{ "id": "eprvvyq37f", "slug": "the-banquet-1991-film", "title": "The Banquet (豪门夜宴) (1991 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": 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"geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000: Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "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.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Banquet (豪门夜宴) is a 1991 Hong Kong all-star charity comedy directed by Tsui Hark, Clifton Ko, and others, made in eight days to raise flood relief funds.", "snippet": "The Banquet (豪门夜宴) is a 1991 Hong Kong all-star charity comedy directed by Tsui Hark, Clifton Ko, and others, made in eight days to raise flood relief funds.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994.slapstick-black-and-family-comedies.alpha-symbols-to-j", "markdown": "# The Banquet (豪门夜宴) (1991 film)\n\n**The Banquet** (豪门夜宴) is a 1991 Hong Kong all-star charity comedy directed by [Tsui Hark](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsui-hark), Clifton Ko, Joe Cheung Tung-Cho, and Alfred Cheung, made in a matter of days to raise relief funds for the Eastern China Flood of 1991.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) It is a remake of the 1959 [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) classic *Feast of a Rich Family*, which the South China Film Industry Workers Union had produced to support itself, and it gathers cameos from a large share of the Hong Kong film industry of its era.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Chinese title | 豪门夜宴 (The Banquet) |\n| Directors | Tsui Hark, Clifton Ko Chi-sum, Cheung Tung-joe, Alfred Cheung[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) |\n| Purpose | Fundraising for relief after the Eastern China Flood of 1991[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) |\n| Source | Remake of *Feast of a Rich Family* (1959), the union's own fundraising film[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) |\n| Participants | 191 Hong Kong artists appeared in the film[2](https://www.distributionworkshop.com/portal_b1_page.php?button_num=b1&cnt_id=49) |\n| Production | Shot in 8 days on a budget of HK$1,000,000[3](https://kungfutube.info/6776) |\n| Hong Kong release | 30 November 1991; box office HK$21,921,687, 15th of the year[3](https://kungfutube.info/6776) |\n| Running time | 96 minutes (Hong Kong Film Archive listing); 97 minutes per other databases[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) • [3](https://kungfutube.info/6776) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nThe film follows wealthy developer Tsang ([Eric Tsang](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-tsang)) and his wife (Dodo Cheng) as they try to convince a Kuwaiti prince (George Lam) that they provide a luxurious life for Tsang's father (Richard Ng), in order to secure a lucrative reconstruction contract; in reality the father lives modestly in public housing with his daughter ([Rosamund Kwan](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosamund-kwan)) and her husband ([Tony Leung Ka-fai](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-leung-ka-fai)).[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) In the fuller synopsis, Tsang and his rival developer Hung (Sammo Hung) have each tricked their way into two of four old buildings both want for a hotel, and the prince, newly bereaved and filial, is to be impressed by Tsang posing as a filial son at a banquet for a father he has not seen for ten years; Hung then poaches the banquet's guests to wreck the event and force cooperation.[2](https://www.distributionworkshop.com/portal_b1_page.php?button_num=b1&cnt_id=49) The banquet collapses, but Tsang wins the contract and recovers his family's affection.[2](https://www.distributionworkshop.com/portal_b1_page.php?button_num=b1&cnt_id=49)\n\nThe Hong Kong Film Archive notes that the new version keeps the old film's basic premise, an absurd story satirizing the corruption of the rich, and that the film parodies iconic Hong Kong films such as *All for the Winner* (1990) and the *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World* series (1987–1989).