Chow Yun-Fat on TVB
san jaat si hing (juk jaap)
newly bound troop brothers (continued gathering)
Police Cadet '85
opening theme (.mp3 format)
principal cast:
nbsp;nbsp;Chow Yun-Fat
nbsp;nbsp;Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
nbsp;nbsp;Carina Lau Ka-Ling
nbsp;nbsp;Simon Yam
As a sequel to the first series (in which Chow Yun-Fat does not
appear), you either have to watch the first, read a good synopsis
or just hang on and figure out who's pining after whom, and who's
still holding a grudge against whom, if you want to sort this one
out. Or, like any other soap opera, you can just let all thoughts of
logic go and just settle down to watch some angst, romance, anger
and silliness.
Cheung Wai-Kit (Leung Chiu-Wai) is the central character of the show.
He has a number of problems, including a worrying mother, an
ex-girlfriend who is far off in the USA and a super-sadistic martinet
of a boss Hon Bun (played with the usual ferocious relish by Simon
Yam).
Chow Yun-Fat plays Wai-Kit's uncle, Ging Shing. Coming to HK from the
mainland, Ging Shing prepares for a career in Hong Kong as a medical
doctor but makes the prime mistake of choosing Yip Hau Lan as a
love interest - the same girl coveted by Lieutenant Hon Bun. Not a guy
to be outdone in anything, Hon Bun makes it his life's work to totally
destroy Ging Shing and succeeds to an admirable degree. After destroying
Ging Shing's chances of marrying Hau Lan, his chances of becoming a
doctor in Hong Kong and his self-respect, Hon Bun is then free to marry his trophy
and get on with the business of being the crookedest cop in town. Ironically, Ging
Shing becomes one of the more benevolent crime bosses, running guns and operating a
gambling den. Any lessons to be learned from this are left as an exercise for the viewer.
In the final episodes there are some pretty grisly murders (including one
perpetrated with a giant 5-foot salad fork, I kid you not) but don't worry,
the bad guy gets it in the end and all the good guys (and girls) end up
relatively happy.
There was another installment in the Police Cadet series, but it did not
feature CYF. Police Cadet '85 and The Battle Among the Clans
were the last two series made by CYF and heralded the end of his long stint
as a contract player with TVB.
It's interesting to see some of the acting techniques used by CYF in this series,
as they show up in the films he made during the same period, most especially Story
of Rose; there are times when Ging Shing carries the same aura of defeat that
characterized Chun-Wah in Rose.
Police Cadet '85 image gallery
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