Where Are You Going (2016) - full transcript

Where are we ?

I don't know, I've
never been here.

Why is it so long?

Did the driver make a detour?

I have it in my eye.

Have we just crossed the port?

Who.

Did you see ?
People drive on the left here.

"You have arrived at your destination,
the total cost of the trip is HK $ 65.2,"

"Including additional
costs, thank you."

There you go, Star Ferry!



What are these additional fees?

It's the tunnel fee
and the baggage fee.

Can you not speak Cantonese?
We don't understand it.

OK, OK.

Tunnel fees and baggage fees.

Is the tunnel paying too?

Of course !

So what are the baggage fees?

There is an $ 8 charge for
putting your luggage in the trunk.

But, I put them
there myself, not you.

This is not what matters.

Putting luggage
in the trunk is more.

Why didn't you say anything? If I had
known, I would have kept them in front.

No need to say it,
everyone knows it.



But we didn't know, if we had
known, we wouldn't have done it.

But it's done now.

Come on, it's only 8 dollars!

This rule does not exist
where we come from.

Sorry ?

♪ said, this rule does
not exist in mainland China.

So what ?

Here is Hong Kong!

What can it do?

It's part of China, right?

But Hong Kong has its own rules.

What rules?
Are they written somewhere?

Look for yourselves!

We cannot read traditional
Chinese characters.

Are you kinding me ?

Are you Chinese or not?

You can't even read
traditional characters!

Here !

English! You can
read English, right?

OK, OK, whatever.
We're going to say it's a tip.

That's rubbish, here's your $ 8!

In the good old days,
every time I came here

I left my car and went to have tea
in the restaurant around the corner.

But now look, Everywhere
jewelry stores and pharmacies.

Here is a new Sasa store.

Not just in Kowloon,
even in the New Territories,

many old stores
have closed and been

turned into shopping
centers for tourists.

This city is dying.

There are only tourists left.

Look at that moron,

If you want to cross, cross, if
you want to take a photo, take a

photo, but don't get stuck in the
middle of the pedestrian crossing!

Look, isn't that actor
John Chiang over there?

Yes it's him.

It's been a while
since I saw him on TV.

He still plays,
but not like before.

He mostly does stupid advertisements.

When I was little he always
played the father in the playoffs.

How old is he now?

Over 60, I think.

Father roles?
He's more like a grandpa now.

Hey, didn't we forget
to buy some dish soap?

Ah, yes, I forgot.

Too bad, we can buy
it at Wellcome later.

We came here
because it's cheaper,

but in the end we forget things.

Isn't this shampoo expensive?

120HK $ for two, I find it to
be cheaper than Wellcome.

Isn't it HK $ 99 at Wellcome?
We paid HK $ 20 more.

The price has already increased
to 130HK $ at Wellcome.

Even if they offer you a sample.
What a story !

Has the price gone up again?
It had already increased last month.

I told you not to take a

taxi, it's wasted money.

Look, everyone
waiting for the bus,

and with the metro
there's a change.

Besides, we are too busy.

We shouldn't have gone to this brunch.

It's okay, it's been
a while since we

last ate together
with your parents.

Look, this is the building I
interviewed in, on the 9th floor.

The job Tin recommended me for.

The green building?

No, the one next to it.

What is this job?

Handing out flyers
in the street and

rounding up tourists
to a jeans store.

It's easy, you
just have to stand.

Standing stomping all day?

Easy ? Do not do that !

We have to work more, we will
soon have one more mouth to feed.

That's why I don't
want you to do it.

But our rent is going
up, how do we do it?

I'm going to see if Tin can offer me
something, I'm going to work myself, okay?

Do you think it's
easy to find a job?

My cousin has a master's
degree in finance from the

University of Hong Kong, do
you know what he's doing now?

What?

He sells bonds, he scams people.

What did Jenson do
when he lost his job?

I think he is smuggling with his

wife, they go to
Shenzhen all the time.

Shouldn't we do that too?

What? Contraband?

We call it a “private
import-export company”.

But how to do it ?

It's simple.
We dress like tourists,

we bring products there
and sell them to the Mainland.

But it's the mainland who
do that normally, right?

So what ?
The Chinese market is so big.

An iPhone 6 costs HK $ 5,500 in Hong Kong,

Do you know how much it costs in China?

How many ?

5,200 yuan, look how
much that's in HK $.

5,200 yuan… let's see…

Wha! Almost HK $ 6,200!

Serious! The laptop is very small,
you can sneak it through customs.

There is always a line in front of
the Apple Stores. Only Continental.

But they're going to search
us at customs for sure.

We just have to remove the
packaging and say it's for us.

What can they do?

You can also sell cosmetics.

Did you see the line
in front of pharmacies?

Yes… it deserves some thought.

In addition, food is
cheaper in Shenzhen.

We should do our shopping
there, that would be smart.

Well, I'm going to ask Jenson tonight.

