{ "id": "ep86d34wgq", "slug": "as-tears-go-by-1988-film", "title": "As Tears Go By (旺角卡门) (1988 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films", "label": "1980s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "As Tears Go By (旺角卡門, Mongkok Carmen) is Wong Kar-wai's 1988 directorial debut, a Hong Kong triad romance starring Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, and Alex Man, shot by Andrew Lau, with two Hong Kong Film Awards.", "snippet": "As Tears Go By (旺角卡門, Mongkok Carmen) is Wong Kar-wai's 1988 directorial debut, a Hong Kong triad romance starring Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, and Alex Man, shot by Andrew Lau, with two Hong Kong Film Awards.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1980s-films", "markdown": "# As Tears Go By (旺角卡门) (1988 film)\n\n**As Tears Go By** (旺角卡門; also released as *Mongkok Carmen* and, in Taiwan, *熱血男兒*) is a 1988 Hong Kong crime-romance film directed and written by [Wong Kar-wai](https://www.edgepedia.org/wong-kar-wai) (王家衛) in his feature directorial debut, starring [Andy Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-lau), Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, and Alex Man. It was produced by In-Gear Film Production Co. Ltd. (影之傑) and released in Hong Kong on 9 June 1988.[1](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2097629) • [2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8/27681) • [3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / writer | Wong Kar-wai, his first feature as director[1](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2097629) |\n| Release | 9 June 1988, Hong Kong; Cantonese, color, 35mm[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8/27681) |\n| Cast | Andy Lau (Wah), Maggie Cheung (Ngor), Jacky Cheung (Fly), Alex Man (Tony)[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography Andrew Lau; art direction William Chang; editing Peter Chiang; music Danny Chung (鍾定一)[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) |\n| Runtime | 102 minutes per BFI and 1905.com; other listings give 96 or 98 minutes[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) • [4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html) |\n| Awards | 8th Hong Kong Film Awards (1989): Best Supporting Actor (Jacky Cheung) and Best Art Direction (William Chang); nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Cinematography, and Score[5](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/as_tears_go_by.htm) |\n| Box office | HK$11,532,300 (figure reported as of September 2025)[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8/27681) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nWah (Andy Lau) is a triad in Kowloon who is respected but disillusioned, and he keeps having to rescue his impulsive \"little brother\" Fly ([Jacky Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacky-cheung)), a wannabe gangster whose every attempt to prove himself brings more trouble.[6](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/as-tears-go-by-film-review-by-gary-duncan) Early in the film Wah learns that his longtime girlfriend had an abortion without telling him.[5](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/as_tears_go_by.htm) His cousin Ngor ([Maggie Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-cheung)) comes from Lantau Island to Hong Kong for medical treatment and stays with him, and the two grow close; Wah, weary of the gang life, sees in her a way out, but he cannot make a clean break.[6](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/as-tears-go-by-film-review-by-gary-duncan)\n\nFly's quarrels with the powerful triad Tony (Alex Man) escalate, and Fly finally accepts a contract killing to make his name. Wah refuses to let him go alone; after Fly's death he carries out the task himself and is shot dead by police at the scene.[7](https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/online/0503079.pdf) The film's most quoted line, spoken by Fly, is \"寧願做一日英雄，不做一世烏蠅\" (\"I would rather be a hero for one day than a fly for a lifetime\").[4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html)\n\n## Production and origins\n\nWong had been a screenwriter at In-Gear, the production company run by Alan Tang (鄧光榮). In a 2004 interview he recalled that Tang simply asked whether he wanted to direct, and he said yes; 1988 was the peak of the Hong Kong film boom that followed [John Woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-woo)'s *A Better Tomorrow* (1986), when money poured in from Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia for gangster pictures.[8](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2004-10-08/1017525143.html?from=wap) [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) essay by John Powers, film critic for *LA Weekly* and NPR's *Fresh Air*, describes the film as a gangster picture intended to capitalize on that boom, with a plot reminiscent of Martin Scorsese's *Mean Streets* (1973).[9](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7330-world-of-wong-kar-wai-like-the-most-beautiful-times)\n\nThe title has a separate origin. According to a study of 1980s Hong Kong cinema, Wong initially planned a film resembling [Georges Bizet](https://www.edgepedia.org/georges-bizet)'s opera *Carmen*, about a policeman in Mongkok and a mysterious woman, and announced it under the name *旺角卡门* (\"Mongkok Carmen\") before the project changed direction.[10](https://ocu-omu.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2006463/files/09133151-35-55.pdf) Wong and the director Patrick Tam had earlier developed story ideas about small-time gangsters, and Wong drew the second of these concepts for his debut.[8](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2004-10-08/1017525143.html?from=wap)\n\nCinematographer Andrew Lau, then 28, had just come off *City on Fire* (龍虎風雲, 1987). The Hong Kong Film Archive notes his handheld camera work, the warm red of the hotpot-restaurant revenge scene against the cold blue of the back alleys, and the step-printing (printing technique creating stuttering slow-motion effects) technique that gives the violence a smeared, life-or-death texture.[4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html)\n\n## Style and music\n\nThe film is Wong's most conventional in structure, told in linear narrative, but it contains early versions of techniques he would reuse: slow motion, step-printed action, and a music-video-style sequence set to Sandy Lam's Cantopop cover of \"Take My Breath Away,\" the [Giorgio Moroder](https://www.edgepedia.org/giorgio-moroder) and Berlin song from *Top Gun* (1986).