{"id":32700,"date":"2026-03-01T21:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=32700"},"modified":"2026-03-01T21:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:03:41","slug":"love-a-better-tomorrow-the-hong-kong-director-and-film-that-inspired-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=32700","title":{"rendered":"Love \u2018A Better Tomorrow\u2019? The Hong Kong director and film that inspired it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Patrick Lung Kong, also known as Long Gang, is an anomaly among Hong Kong filmmakers. Working at a time when martial arts films<\/span> ruled the local box office, Lung made socially conscious contemporary dramas that focused on Hong Kong issues and were highly didactic.<\/div>\n
Lung, who died in 2014, believed that society\u2019s ills, rather than an individual\u2019s failings, turned citizens to crime, and he was not afraid to express this explicitly in his work.<\/p>\n
But Lung also realised that audiences did not like to sit and watch lectures, so his best-known films are not standard social dramas \u2013 the messages are often framed in a genre format featuring criminals, prisoners and call girls.<\/p>\n
Although Shaw Brothers<\/span> wanted to sign him, Lung remained relatively independent throughout his career, relishing his creative freedom. He famously employed a \u201cthree to one\u201d approach to filmmaking, aiming to direct three commercially viable films to cover the cost of making one of his personal, socially conscious dramas.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>Director Patrick Lung Kong at an interview with the SCMP in 2010. Photo: SCMP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Below, we look at two of Lung\u2019s best-known films.<\/p>\n
The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Director](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/02\/26\/af3c6ffe-aafc-473a-9b6b-ea2666ac618d_64f35096.jpg\" "\\"Director")
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