What do you want to eat ?

Ravioli or grilled meats?

I don't want to eat out.

Let's stay home and
make instant noodles.

What's the matter ?

Nothing, I'm tired.

Oh yes, have you thought about
the gift for Robert and his wife?

No, but what about a
can of powdered milk?

Did you lost your mind ?
Who offers powdered milk to a wedding?

It's practical though.
♪ would like to be offered this.

Or a reservation at the
maternity ward, or a good school.

Powdered milk can be bought.

Motherhood or school, you
have to be ready to kill to get it.

Do you think that national education will be there
when our child is old enough to go to school?

It will come sooner or later.

When our child
grows up and sings the

national anthem in
front of the Chinese flag,

He'll cry, you think?

We know how it's going to go, don't we?

All the rich and smart
people emigrated,

they left the rednecks
like us stuck here.

Excuse me, do you mind
going down here and walking?

See? There are too many people
here, you will go faster on foot.

I prefer not, my
wife is pregnant.

Okay. Excuse me,

in this case I will
go to your place.

Thank you.

Hello? Mr. Chan? How are you ?

Excuse me, I'm not in the office,
I'm on my way to see a client.

Honestly, I understand.

You have no experience and
you are saving for retirement.

What is the point of
making risky investments?

If I didn't know you so well,
and if you didn't need the money,

I would advise you
a prudent investment.

But listen to me, you
have to take some height.

The stock market goes up,
down, you know all that is relative.

The market is not attractive to
people who have already invested a lot.

But for people like
you who have money

lying dormant now is
a great time to invest.

You have to buy low and sell high!

If the stock market goes up too
much, how can you make money?

The others have already pocketed
the winnings, you only have the crumbs.

Now the market is at its
lowest, everyone got rinsed,

we must invest before
they can recover.

We call it "catching the
opponent by surprise".

The global economy, the United States, Asia and
Europe, everything has been sluggish for years.

Don't you feel it's going to start again?

It's up to you to seize
opportunities when they arise.

Keeping your savings in
the bank is good for losers.

What are Hong Kongers doing?
They make money with money.

The crisis of 1997, SARS in
2003, we have always done well.

Trust me, Hong Kong
and the global economy!

Will you think about it, promise?

Of course with pleasure. I will prepare
the documents tomorrow at the office.

See you at 10am?
Great, see you tomorrow.

Miss,

♪ I really have great respect
for salespeople like you.

When the market is good, you
tell people to buy bonds and stocks.

When the market is bad,
you tell them to buy insurance.

Buying when the market is
good is “seizing the opportunity”.

When it is bad, it is to
"catch them off guard".

According to you we win in any case.

Hey, that was a professional conversation,
what are you doing listening to me?

Well, you were so articulate,
so convincing, and so confident.

You would have thought
you were giving a speech.

It was hard not to listen.

Too bad if you listened
to me, but why judge me?

♪ just help people make money.
What's wrong with that?

You just have to stay at home
and for a small commission,

we take care of everything,
it's a business, right?

Come on, don't try to
pass yourself off as a saint.

We sit at home, and
the money is flowing?

Do you have any idea how much
money I had in the bank in 2007?

5 million HK $!

Do you know what
was left after a year?

Only HK $ 3 million! I got 2
million stolen from people like you.

Fortunately, I have this
taxi to live otherwise,

I would have only had
to touch the allowances.

At that point, these so-called
experts made me buy “mini-bonds”.

These products are neither mini, nor bonds,
how dare they call them “mini-bonds”?

But that's what investing,
suddenly we lose, suddenly we win

How can you make
money without taking risks?

Hey, look at me!
Do I look like a fool?

If I make money, it's for you.
The losses are for my apple.

I am the one who
takes all the risks!

I drive this taxi from morning to night.

Lots of people work
so hard for a living.

But you, you strum on a computer,
and then you pick up the jackpot.

The good life !

How can you say that?
Do you think it's okay in our pocket?

It's for the business, okay?

We're just employees,
paid HK $ 20-30K per month.

You will surely earn more with your taxi!

We have to sell millions every
month or we get fired in the minute.

Who will receive the allocations?
You? No me !

Nobody puts a gun
to your head to do that.

There are just too many
people like you in Hong Kong.

Sitting in a desk, well
dressed, making phone calls

to rip people off, even
your parents and friends.

You just make money for
the banks and your bosses.

"Make money with money", eh?

What a saint you are!

Look at yourself…
you have hands and feet.

You are young,
beautiful and healthy!

Do you have to sell
your conscience?

What can I do?

Social worker ? None ?

OK, I'm going to do something
honest, but who's going to pay me? You?

Rent, bills, food and transportation?
Are you going to pay?

You patient!

I want to leave from here.

Calm down, be patient,

we only have two years left here.

I don't want to stay another day.

To stay here, I learned to speak

Cantonese, to write
traditional Chinese.

Still happening, but I don't understand why I
have to put up with being discriminated against?

