Friend of the Gutter Colin Geddes shares his 5 favorite Ringo Lam films.

“Lam originally started out with hopes of being an actor, but ended up studying filmmaking at Toronto’s York University. When he returned to Hong Kong he was steered into directing comedies that were trendy at the time, a genre he later admitted not being comfortable with. His first film, the romantic ghost story Esprit D’amour (1983), was found to be not comic enough and two other directors were brought in to lighten the tone.

It was when Lam got the chance in 1987’s City on Fire to work with Chow Yun-fat in the heyday of the iconic performer’s career (keep in mind that the actor made over 50 films during that decade!) that the director’s true path was set.”