{ "id": "epmqr0cr51", "slug": "island-of-greed", "title": "Island of Greed (黑金)", "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.1990s-films", "label": "1990s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1990s-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1990s-films.crime-dramas-and-gangster-films", "label": "Crime dramas and gangster films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1990s-films.crime-dramas-and-gangster-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": "Island of Greed (黑金, also The Island of Greed) is a 1997 Hong Kong political thriller by Michael and Johnny Mak, starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Andy Lau, about Taiwanese black-gold politics; distinct from the 2026 iQIYI TV series of the same name.", "snippet": "Island of Greed (黑金, also The Island of Greed) is a 1997 Hong Kong political thriller by Michael and Johnny Mak, starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Andy Lau, about Taiwanese black-gold politics; distinct from the 2026 iQIYI TV series of the same name.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1990s-films.crime-dramas-and-gangster-films", "markdown": "# Island of Greed (黑金)\n\n**Island of Greed** (黑金; English title also rendered *The Island of Greed*) is a 1997 Hong Kong political thriller directed by Michael Mak (麦当杰) and produced and written by his brother Johnny Mak (麦当雄), starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai and [Andy Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-lau). It dramatizes Taiwan's \"black gold politics\" (黑金政治) of the mid-1990s, in which organized crime infiltrated elected office, through the story of a triad boss who runs for the [Legislative Yuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/legislative-yuan) and the government investigator pursuing him.[1](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275904148_Chinesenesses_Outside_Mainland_China_Macao_and_Taiwan_through_Post-1997_Hong_Kong_Cinema) In Taiwan the film was released under the title *情义之西西里岛* (roughly \"A Matter of Loyalty: Sicily\"), after it nearly faced a ban there.[2](https://www.hk01.com/%E8%97%9D%E6%96%87%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/329133/%E5%BF%AB%E8%A9%95-%E5%B9%BB%E8%A1%93-%E6%8C%91%E6%88%B0%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E7%A6%81%E5%BF%8C-%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%96%B0%E5%98%97%E8%A9%A6-%E4%B8%8A)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 23 December 1997, Hong Kong; 125–126 minutes[3](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/50685.shtml) |\n| Lead cast | Tony Leung Ka-Fai as Chao Chiu-Sen (周朝先); Andy Lau as Capt. Fong Kuo-Fai (方国辉)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/island_of_greed) |\n| Languages | Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, and English[5](https://www.seedhub.cc/movies/1536/) |\n| Awards | Seven nominations at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards (1998), including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Action Design[6](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/island_of_greed.htm) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nFong Kuo-Fai (Andy Lau), a capable and incorruptible team leader in the investigation bureau's mobile unit, surveils the video-game arcades run by triad boss Chao Chiu-Sen (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) and obtains evidence that Chao operates an underground casino, which he takes to court. A judge bribed by Chao acquits him and he is released in open court. Minister Hau (Lee Li-Chun), implicated with the black money, pressures the bureau behind the scenes, and Fong is ordered to take extended leave while the investigation of Chao is halted.[7](https://tv.apple.com/tw/movie/%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91/umc.cmc.4ha99zge2ejaj4cpyqwv7o51e) • [3](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/50685.shtml)\n\nTo extend his control over Taiwan's politics, Chao announces at a press conference that he will leave his party and run for the Legislative Yuan as an independent, opposing another gang boss, Ting Chung-Shu, who is running as the party's candidate. Encouraged by the television reporter Ling Fei (Annie Wu) and Minister Feng of the Ministry of Justice (Winston Chao), Fong returns to work, but Ting marks him for assassination, intending to kill Fong and frame Chao for it, eliminating two enemies at once.[3](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/50685.shtml) • [5](https://www.seedhub.cc/movies/1536/)\n\n## Background and subject matter\n\nThe film was made around 1996, when Taiwan's ruling party was beset by \"black gold politics\" and declining public standing, amid a tense political atmosphere that included a presidential election and mainland Chinese military exercises in the [Taiwan Strait](https://www.edgepedia.org/taiwan-strait).[8](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91%E3%80%8B) The story is set against the 1995 legislative election campaign, in which a gang leader attempts to buy his way into the assembly; a legislative seat would make his criminal empire effectively untouchable by law.[9](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/island-of-greed-1997) • [1](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275904148_Chinesenesses_Outside_Mainland_China_Macao_and_Taiwan_through_Post-1997_Hong_Kong_Cinema)\n\n**Topical material.** The film addresses election bribery, religious fund-raising scams, gambling arcades, bid-rigging on construction contracts, official-business collusion, and gang mediation, and it folds in several notorious 1990s Taiwan cases, including adaptations of the Cheng Tai-chi case, the Chou Jen-shen case, the Sung Chi-li case, the Miao Tien case, and the Taipei taxi riots. Its most famous line of dialogue spells out the arithmetic of construction kickbacks: from a one-billion project, take five hundred million first, then re-tender the work through successive rounds and add three to five hundred million more to the budget, taking at least seven hundred million in total.