It's not so bad.

And then, we really
walked past him in that line.

How did we get past him?
I told her I hadn't seen her.

You hadn't seen him either, had you?

But it's still our fault.

I just thought she was
smoking or waiting for someone.

There was plenty of room in front
of her, of course I got down there.

Besides, the bus was already there.

I apologized as soon
as she started screaming.

Why did she feel compelled
to mumble "grasshopper"?

She thought I didn't
understand Cantonese?

The last time,

You were working overtime, I
took your parents to dinner at Shatin.

There was a family of locals nearby,
they heard that we spoke Mandarin.

The father said to his son:

"Son, do you know they don't
have fresh prawns on the Mainland?"

That's why they all come
here to eat shrimp ravioli. "

You already told me that.

Please don't start in the cab,
just wait until we're home, okay?

Do you have a
problem if I yell in a cab?

You really have no guts.

What did you want me to do?
That I raise my tone with her?

If we had argued, they
would all have come to film

with their phones and then
put everything on Facebook.

The next day, we would
have been seen on the news:

"Continents cut a line
and fight with passers-by"

Haven't you seen enough yet?

Can we go home, please?

We've been living here for five years.

Two more years and we'll
have a residence permit.

We'll talk about it later, okay?

What can this permit do to me?

What do you mean ?

Wasn't it you who talked all
the time about leaving China?

It's true, I didn't want to stay there.

But there are a lot
of ways to immigrate

nowadays, you can go to Canada,

some go to
Australia, but I don't

understand why we
have to stay in Hong Kong.

Stop dreaming, okay?

Here at least it is close to home.

That's what I thought too, but
don't you think that since it's close,

there aren't many differences between
Hong Kong and the mainland anymore?

Every day, I write TV
series for the Continent

surrounded by students
from the Continent.

But before coming to Hong Kong,
we didn't know it would become this.

Don't you find it more and more bizarre?

More and more Hong Kong
people are going to the Continent,

and Mainlanders in Hong Kong.
Isn't that ridiculous frankly?

It is not the same !
Hong Kongers go there for work.

We, to have a better life!

A better life ?
Because you think we have a life?

It's so tight with us, when
I stretch, I touch the walls!

♪ spent so much money
learning filmmaking for three

years, but now I earn
less than doing the dishes.

Anyway, I think society here is

relatively fairer
and more equitable.

Fair, it's true.

Everyone makes so little money,
and has to endure the same pressure.

If that's what you call "fair," I
don't know what else to say.

Let's go home, okay?

Okay, listen to me.

If we go home now

What are we going to say to our parents?

What will they tell our
loved ones, our friends?

It's gonna talk, everyone's
gonna think we've failed.

Isn't that what your family would say?

Yes it is good for me. What about you, Jeramie?

Me ? I was just following
the leader of our dance group.

Now the problem is,

the orange suit is ugly!

Not at all !
He looks cool, I like it.

Are you kidding or what?

This orange dress does not
go at all with the purple shoes.

And you, what do you think, Michelle?

Me, I prefer the peach-colored

dress, not the orange.

But the orange dress is cheaper.

It costs only HK $ 150.

Me, I find that the peach-colored
dress has a "Korean" style.

I don't like him very much.

- That's good, we're going to look like chic girls.
- Us? “Chic” girls?

The fried chicken is disgusting here.

It tastes different from the Philippines.

Are you talking about Jollibee's?
Chicken tastes the same all over the world.

Not at all !

Jollibee restaurants in Hong Kong have
nothing to do with those in the Philippines.

♪ would love to eat Adobo
chicken or pork, the one with aswetias.

I miss it a lot !

- Really ? It's too colorful!
- Yes, but I like it, don't you?

When I see what I eat here, I
miss my mother's cooking a lot.

There is no real Filipino here.
These restaurants in the Center are filthy.

I do not care ! It is the only place where
you can talk and laugh quietly on Sunday.

This is the only place where
we can be happy together.

- You're right. The Filipino restaurants are all there.
- So when are we going?

- Next Sunday of course!
- Yes, we'll go together.

♪ wish I could go
home for Christmas.

My son… he wasn't happy
when I got him on the phone.

He asked me to
come home, to spend

the holidays with
him in the Philippines.

Forget that. It's just homesickness,
when you think about it.

I didn't tell you, I have a friend,

his employer is from the UK.

He pays her tickets to
the Philippines every year.

It is true ?

It's been a long time since I
did anything with my girlfriend.

A birthday, Valentine's Day,
an important day for us...

I really miss it. I miss her.

I can't imagine having a long
distance relationship like you.

I wouldn't be able to.

I see my boyfriend
every Sunday and we

skype every night,
but I miss him anyway.

Michelle, at least your boyfriend is in Hong Kong.

And you can Skype it whenever you want.

Skype is not worth anything! I want to be with him.

This is what I hate the most.

We only have Sundays to go out and relax.

