LITTLE CHEUNG (XILU XIANG) Asian New Classics

Director Fruit Chan is perhaps Hong Kong’s best hope for a new cinema to overcome the doldrums of the past few years. A true independent with insider experience, his third film is an amazing and intensely entertaining gem.

Hong Kong is a crazy, bustling city, with an image of ultra-consumerist modernity. At its heart are the small restaurants that feed its millions and the alleyways that house its many poor. This is the world of nine-year-old Little Cheung, a smart, bubbly kid who spends his free time delivering take-out for his family’s restaurant. He meets Fan, a mainland illegal, and thei’r ensuing adventures are both daring and darling.

The portrait that Fruit Chan creates is one full of life and humor, small and big tragedies, and the changing face of Hong Kong on the eve of the turnover to mainland China.