[7](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html) • [1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n\n## Production and purpose\n\nThe film was conceived, shot, and released within a very short period in 1991 as a charity project of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, following a large fundraising show held for flood victims on the mainland.[4](https://shifiles.hk/posts/10404/%E7%82%BA%E8%B3%91%E6%BF%9F1991%E5%B9%B4%E8%8F%AF%E6%9D%B1%E6%B0%B4%E7%81%BD%E8%80%8C%E6%8B%8D%E5%98%85%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E3%80%80%E8%B1%AA%E9%96%80%E5%A4%9C%E5%AE%B4) The production company is credited as 演艺界忘我大电影, the \"selfless grand film\" of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, with Ng See-Yuen and John Sham as producers.[3](https://kungfutube.info/6776) • [5](https://www.thestandard.com.hk/insights/article/67828/Has-Hong-Kong-got-the-right-script-for-the-business-community) KungfuTube records a shooting period of only 8 days and a budget of HK$1,000,000.[3](https://kungfutube.info/6776)\n\nThe scale of participation is the film's defining feature. Distribution Workshop counts 191 Hong Kong artists in the film, led by Eric Tsang, Dodo Cheng, Richard Ng, Stephen Chow, Jacky Cheung, and Tony Leung.[2](https://www.distributionworkshop.com/portal_b1_page.php?button_num=b1&cnt_id=49) The cast list includes, among many others, [Sammo Hung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammo-hung), Rosamund Kwan, Tony Leung Ka-fai, George Lam, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, Gong Li, Michael Hui, Lydia Shum, and [Carina Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/carina-lau).[6](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/banquet.htm) The Hong Kong Film Archive describes the 1991 version as a collective effort of the whole film industry, in contrast to the 1959 original, which was performed only by members of the South China Film Industry Workers Union.[7](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n\n## The 1959 original\n\nThe predecessor, *Feast of a Rich Family* (豪门夜宴, 1959), was a black-and-white Cantonese satire co-directed by Lee Sun-fung, Li Tie, Wu Hui, and Lo Chi-hung, scripted by the union's screenwriters' research group, and starring Ng Cho-fan, Cheung Ying, Lo Tun, Cheung Wood-yau, and Mui Yee.[8](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2021-ths-fs-film24.html) The union, founded in 1949 to improve working conditions and film quality, made the film with volunteer Cantonese-cinema talent ten years after its founding to raise money for a union building; its plot has the nouveau riche Fung Shui-yan (Ng Cho-fan) hosting a feast in his father's name to show off his wife's diamond ring.[8](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2021-ths-fs-film24.html) • [9](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/2012606.shtml) The union gave the film to the Hong Kong Film Archive for permanent preservation in 1999, and the archive completed a 4K digital restoration from the donated negative and sound materials in the 2020s.[8](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2021-ths-fs-film24.html) • [10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDc3EErzmQ4)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nDespite the cast, the film's Hong Kong box office of HK$21,921,687 ranked 15th for 1991, lower than the 1991 films of several of its individual stars.[3](https://kungfutube.info/6776) • [4](https://shifiles.hk/posts/10404/%E7%82%BA%E8%B3%91%E6%BF%9F1991%E5%B9%B4%E8%8F%AF%E6%9D%B1%E6%B0%B4%E7%81%BD%E8%80%8C%E6%8B%8D%E5%98%85%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E3%80%80%E8%B1%AA%E9%96%80%E5%A4%9C%E5%AE%B4) The scene in which Michael Hui and [Stephen Chow](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-chow), the two generations' leading comedians, contend over a chicken's head at the banquet table remains the moment most often recalled by viewers.