I mean, being a
maid in HK is like...

Like being a prisoner from Monday to Saturday.

Absolutely !

Every time I talk to my boyfriend on Skype,

I have to whisper in the middle of the night.

♪ Tired of living like an inmate.

You have to get used to it, girls.
At least you have a decent salary.

Not like me, I am paid the minimum.

Exactly, Aries knows that well.

She was a police officer in the Philippines.

But she still quit to come here.

Yes, but in fact, I hesitate to
quit this job and leave here.

Because I take care of
my boss's son every day.

But I don't have time to
take care of my own son

anymore and I've only
seen him once in two years.

Hey, I'm taking care of an extra cat!

I miss my old dog.
He will be 19 next August.

♪ hope I will see him again one day.

Damn, I wish I
could go home now.

Me too.

If it continues like this, my

girlfriend will surely dump me.

- Seriously?
- Doesn't it look like I'm a widow now?

- Would you go back to single life?
- It's like that.

I am sorry for you.

It's getting colder and colder.
In lloilo, it is never so cold.

Michelle, take
my scarf, I'm fine.

Thank you !

Excuse me.

I was asleep.

Usually I don't drink during the day.

But it was my farewell party so...

No problem !

Another 30 minutes to the airport.

You can take a nap.

Leo, how long have
we known each other?

7 years.

- 7 years ?
- Yes.

Already? Time flies...

♪ feel like I arrived yesterday.

I remember…

You lost your passport in my
car, and it was Christmas Day.

Yes, I remember that too.

We had a fight with my girlfriend that night.

It was funny actually.

We were arguing over
which milk tea was the best.

Hong Kong or English.

It was really stupid.

Me, basically I prefer it to Hong Kong.

But I couldn't tell him that.

- She's not going with you?
- No.

I am free too.

There are lots of fish in the sea.

Leo, do you mind if I take a
picture with you before I leave?

Sure why not !

And There you go.

Great thanks a lot.

7 years old already, and I
still can't speak Cantonese.

But…

Guess I didn't really
need it here anyway.

My English is really not good.

Man, that's exactly
what we're friends for.

We talk to each other without really understanding each other.

There can't be any
conflict between us, I guess.

The only word I know…
is “Gweilo”.

You call us strangers
that way, don't you?

Yes, it means "ghost".

Ghost…

I know…

We are kind of ghosts.

And now the ghosts are
leaving this city, this dying city.

In fact, I'm just happy
to finally be able to leave.

I hate this place.

- Have you ever been to the UK?
- No never.

You should.

You would feel right at home there, actually.

The first time, I thought
I had the wrong flight.

Everyone speaks perfect English here.

Well, except you of course, but...

But really…

Everything looks so much like London.

Absolutely everything.

Look at these roads, and the signs.

You even drive on the left like us.

This city still lives in the past.

Where are you going ?

Shanghai.

The "Paris of Asia", they say.

You can easily leave your heart
there, and your wallet, without a doubt.

Shanghai?

Not Manchester or London?

No, my company decided
to relocate me there.

And what they say is not
going very well in the UK.

Austerity, you know.

Better career prospects in
Shanghai, more business too.

- You are ready ?
- Ready for what ? The continent ? Of course.

♪ can't wait to be there,
it's a new adventure.

According to my friend, everything remains to be done there.

You can reinvent yourself.

Hong Kong is a thing of the past. You know ?

Look, everybody's going to
Beijing, to Shanghai, everybody.

A little “conquest of the west” side.

The economy is
booming, well more or less.

And I am curious to see
this famous “Chinese dream”.

If it was only...

There are a few too many Americans there.

I'll tell you, I also
have some concerns.

Pollution .. Food,
obviously, fake eggs…

The fake Gucci bags...

And also, this joke:
the only thing that

is true on television
is “it's 7:00 pm.”

Shit…

I'm already starting to miss Wanchai.

The bars are nice.

Western cuisine.

And cute girls.

Perhaps…

Maybe it's us who are
still living in the past.

But, what a beautiful past.

You are right.

You are right.

Perhaps…

I do not know…

Maybe I should...

Go back...

Return to the UK.

London…

Even Manchester.

Anywhere.

I haven't been

back for far too long.

The grass is always greener,

I suppose.

Hey, isn't that Tsing Ma Bridge?

Yes.

It's a bit like the Golden
Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Apart from the color.

- Are you coming back from San Francisco?
- Yes.

I came back for my niece's wedding.

Fortunately, you are not
coming back from the East

Coast, otherwise you
could not have come back.

Who, that's true.

All flights were canceled due to the blizzard.

It's getting colder and colder in the United States.

- How do you know I'm Hong Kong?
- It's your way of speaking.

Haven't you been back for a long time?
Have you never seen the bridge?

Not just the bridge.

I hadn't even seen
Chek Lap Kok Airport.

I left from Kai Tak airport.

Kai Tak ?!
It closed over 10 years ago.

