EXCLUSIVE: Hong Kong multi-hyphenate Juno Mak‘s dystopian crime thriller, Sons of the Neon Night, is set to premiere in the Midnight Screenings section at Cannes this week.
Sons of the Neon Night is set in an alternative, snow-covered Hong Kong — a startling sight, given that the city does not experience snowfall. The death of a pharmaceutical company chairman unleashes a wave of chaos and power struggles in the underworld. His youngest son attempts to break away from his family’s criminal legacy. However, he faces threats from his fugitive older brother and the ruthless lieutenants loyal to their deceased father.
The film stars Takeshi Kaneshiro (Chungking Express), Sean Lau (Papa), Tony Leung Ka-fai (Double Vision), Louis Koo (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), and Gao Yuanyuan (Blind Detective).
The clip, which is part of the film’s opening sequence, is set just outside Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay station, where gunmen soon unleash chaos on the streets amid the snowfall, shooting pedestrians and commuters.
The film’s Mandarin title Feng Lin Huo Shan references Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War.’
Mak started out as a pop artist and record producer, before acting in Dream Home and Revenge: A Love Story. He won the Best Actor Award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival for his role in Revenge: A Love Story.
His directorial debut, Rigor Mortis (2013), won the FIPRESCI Award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
Sales for Sons of the Neon Night is handled by Hong Kong’s Distribution Workshop.