[2](https://www.hk01.com/%E8%97%9D%E6%96%87%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/329133/%E5%BF%AB%E8%A9%95-%E5%B9%BB%E8%A1%93-%E6%8C%91%E6%88%B0%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E7%A6%81%E5%BF%8C-%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%96%B0%E5%98%97%E8%A9%A6-%E4%B8%8A)\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nAt the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards (1998) the film received seven nominations: Best Actor (Tony Leung Ka-Fai), Best Actress (Pauline Suen), Best Screenplay (Johnny Mak), Best Action Design (Yuen Bun), Best Art Direction (Lee Ging-Man), Best Original Song (\"Goo Sing Lui,\" sung by Andy Lau), and Best Sound Effects.[6](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/island_of_greed.htm) Reviewers have generally singled out Leung's performance as the gangster-politician; the LoveHKFilm review calls him charming, dangerous, and sinister, and judges the film worth seeing for its subject matter while criticizing its convoluted plotting.[6](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/island_of_greed.htm) Audience scores have been mixed to moderate: Douban lists 7.7,[5](https://www.seedhub.cc/movies/1536/) [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) 6.5,[10](https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/island-of-greed) and the Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter stands at 36 percent from more than 100 ratings.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/island_of_greed) Some reviewers note that the story assumes detailed familiarity with Taiwanese politics, which limits its legibility for viewers elsewhere.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/island_of_greed)\n\n## Place in Hong Kong cinema\n\nThe Mak brothers were known for rough, fact-based Hong Kong crime films such as *The Long Arm of the Law* and *To Be Number One*; *Island of Greed* turned their cameras on crime and corruption in Taiwan.[9](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/island-of-greed-1997) A scholarly study by Yen-yuan Ni of three Hong Kong films on Taiwanese politics, published in *Mass Communication Research* No. 137 (2018), found that such films, in a genre where Taiwan-produced works were close to nil, represented Taiwan's political imagery one-sidedly through black-gold collusion, power struggles, backroom deals, manipulation, and assassination, cast Hong Kong stars as Taiwanese politicians with local actors in supporting roles, and consistently entered the subject through gang narratives.[11](https://mcr.nccu.edu.tw/web/backissues/backissues_in.jsp?pp_no=1683) The film's commercial failure in Taiwan has been cited in retrospective accounts of the Hong Kong industry's mid-1990s decline, after which producer Johnny Mak left filmmaking for the property business.[12](https://www.harian-indonesia.com/assets/file/2025/04/20250425.pdf)\n\n## Other works of the same name\n\nA different work shares the title: *黑金* is also a 2026 mainland Chinese suspense television series directed by Zhou Nanshun, starring Zheng Jiabin, He Dujuan, Song Xi, and Qin Fen, adapted from Wang Wencheng's novel of the same name. Its 26 episodes began streaming on iQIYI on 24 March 2026, and the story follows a laid-off miner in a village caught up in corruption around a gold mine during the 1990s restructuring wave.[13](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91/63244053?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [14](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_1w9dtear4x1.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. [\"Chinesenesses\" Outside Mainland China: Macao and Taiwan through Post-1997 Hong Kong Cinema](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275904148_Chinesenesses_Outside_Mainland_China_Macao_and_Taiwan_through_Post-1997_Hong_Kong_Cinema)\n2. [快評．幻術：挑戰政治禁忌 台灣電影新嘗試（上）, HK01](https://www.hk01.com/%E8%97%9D%E6%96%87%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/329133/%E5%BF%AB%E8%A9%95-%E5%B9%BB%E8%A1%93-%E6%8C%91%E6%88%B0%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E7%A6%81%E5%BF%8C-%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%96%B0%E5%98%97%E8%A9%A6-%E4%B8%8A)\n3. [黑金 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/50685.shtml)\n4. [Island of Greed, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/island_of_greed)\n5. [黑金, SeedHub](https://www.seedhub.cc/movies/1536/)\n6. [Island of Greed (黑金) (1997), LoveHKFilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/island_of_greed.htm)\n7. [《黑金》, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/tw/movie/%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91/umc.cmc.4ha99zge2ejaj4cpyqwv7o51e)\n8. [《黑金》影片介紹, 百科知識中文網](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91%E3%80%8B)\n9. [Review: Island of Greed (1997), Heroic Cinema](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/island-of-greed-1997)\n10. [Island of Greed – watch streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/island-of-greed)\n11. [倪炎元：認同、黑道敘事與臺灣政客形象：港產電影的「臺灣政治」再現, 新聞學研究 No. 137 (2018)](https://mcr.nccu.edu.tw/web/backissues/backissues_in.jsp?pp_no=1683)\n12. [報新聞看香港電影黃金年代, Harian Indonesia (2025)](https://www.harian-indonesia.com/assets/file/2025/04/20250425.pdf)\n13. [黑金（2026年周男燊执导的悬疑剧）, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E9%BB%91%E9%87%91/63244053?fromModule=lemma_inlink)\n14. [《黑金》电视剧完整版, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_1w9dtear4x1.html)\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) › 1990s films › Crime dramas and gangster films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 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/island-of-greed", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed.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": "\"Island of Greed (黑金)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Island of Greed (黑金)](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Island of Greed (黑金)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/island-of-greed. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Island of Greed is a 1997 Hong Kong political thriller by Michael and Johnny Mak, starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Andy Lau, about Taiwanese black-gold politics; distinct from the 2026 iQIYI TV series of the same name." }