It's been 18 years.

I left in 1996.

At the time, I was in the “Hong
Kong resident” queue at customs.

Today, I had to take the
“Other nationality” line.

Do you have a restaurant in the United States?

How did you guess?

♪ have parents who live in San Francisco.

Many of the restaurants there
are run by Hong Kong people.

Frankly, I didn't speak much English
when I first came to the United States.

But hey, you don't need
to speak English to cook.

Really,

it's fun to run a restaurant
in the United States.

At first, Americans didn't like
stir-fried noodles with beef very much.

But we're not going to
put cheese in it, are we?

So my father taught me, he told me:

"It's easy, add more glutamate".

And the Americans loved it
and asked me how I had done it.

So I told them it's a...

"Secret family recipe".

Did it work well then?

Not bad.

When I looked out the
window on the plane

earlier, I saw a lot
of new buildings here.

I didn't recognize anything at all!

I remembered it was the
suburbs here. It was very calm.

Who, that's true.

Now there are so many skyscrapers.

For others, it's like
a forest of concrete.

Nothing special, they are
the same all over the world.

But for me, it's different.

I used to drive the cab all these years.

♪ saw these buildings rise
from the ground, little by little.

It was like watching a child grow up.

You know what, when
I got to San Francisco,

I saw the streetcars
on the street.

♪ was overjoyed.

Because they looked
like our “Ding Ding Tram”.

It was so familiar to me.

And also the steep streets, it

looks so much like
Hong Kong Island.

And what we also eat,
milk tea, dim sum, Siu Mei...

It all exists in San Francisco.

Of course, the taste is a little less authentic.

- It gets worse here.
- Why ?

Milk tea is more and more bland.

And dim sum is getting smaller and smaller.

As for Siu Mei, roast goose for example.

When I was a kid, roast goose
was made with fresh goose.

Yes of course.

But now it's frozen goose
and the taste is totally different.

It's better than nothing.

At the time, there weren't many Hong
Kong teahouses in the United States.

Can you believe it?

People flew for 14 hours
here just to eat a Siu Mei.

Those who live abroad, like
you, often think of returning.

But people like us, who stayed
in Hong Kong, want to leave.

My mate, I'm telling you.

If I had a choice, I would
immediately leave here.

Is there even a future here? Tell me.

Come on, let's say
the "future" exists

in the imagination
of some people.

The world is just a village.

How far would you go then?

We have so many choices to go

But you can only go in one place.

Hong Kong is not what it used to be.

In the good old
days, if you were

hardworking and not
too dumb, you always did.

But now ?

Look at my son, for example.

If he doesn't go, he'll never get a chance.

With his diploma, he only found one
job that paid HK $ 20,000 per month.

Barely enough to eat and pay the rent.

Lately he said to me, “Dad, I
want to buy an apartment. "

I told him to forget about it,
real estate in Hong Kong is just...

Most Hong Kong people
will never get a chance to buy.

Speaking of real estate,
I never thought about

buying a house in San
Francisco when I first arrived.

When I left my parents wanted
to sell our apartment here.

I didn't agree, because
I wasn't ready to leave it!

♪ grew up here, emotionally, of course
I wasn't ready, I thought to myself...

As long as I keep it, Hong Kong is always
home, and I can come back whenever I want.

I didn't even want to rent it.

All my books, toys, and stickers
I collected at McDonald's, I

had kept everything, I didn't
even want people to touch them.

But I had to pay the building
management fees every month.

And the fees were increasing every year.

It had become too expensive
to keep the apartment.

I had no choice, I asked
relatives to help me sell it.

After the sale of the apartment,

♪ was really very upset.

♪ felt…
that I had lost my house.

You have emigrated
for over 10 years,

but to me, you are
still a Hong Konger.

Why ?

Because I know it's something
that will never change about you.

I'm so glad to hear you say that.

♪ hope you don't get tired of listening to me.

But if taxis couldn't chat while
driving, it would be boring to death.

On the contrary, I am delighted to speak with you.

You know what, at this hour
it's very quiet in San Francisco.

There is no one in the street.

There aren't many cities like Hong
Kong that are even more amazing at night.

It is still early.

People have just finished their
dinner and are walking around.

You have to go to Ian Kwai Fong
or Temple Street after midnight.

This is where things happen.

Wait… We're very close to
Tsuen Wan market, right?

- You know ?
- Yes, I remember.

♪ had family there.

Look, there was a small
apartment building there.

Who, that's true.

I remember that we used to go to
their house to barbecue on their terrace.

There were so many
people, old people, children...

Several generations under the same roof.

What happiness!

I don't know if they are still there.

It's okay ?

I'm fine.

How many drinks have you had?

A..

Of them.…. three.

Three glasses of Gin Tonic.
It's okay, I'm fine.

You're sure ? Are you going
to survive until the next party?

Of course, don't worry.

And you ? It's okay ?

I'm fine, I haven't drunk much.

