces was the directorial debut of Alex Law, who would only direct two other films, Now You See It, Now You Don’t and Echoes of the Rainbow. He’s more known for his work as a screenwriter; his notable credits are The Illegal Immigrant, An Autumn’s Tale, Eight Tales of Gold, and Beijing Rocks.

Painted Faces is just as much an autobiographical account of Master Yu and his Peking opera school as it is an origins story for Jackie Chan and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. In the case of the latter, he appears in Painted Faces in the role of Master Yu, the man who trained him. That said, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, who was one of Master Yu’s best students, is central to the story that unfolds; a child and teenage version of himself are portrayed by two actors.

People most remember Master Yu's school for his seven most celebrated students, whom they refer to as the Seven Little Fortunes. Although Painted Faces features Jackie Chan, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, and Yuen Biao prominently, it does not feature the other four little fortunes. That said, the lack of screentime for the other little fortunes does not lessen Painted Faces' overall impact.

Painted Faces is unflinching in its depiction of the harsh and grueling training Master Yu put his students through. The narrative is engrossing; it does a superb job holding your attention by showing the characters' ups and downs. The most poignant moment is a scene where a former student of Master Yu badly hurts himself doing a dangerous stunt and he has a nervous breakdown. That said, the cast are all excellent in their roles, especially Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, who pays tribute to his mentor. Ultimately, Painted Faces is an exemplary biographical drama about some of Chinese cinema’s most significant stars.

The Story of My Son: Debt overwhelms a widower with two sons following his wife's death. When he is unable to repay the money he borrowed from a loan shark, his life spirals further out of control.

Johnnie To directed The Story of My Son. His other notable films include All About Ah-Long, Running Out of Time, The Mission, Fulltime Killer, PTU, Breaking News, Thrown Down, Election, Election 2, and Exiled.

The Story of My Son is a Hong Kong remake of Luigi Comencini's Misunderstood. While it retains the core elements of the original—a father, two sons, a grieving family, and the father and older brother concealing the mother's death from the youngest son—it also recreates several moments from Misunderstood.

While Johnnie To is most known for his action/crime films, he’s actually a versatile filmmaker who excels in any genre he’s worked in. Case in point, The Story of My Son, a drama about a man whose choices have put him and his two sons in danger. The protagonist is a proud man, who refuses help from his father-in-law, and instead of fleeing Hong Kong, he stubbornly remains. Although The Story of My Son is a film that fits firmly into the melodrama genre, there are moments where it veers into the crime film genre.

All of the cast are excellent, especially Huang Kun-Hsuen (All About Ah Long), who portrays the protagonist's eldest son. He tries to keep his family together as things spiral out of control and many of his actions lead to conflict with his father. Damian Lau (Royal Tramp) delivers a sympathetic performance in the role of the father. A cast member of note is Lam Suet (The Mission), who makes his first appearance in a Johnnie To film. He’s appeared in over 20 films produced or directed by Johnnie To.

Don’t let The Story of My Son’s brevity, 78 minutes in length, deceive you. It actually covers a considerable amount of ground for its running time. The narrative is well-executed, and it does an exemplary job building momentum via a succession of tense moments that come to a head in a gut-punch climax. Ultimately, The Story of My Son is an intense melodrama that quickly grabs you and stays with you long after its conclusion.

Women: A woman attempts to start anew and move on from her husband, who left her for another woman after having an affair.

Women is Stanley Kwan’s directorial debut. His notable films include Love Unto Waste, Rouge, Center Stage, Red Rose White Rose, and Hold You Tight.

The further I explore the filmography of Stanley Kwan, the clearer it is that he’s a filmmaker who’s more interested in his characters than in creating stylized visual moments. Women is a richly textured film that centers on a woman at a crossroads. The protagonist's discovery of her husband's infidelity sets everything in motion. Although she still loves her husband, his infidelity deeply wounds her, and his inability to walk away from his mistress adds further insult.

Instead of wallowing in her sadness, the protagonist makes her son the main focus. She also finds comfort and happiness in a core group of women who have suffered a similar betrayal. While the narrative sees her making attempts to reconcile with her husband, its ultimate power lies in how she retains agency over her life.

Women is a different kind of role than what Chow Yun-fat is now known for; it was made a year before his breakout film, A Better Tomorrow. Although he delivers a solid portrayal of a man unable to acknowledge his faults and mend the relationship he’s damaged, the main draw of Women is Cora Miao (Boat People) in the role of the protagonist, Liang Bo-Er. The narrative is told entirely from her character's viewpoint, and she delivers a remarkable performance. Another performance of note is Cherie Chung (Once a Thief) in the role of the mistress.

From a production standpoint, Women is a film that far exceeds the sum of its parts. The narrative does a superb job drawing and holding your attention as it builds to a bittersweet finale where the protagonist and her husband come to a compromise. At this point in his career, Stanley Kwan’s direction is solid, notably evident when it comes to his instincts. Ultimately, Women is an emotionally charged melodrama that never delivers a false note.

Shout! Factory’s Hong Kong New Wave Essentials is a solid release that gives each film a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras. Highly recommended. 

Written by Michael Den Boer