{ "id": "ept6by78ht", "slug": "the-hand-2004-film", "title": "The Hand (手) (2004 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.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.short-films-individual", "label": "Individual short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.short-films-individual" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020: Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Hand (手) is Wong Kar-wai's 2004, 56-minute Hong Kong film about a tailor and a courtesan in 1960s Hong Kong, expanded from his segment of the Eros anthology with Soderbergh and Antonioni, starring Chang Chen and Gong Li.", "snippet": "The Hand (手) is Wong Kar-wai's 2004, 56-minute Hong Kong film about a tailor and a courtesan in 1960s Hong Kong, expanded from his segment of the Eros anthology with Soderbergh and Antonioni, starring Chang Chen and Gong Li.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.short-films-individual", "markdown": "# The Hand (手) (2004 film)\n\n**The Hand** (手) is a 2004 short feature by the Hong Kong director [Wong Kar-wai](https://www.edgepedia.org/wong-kar-wai), running 56 minutes, about a shy tailor's assistant in 1960s Hong Kong whose life is shaped by a single intimate encounter with a courtesan client[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/). It was first made as one of three segments of the anthology film *Eros*, alongside contributions from [Steven Soderbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-soderbergh) and [Michelangelo Antonioni](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelangelo-antonioni), and Wong later expanded his segment into a stand-alone feature of nearly an hour[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / year | Wong Kar-wai, 2004, Hong Kong[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) |\n| Runtime | 56 minutes (theatrically released extended version)[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004) |\n| Origin | One segment of the three-part anthology *Eros*, with Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni; expanded by Wong into a stand-alone feature[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/) |\n| Cast | Chang Chen as Zhang, a tailor's assistant; Gong Li as Miss Hua, a courtesan; Tien Feng as Master Jin[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004) |\n| Setting | Hong Kong in the 1960s[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography by Christopher Doyle; music by Peer Raben, Claude Letessier, and Tu Duu-chih[4](https://www.film.at/shou-0) |\n| Language | Dialogue mainly in Mandarin, unusual for a Wong Kar-wai film[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/) |\n| Reception | IMDb audience rating of 7.3/10[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and style\n\nZhang ([Chang Chen](https://www.edgepedia.org/chang-chen)) is a meek dressmaker's assistant plying his trade in 1960s Hong Kong. His first client is Miss Hua ([Gong Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/gong-li)), a celebrated and expensive courtesan; at their first meeting she seduces him so that he will truly remember her when designing her garments, and a rapport develops between the two over the years that follow[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004). Initially she enjoys a life of luxury, juggling several lovers, Mr. Zhao (Zhou Jianjun), a gigolo, and her nightclub job, but her fortunes later decline until she is left working as a prostitute out of a shabby hotel, with Zhang remaining in contact throughout[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/).\n\nThe film is built on touch rather than explicit sex, which is largely absent after the opening minutes. Its eroticism runs through fabric and craft: Miss Hua makes phallic dumplings that Zhang devours while sensually caressing her clothing, and in one scene Zhang's character \"makes love\" to a new piece of fabric with his arm[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/) • [5](https://eternalitytan.com/2022/08/06/hand-the-2004/). Visually, the film sets Miss Hua's opulent flat, in which Zhang is invariably dressed in a suit and tie, against his shabby place of business, where he and his fellow workers wear vests while on the job.[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/)\n\n## Origin in the Eros anthology\n\n*Eros* (2004) was conceived as a triptych of short films on eroticism by three directors: Wong Kar-wai, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/). The anthology was poorly received as a whole; reviewers picked apart the Soderbergh and Antonioni segments, and Wong's contribution was widely judged the strongest of the three[5](https://eternalitytan.com/2022/08/06/hand-the-2004/). Wong then expanded his short into a medium-length feature just shy of an hour, and the theatrical release represents this extended version rather than the anthology segment[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004).\n\nWong himself dated the idea to the SARS outbreak that interrupted his long-running production of *2046* in the spring of 2003. In an interview he recalled an emptied Hong Kong, taxis lined up with their lights on and restaurants vacant, and the repeated warning \"don't touch anything\": \"I thought: perhaps it is time to make a film about touch, about how it can cause contagion. That is the idea of *The Hand*: not a film about SARS, but about the eroticism of touch.\"\n\n## Place in Wong Kar-wai's work\n\nThe Hand shares its hazy 1960s Hong Kong setting, its beautiful clothes and make-up, and its texture of fabric with *In the Mood for Love* (2000) and *2046* (2004), and reviewers describe it as an aesthetic and thematic extension of those films, forming a loose trilogy concerned with unrequited love and the longing for intimate connection[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/) • [5](https://eternalitytan.com/2022/08/06/hand-the-2004/). Gong Li also appears in *2046* of the same year, and her Miss Hua has been compared to characters from that film, such as Lulu ([Carina Lau](https://www.edgepedia.org/carina-lau)) or an older, more emotionally hardened [Bai Ling](https://www.edgepedia.org/bai-ling) ([Zhang Ziyi](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-ziyi))[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) • [2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/).\n\nWithin Wong's filmography the piece is more linear than most of his films, and it is a rare one in which the dialogue is mainly in Mandarin[2](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/). Critics have treated it as a minor but genuine contribution to his collection: the reviewer Eternality Tan called it \"easily the finest\" of the *Eros* trio and graded it B+, noting that it works as a counterpoint to the anthology's more salacious aims[5](https://eternalitytan.com/2022/08/06/hand-the-2004/).\n\n## Release and availability\n\nThe film is distributed by Janus Films and has been available for streaming on the Criterion Channel[1](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004). A restored 4K version, previously unreleased, circulated in Wong Kar-wai retrospectives, opening in French cinemas on 20 December 2023[6](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/hand).\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Hand, Metrograph](https://metrograph.com/film/9999004759-the-hand/)\n2. [The Hand [手] (2004), dianyingblog](https://dianyingblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/the-hand-%E6%89%8B-2004/)\n3. [The Hand streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hand-2004)\n4. [手, film.at](https://www.film.at/shou-0)\n5. [Hand, The (2004), Eternality Tan](https://eternalitytan.com/2022/08/06/hand-the-2004/)\n6. [The Hand, ADRC](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/hand)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Individual short films*\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-hand-2004-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-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 Hand (手) (2004 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Hand (手) (2004 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Hand (手) (2004 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hand-2004-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Hand is Wong Kar-wai's 2004, 56-minute Hong Kong film about a tailor and a courtesan in 1960s Hong Kong, expanded from his segment of the Eros anthology with Soderbergh and Antonioni, starring Chang Chen and Gong Li." }