Mini, come here.

Come here.

Does he miss Johnny?

Don't talk about that asshole.

I wanted to ask you for a long
time, why did you call it Mini?

Because Johnny was driving
a Mini Cooper back then.

It was funny.

A big fellow like him,
driving a Mini Cooper.

That's why ?

Yes that's all.

At that time we had barely
known each other for a month,

one night we went out of 77.

We heard a cat meow in an
alley near Wellington Street.

We went to look, and found

Mini searching a trash can.

So we took her in the Mini

Cooper and brought her home.

So... Did you meet at 77?

Well yes.

No wonder you didn't want to go to 77.

I didn't want to dwell on the past.

He left ?

Who.

Tonight's flight.

He won't be coming back?

No.

In fact, I've always envied you.

At first I thought you weren't serious.

I never thought you would
be together for so long.

Yeah, we've been together
for a long time, so what?

He always prefers his English milk tea.

And me, I always prefer it to Hong Kong.

I remember the first time I made
him drink Yuanyang, he was terrified.

He said he had never seen
anyone mix coffee and tea with milk.

Funny, isn't it?

♪ Always thought you would
marry her and go to the UK.

Drop it.

It's been so many years...

He's always been like that,

to come and go as he wishes.

What do we do tomorrow ?

I don't know, are we going to the movies?
It has been a long time.

- See what ?
- Wait, let me find it.

What do you like ?
A Hong Kong film.

I watch.

There are no longer any Hong Kong films,
only co-productions with the Continent.

Hollywood then?

That one ? Already seen.

And this one ?
It's a French film.

A French film?
Do you take yourself for a bourgeois?

"Hello, I drink
coffee, I watch French

films, I am a bourgeois
from Hong Kong!"

Stop you're stupid!

Oh, I'm messed up,
can you tie my hair up?

Let me see… here it is.

I'm going to put on a little makeup,

otherwise I wouldn't even
dare to get out of that car.

Did you buy a Mask?

Yes, I love it.

The clasp looks like a little monster.

It's too popular, I wanted
to buy one myself too.

They are so cute.

Of all the Louis Vuitton bags,
Tribal Mask is my favorite,

especially because there is
this monster shaped buckle.

Me too ! But I would rather choose blue.

♪ like blue too.
But my aunt bought this in Italy for me.

She prefers red.

If we talk about color,
red is prettier, it's true.

Why do not you talk ?
What do you think ?

Nothing.

A while ago…

My family introduced me to a man.

Why are your parents in a hurry like this?

He is the son of a nouveau riche from the Continent.

He is rich, he is young, what
we call a “rich second generation”.

Have you ever met him?

Yes…

What does it look like ?

I find it… disgusting.

Do your parents like him?

For them, it is stable.

But the most important thing is that my father
is trying to develop his business there.

What? Are you going to go with them to the Continent?

I do not know.

Look, he sends me messages every day.

He shows off with all the
cars and houses he buys.

Show me.

Lamborghini? !

♪ Heard that his
father is a senior official.

They have homes in Los
Angeles and Vancouver.

- Him again ?
- Yes.

- What is he saying ?
- Nothing.

Come on tell me. Me, my parents
never arranged a date for me.

He asks me if I want to
go on a cruise with him.

Do you want ?

With him ?

No thanks.

I think that he…

It's you who interests
him more than the cruise.

Damn, he's making me sick.

- I'm afraid, actually.
- Afraid of what ?

To live with someone I don't like.

To live a future I don't want.

Hey, so shouldn't
I be more scared?

I have no one to live with.

As for the future...

I don't even want to think about it.

You have it better than me.

At least you have a lot of choice.

Because you are free.

Free to choose who you like,

And free to do whatever you want.

Even if I had a choice, so what?

I don't even know what I want.

Look at me.

All my life I have been studying abroad,

I learned the
piano, I even toured.

Everything has always been arranged by my family.

I never had my say.

You know what ?

I never liked the piano.

It's not that bad, at least you
don't have to worry about it.

It's tiring if you have to make all
of these decisions on your own.

Let me ask you something,

if you had a choice

never to play the piano again.

What would you do ?

See, even if you had a choice,

you wouldn't know
what to do with it.

Because you have no idea what you want.

I don't know what I want either.

There are a lot of people in this
world who don't know what they want.

We all wait, we wait for

others to tell us what we want,

tell us what to do.

So.…

Why worry?

Drop it.

♪ got sick some time
ago, I was lying at home

with nothing to do, so
I was watching movies.

In one of them there was a strange character.

Normal people
dream of being a star,

doctor, lawyer,
businessman or politician.

But his dream...

It is to be an orphan.

To make his dream
come true, he spends his

time trying to escape
from an early age.

Was it a fiction?

I don't know, it doesn't matter.

And then ?

But every time he runs away,
his family finds him very quickly.

He has run away so many times that
his family starts to think he is crazy.