[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) Andy Lau's power ballad 《痴心错付》 recurs at key moments in Wah's struggle to save Fly.[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) The famous kiss between Wah and Ngor at the Mui Wo ferry pier phone booth is shot with a handheld tracking camera and ends in overexposure.[4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html)\n\nThe film was classified Category III in Hong Kong, restricted to viewers aged 18 and over.[4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html)\n\n## Reception and place in Wong's career\n\nThe film was a commercial and critical success in Asia, grossing over HK$10 million, and it made Wong a bankable director; Powers writes that it showcased its actors well, drew from Lau his best work to date, gave Maggie Cheung her first successful dramatic screen role, and pushed Jacky Cheung to a ferocity compared with [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro)'s Johnny Boy in *Mean Streets*.[9](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7330-world-of-wong-kar-wai-like-the-most-beautiful-times) • [11](https://snapme.wordpress.com/2026/03/10/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%96%80-as-tears-go-by%EF%BD%9C%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E8%88%87%E5%A4%A7%E5%B6%BC%E5%B1%B1/) At the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1989, Cheung won Best Supporting Actor and William Chang won Best Art Direction, with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Lau), Best Actress (Cheung), Best Cinematography (Lau), and Best Original Score.[5](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/as_tears_go_by.htm) The film was selected for the Critics' Week section at Cannes[12](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/WONG-Kar-wai_c.pdf) and screened in the Forum section of the 41st [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival) in 1991.[13](https://xmwb.xinmin.cn/resfile/2012-12-20/A26/A26B1220.pdf)\n\nFor Maggie Cheung the film was a turning point. She later said that before Wong, acting for her meant reacting and crying on cue, but on this film she had to find an emotional depth point, and she decided to make film acting her career; she received her first Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Actress for the role.[14](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_10804794)\n\nThe film's standing has grown with time. It was restored in 4K from the 35mm original camera negative by the Criterion Collection with L'Immagine Ritrovata and One Cool for the 2021 *World of Wong Kar Wai* box set,[3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) and a 4K restoration was also theatrically released in Hong Kong.[11](https://snapme.wordpress.com/2026/03/10/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%96%80-as-tears-go-by%EF%BD%9C%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E8%88%87%E5%A4%A7%E5%B6%BC%E5%B1%B1/) On Douban it held a rating of 7.8/10 from 247,703 users as of 14 October 2025.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8/27681) Critics commonly read it as the seed of Wong's later style: the Hong Kong Film Archive calls it the work of a screenwriter-turned-director already in full command of genre, while the BFI notes that beneath the conventional triad surface are glimpses of the signature style to come.[4](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html) • [3](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/) Wong himself said he would not call it different from his other films, only that it was what he could make at that time.[8](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2004-10-08/1017525143.html?from=wap)\n\n## References\n\n1. [想当年｜《旺角卡门》：玉容寂寞泪阑干, The Paper (澎湃新闻), 10 June 2018](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2097629)\n2. [旺角卡门（1988年王家卫执导的剧情电影）, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8/27681)\n3. [As Tears Go By (Wong Gok ka moon), BFI Southbank programme notes, World of Wong Kar Wai, 2021](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/world%20of%20wong%20kar%20wai/2021/07/07/as-tears-go-by/)\n4. [旺角卡门, Hong Kong Film Archive programme note (Andrew Lau retrospective)](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/sc/web/hkfa/2026/andrew-lau-wai-keung/pe-event-2026-andrew-lau-wai-keung-fs-film04.html)\n5. [As Tears Go By (旺角卡門) (1988), LoveHKFilm.com review and awards notes](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/as_tears_go_by.htm)\n6. [As Tears Go By (1988), Eye For Film, review by Gary Duncan](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/as-tears-go-by-film-review-by-gary-duncan)\n7. [邱加輝：影像香港：王家衛的八部電影與六個香港, 《二十一世紀》網絡版, May 2007](https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/online/0503079.pdf)\n8. [王家卫：突破已不大可能 永恒不变会不会很闷? Sina Entertainment, 8 October 2004](https://ent.sina.com.cn/2004-10-08/1017525143.html?from=wap)\n9. [John Powers, World of Wong Kar Wai: Like the Most Beautiful Times, The Criterion Collection, 23 March 2021](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7330-world-of-wong-kar-wai-like-the-most-beautiful-times)\n10. [从谭家明到王家卫——80年代香港电影在新浪潮中的探索与传承](https://ocu-omu.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2006463/files/09133151-35-55.pdf)\n11. [旺角卡門 (As Tears Go By)｜旺角與大嶼山, SNAP ME 光影紀錄, 10 March 2026](https://snapme.wordpress.com/2026/03/10/%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E5%8D%A1%E9%96%80-as-tears-go-by%EF%BD%9C%E6%97%BA%E8%A7%92%E8%88%87%E5%A4%A7%E5%B6%BC%E5%B1%B1/)\n12. [香港影人小傳檢索：王家衛, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/WONG-Kar-wai_c.pdf)\n13. [新民晚报 A26, 20 December 2012](https://xmwb.xinmin.cn/resfile/2012-12-20/A26/A26B1220.pdf)\n14. [张曼玉，爷青结……, The Paper (澎湃号·湃客)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_10804794)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1980s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"As Tears Go By (旺角卡门) (1988 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[As Tears Go By (旺角卡门) (1988 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"As Tears Go By (旺角卡门) (1988 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/as-tears-go-by-1988-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "As Tears Go By is Wong Kar-wai's 1988 directorial debut, a Hong Kong triad romance starring Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, and Alex Man, shot by Andrew Lau, with two Hong Kong Film Awards." }