[11](https://www.hk01.com/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E5%A8%9B%E6%A8%82/60227222/%E8%A8%B1%E5%86%A0%E6%96%87%E5%90%8C%E5%91%A8%E6%98%9F%E9%A6%B3%E5%8F%B2%E8%A9%A9%E5%BC%8F-%E4%BA%A4%E6%89%8B-%E8%A6%AA%E8%A7%A3-%E8%B1%AA%E9%96%80%E5%A4%9C%E5%AE%B4-%E7%88%AD%E9%9B%9E%E9%A0%AD%E8%83%8C%E5%BE%8C%E5%8E%9F%E5%9B%A0) Commentators have treated the film as the benchmark for all-star Hong Kong charity cinema; a 2021 review of a later all-star charity film noted that no later ensemble could generate the same buzz as *The Banquet*, which drew on nearly the whole golden-age film industry of the 1980s and 1990s.[12](https://www.cinespot.com/hkmreviews/%E7%B8%BD%E6%98%AF%E6%9C%89%E6%84%9B%E5%9C%A8%E9%9A%94%E9%9B%A2)\n\nA 4K digitally restored version of the 1991 film opened the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2025 on 4 April 2025 at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, preceded by live music arranged by Ng Cheuk-yin, and the restored 1959 original was screened the same evening.[13](https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202503/03/P2025030300220.htm) • [14](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter-105_c.pdf) The archive's program notes observe that watching the film in 2025 is a celebration of the industry's heyday, and that the appearances of the late [Leslie Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslie-cheung), Anita Mui, and Wong Ka-kui carry a bittersweet weight.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Banquet (1991) (Digitally Restored Version), Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n2. [The Banquet (Restored), Distribution Workshop](https://www.distributionworkshop.com/portal_b1_page.php?button_num=b1&cnt_id=49)\n3. [豪門夜宴／The Banquet（1991）, KUNGFU TUBE](https://kungfutube.info/6776)\n4. [為賑濟1991年華東水災而拍嘅電影　豪門夜宴, SHIFILES](https://shifiles.hk/posts/10404/%E7%82%BA%E8%B3%91%E6%BF%9F1991%E5%B9%B4%E8%8F%AF%E6%9D%B1%E6%B0%B4%E7%81%BD%E8%80%8C%E6%8B%8D%E5%98%85%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E3%80%80%E8%B1%AA%E9%96%80%E5%A4%9C%E5%AE%B4)\n5. [Has Hong Kong got the right script for the business community?, The Standard](https://www.thestandard.com.hk/insights/article/67828/Has-Hong-Kong-got-the-right-script-for-the-business-community)\n6. [The Banquet (豪門夜宴) (1991), LoveHKFilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/banquet.htm)\n7. [豪門夜宴（1991）（數碼修復版）, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film01.html)\n8. [豪門夜宴, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/pe-event-2021-ths-fs-film24.html)\n9. [豪门夜宴 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/2012606.shtml)\n10. [HKFA – Restoration Story of 'Feast of A Rich Family' (1959), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDc3EErzmQ4)\n11. [許冠文同周星馳史詩式「交手」　親解《豪門夜宴》爭雞頭背後原因, HK01](https://www.hk01.com/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E5%A8%9B%E6%A8%82/60227222/%E8%A8%B1%E5%86%A0%E6%96%87%E5%90%8C%E5%91%A8%E6%98%9F%E9%A6%B3%E5%8F%B2%E8%A9%A9%E5%BC%8F-%E4%BA%A4%E6%89%8B-%E8%A6%AA%E8%A7%A3-%E8%B1%AA%E9%96%80%E5%A4%9C%E5%AE%B4-%E7%88%AD%E9%9B%9E%E9%A0%AD%E8%83%8C%E5%BE%8C%E5%8E%9F%E5%9B%A0)\n12. [《總是有愛在隔離》: 港產片今時不同往日, Cinespot](https://www.cinespot.com/hkmreviews/%E7%B8%BD%E6%98%AF%E6%9C%89%E6%84%9B%E5%9C%A8%E9%9A%94%E9%9B%A2)\n13. [Film Archive's \"Laughter Double Bill\" to showcase film classics, Hong Kong Government News](https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202503/03/P2025030300220.htm)\n14. [Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter Issue 105](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter-105_c.pdf)\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 › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1990 to 1994 › Titles symbols to J*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: 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/the-banquet-1991-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-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": "\"The Banquet (豪门夜宴) (1991 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Banquet (豪门夜宴) (1991 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Banquet (豪门夜宴) (1991 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-banquet-1991-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Banquet is a 1991 Hong Kong all-star charity comedy directed by Tsui Hark, Clifton Ko, and others, made in eight days to raise flood relief funds." }