And, when he's 18,

they send him to the asylum.

And after ? What is happening ?

Happy ending?

Does he go back to his family
and live happily ever after?

False!

Then he escapes from the asylum.

We don't see him again for the rest of the film.

At the end, it suddenly comes back.

He stole money from
his parents, jump in a cab,

and said to the driver:

" It is all I have…

Take me anywhere

when there is no more money,

Let me get off somewhere. ”

Do you know your mom is worried about you?

I know.

Shouldn't you think
about it a bit more?

I've made my decision.

It won't be easy if you
change your mind later.

You are the one leaving, not me.

We want you to go with

us, it was you who refused.

Why should I go?

It's my home here.

Home is where your family is.

You understand ?

I only feel at home in

one place, and it's here.

Here, the situation is getting
worse, why wait to leave?

Why not try to fix the problems?

Because emigrating to
Canada is not a solution?

No, running away from problems
doesn't make them go away.

Fleeing is also a solution.

If your grandfather hadn't
run away here to Hong Kong

the whole family would be starving,
and you wouldn't even be there.

I am not a grandfather, I am me.

Let me ask you a question.

Imagine you crave a banana.

You walk into a store, but

there are only apples and pears.

What are you doing ?
Aren't you going to another store?

This metaphor is wrong,

I am the owner of the store.
Why would I go elsewhere?

If your residence is poorly managed,
then you complain that it is not secure,

and the manager answers you:
“don't you feel safe? go away ! "

- Would you go? - Wrong!

You are not the owner, just
a resident in this apartment.

Likewise, you will never
be the owner of this city.

You just live here.
You are a resident.

If we are not the
owners, then who?

If you were really the masters here, you
wouldn't have gone to sleep on the streets.

We did it precisely to show
that this city is our home.

And after ?

You occupied Central for 3 months.

Did you see where we went earlier?

There is nothing more,
not the slightest trace.

As if nothing had happened.

What is your point ?

You are innocent, that's good.

But do you understand?

You can't change the world.
You can only change yourself.

I did not do anything wrong !
Why should I change?

If something isn't right, why
wouldn't we dare to change it?

How old are you ?

You don't make a living, you
can't achieve anything on your own,

but you want to change the world?

Don't overestimate yourself.

You slept in the street to
change the world, while deep

down, you are only looking
for the feeling of existing.

Why should I make
money first and foremost?

And you ? How old are you ?

Besides making money, what
have you done for this world?

I am only a doctor.

If anyone is sick, I treat them.

As for the problems
of this world, I do

not know what to do,
and it is not my role.

This is the difference between us.

You think that if you have health,
you can dispense with principles or faith.

In this society, people think they
can sacrifice everything for money.

Why should everyone
agree with you?

Some believe in Jesus, in
Buddha, others in the Law, in Money.

Our faith is different.

"Faith"?

Do you dare to talk to
me about "faith" when you

don't know how to distinguish
between Good and Evil?

If we could tell for sure
what is right and wrong,

we wouldn't need to believe.

There are some things to
be left to God's judgment.

You claim to be tolerant,
while you are selfish.

You are arrogant, but
you think you are humble.

It's people like you
who make the world bad.

What is this attitude?

Why didn't you put on a
coat when you went out?

I didn't think it would be so cold.

Don't worry, it will be fine.

It's flu season right now.

♪ have more than 10 patients in the hospital today.

Take care of yourself.

I have never seen anyone
change the world by being sick.

The day after tomorrow is the
anniversary of grandfather's death?

Who.

Do you remember?

♪ have a soccer game, I
won't be able to free myself.

It is not serious.

Your mother and I are going to go.

Tell grandfather for me

that I managed to enter the University.

Of course.

♪ dreamed about him last month.

What do you mean ?

It was dark, and he was taking
the streetcar home after work.

Like when he was still there.

The tram.

I saw him come down from our house.

I called him,

but he couldn't hear me.

I ran down, but he
was no longer there.

Now, every time I see the

tram, I always wonder...

If I don't go and see Grandpa get off.

Uncle Tsang, is that you?

Who ?

Is it really you?

We know each other ?

What? You the famous King of
Kowloon, everyone knows you!

But I thought you were dead?

Well, just because I'm dead,
wouldn't I be allowed to come here?

Of course yes ! Welcome !

What brings you here tonight?

I am the King.

I have to inspect my
kingdom from time to time.

And where do you want to inspect today?

- Let's go to Kowloon.
- OK, I'll take you.

Uncle Tsang, would you mind
doing some calligraphy for me?

Why is that ?

You are a renowned artist now.

Your calligraphy is worth a fortune.

If you make one for me, I could

sell it and buy
myself an apartment.

Before I died, I wrote all over the street.

The police would stop me
and erase my calligraphy.

Everyone said I was nuts.

But after my death,
they put my calligraphy

in galleries,
exhibitions abroad.

They said that I was an
“artist”, that my calligraphy was

a cultural heritage, an
exceptional artistic achievement.

Ridiculous, right?

It's true, but people
only care about the dead.

Many artists did not become
famous until after their deaths.

Who was this guy who liked to paint already...

Van Gogh !
It was him, wasn't it?

My calligraphy is linked to my land.

But they uprooted
my work to put it on

display, they tore my
calligraphy from my land.

Does it still make sense?

There used to be the Kowloon Citadel there.

As a child, I had a friend
who lived within the walls.

♪ often went to play with him.

The buildings there never
saw the sun, it was very humid.

People from the outside got confused easily.

In the end the government razed the whole town

and built a large
and bright Kowloon

Citadel Park to
commemorate the Old Town.

It's also the fate of your works, isn't it?

They can't erase
all of my calligraphy.

I continue to write more beautifully.

And we'll see who's
faster from them or me.

We will see.

♪ I wrote more than once in
these streets, on walls, doors,

lampposts, electrical cabinets,
garbage cans… I wrote everywhere!

Do you write the
same thing every time?

Of course not. I sometimes write
the names and titles of my ancestors.

Sometimes the land I own.

Sometimes I denounce the crimes of
the government that took over my land.

♪ would like to know
my family tree too.

Maybe my ancestors were
also the masters somewhere.

Maybe I was a king too.

However, I wouldn't take
it as seriously as you do.

♪ always wanted to ask you,

do you really think you
are the king of kowloon?

Or are you playing the
fool to advertise yourself?

It's in my lineage,
from the Zhou dynasty.

By imperial decree, our family, Tsang,
received the land of Kowloon at Sau Mau Ping.

My ancestor Tsang Kwong Ching
was the premier of the Zhou Dynasty.

Her son, Tsang Chiu Fung,
married Princess Zhou.

I was born in the
13th year of Emperor

Qing Pu Yi's reign,
or as you say, in 1921.

I am the 35th heir of
the Tsang family, and

I inherited my family's
land in Kowloon.

That's why I was born with
the title of "King of Kowloon".

Uncle Tsang, forgive me

what I'm going to say will
probably sound a little harsh to you.

What dynasty is it now?
The Zhou dynasty? Or the Qing dynasty?

After the Japanese occupation
and British colonization

how can there still be a king?

Japanese occupation, British colonization...

I do not recognize these times!

It's your story, not mine.

Your story is written in the books.

Mine is written on the walls!

Naivety is good.

But do you understand?

Even though your
ancestors really

owned this land, a lot
has happened since.

You can't change reality, and

neither can you change history.

Your story is the law of the
jungle, the legend of the victors.

It is full of wars
and conspiracies.

If the British had
not occupied my land,

history would not
have been rewritten.

I will always be the King of Kowloon.

And you, you would be my subjects.

So be the king in your own world.

But in our world,
you are just a bum.

Stop living in your fantasies.

Besides, even without the British,

how could you govern such
a large and populous territory?

You might as well let the Hong
Kong government take care of it.

What a tissue of absurdity!

So if I'm unhappy with the Hong

Kong government, I
just have to fire them

and lock them up in Stanley Prison?

Yes of course !
You are the King of Kowloon, right?

Look, there's a wall over there.

I'll drop you off.

And you'll write an Imperial
Order on the wall, saying

you disapprove of the
government, and want to fire them.

What do you say about that?

♪ forgot to bring my brush.
The next time.

I'm joking.

Do you really think that
if you were the king you

would have needed to write
it on every street corner?

♪ wrote all over the
streets to tell people

That I am the King of Kowloon.

For years you have been
writing all over Kowloon,

Hong Kong Island
and the New Territories.

But look, there's nothing left today.

No more trace of your calligraphy.

What is the meaning of all this?

You hurt me, you know?

You all live in...

In a huge illusion.

You don't see the
past or the future.

You pass through this
world like shadows, pitifully

snatching a few moments
of insipid existence.

And you ?

You wrote everywhere
declaring your sovereignty.

But in my opinion,

you are just a patient who tries
to convince himself that he exists.

In addition, you come to call us

ghosts, while it is
you who are dead.

If you weren't a ghost

would you pay so much
attention to a sick person like me?

In the end, it's all
because I am the king.

And you undead need a king

to satisfy your vision of history.

That's all for today.

I'm tired, I'm going home.

No need to pay.

Uncle Tsang, I'm
telling you in all honesty,

it's an honor to have
driven you today.

♪ finished my day.

I am going in the same direction as you.

- Where are you going ?
- Anywhere.

Sorry ?

It is all I have.
Take me anywhere.

When the money is out,
drop me off somewhere.

Why are there so many sick people in this world?

We cross the harbor, okay?

It doesn't matter. As long
as I don't get home, I'm fine.

"Welcome aboard the KW 130 taxi.
Please fasten your seat belt."

French subtitles: Association Allers-Returns
QIN Yun, NIU Xiaowa, Alexis Gaubert