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Quattro Hong Kong 2

Quattro Hong Kong 2 (香港四重奏 II) is a 2011 Hong Kong omnibus film of four short films set in contemporary Hong Kong, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand), Brillante Mendoza (the Philippines), Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), and Stanley Kwan (Hong Kong). It was commissioned by Brand Hong Kong and produced by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, and it world premiered as an opening film of the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 20, 2011.1 • 2

Key factDetail
FormatFour short films by four directors, set in contemporary Hong Kong3
DirectorsApichatpong Weerasethakul, Brillante Mendoza, Ho Yuhang, Stanley Kwan3
CommissioningCommissioned by Brand Hong Kong; produced by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society1
PremiereWorld premiere as opening film of the 35th HKIFF, March 20–April 5, 20112
SegmentsM Hotel, Purple, Open Verdict, 13 Minutes in the Lives of...4
LanguagesEnglish, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, with English subtitles5

Spoilers

The four segments

Purple is Brillante Mendoza's contribution. Named after the color of the bauhinia, Hong Kong's floral emblem, it is a social travelogue covering tranquil Tai O and the bustling Mong Kok Flower Market.4 The festival catalog describes it as an attempt to capture the strength of the human spirit through Hong Kong and its people, with the purplish twilight atmosphere chosen deliberately for the color of the city's emblem; it runs 16 minutes and was photographed by Mendoza himself.6

M Hotel is Apichatpong Weerasethakul's segment, a meta-textual work featuring a Thai filmmaker and his crew exploring Yau Ma Tei, in the contemplative style characteristic of the director, who had won at Cannes.4

Open Verdict is Ho Yuhang's comic contribution, about Hong Kong and Malaysian detectives collaborating on a drug bust after a tip-off from Malaysian counterparts about a courier bringing illegal goods to Hong Kong.4 • 6 Ho reunited with his At the End of Daybreak stars Wai Ying-hung and Chui Tien-you; the cast also included Michelle Wai, Carlos Chan, and Bront Palarae.4 • 7 The 21-minute short was shot in black and white, with screenplay by Ho, photography by Teoh Gay, and editing by Soo Mun Thye; it was a Hong Kong–Malaysia co-production involving October Pictures, Paperheart, and the HKIFF Society.6 • 8

13 Minutes in the Lives of... is Stanley Kwan's segment, shot in real time on a bus from the airport to Kowloon as passengers return from an exhibition of the animated version of Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival.4 Its cast included Lam Ka-tung, Terence Yin, and Hiro Hayama.7 The Hong Kong government's Film Promotion and Facilitation Section credits the short to Arena Productions.9

Production and premiere

The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) planned the project as its second omnibus, announced in January 2011.1 The finished films premiered at the 35th HKIFF, which ran March 20 to April 5, 2011, where Quattro Hong Kong 2 shared opening-night duties with Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's romantic comedy Don't Go Breaking My Heart; the opening ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.2 • 10 The festival's 35th edition screened 335 films from 56 countries.2

The South China Morning Post's review, published March 17, 2011, described the compilation as a regional affair in which three Southeast Asian filmmakers, plus Stanley Kwan Kam-pang, offer their view of Hong Kong as outsiders looking in.4 The HKIFF Society's own collection describes the Quattro HK series as short films with renowned Hong Kong and Southeast Asia filmmakers.11

Runtime and later screenings

Listed runtimes differ across sources: MUBI lists 56 minutes, Screen Daily's festival review 60 minutes, and the Asian American International Film Festival listing 65 minutes.3 • 7 • 5 The film later screened at the Asian American International Film Festival in New York on August 14, 2011, at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas.5 In Malaysia, a combined program pairing the Quattro Hong Kong films was released on March 15, 2012, with a running time of 1 hour 28 minutes covering six directors' shorts.12

Relation to Quattro Hong Kong 1

The first Quattro Hong Kong, produced in 2010, featured shorts from four Hong Kong directors: Clara Law, Fruit Chan, Herman Yau, and Heiward Mak, portraying ordinary people in their everyday lives.1 • 13 The second installment inverted the perspective by bringing in three filmmakers from Southeast Asia alongside Hong Kong's own Stanley Kwan, to present what the festival leaflet calls gleeful outsider views of the city.13

References

  1. Hong Kong film fest draws award-winning directors for Quattro, Screen Daily (Liz Shackleton, 14 January 2011)
  2. Hong Kong International Film Festival unveils line-up for 35th edition, Screen Daily (25 February 2011)
  3. Quattro Hong Kong 2 (2011), MUBI
  4. Quattro Hong Kong 2, South China Morning Post (Clarence Tsui, 17 March 2011)
  5. Quattro Hong Kong 2, USC U.S.-China Institute event listing
  6. Asiatica Film Mediale catalog (2011), Reggio Emilia
  7. Screen Filmart Day 1 2011, review by Mark Adams
  8. Open Verdict (Quattro Hong Kong 2), Berlinale Talents project profile
  9. Film Promotion and Facilitation Section – Production Credits, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, HKSAR
  10. 35th HKIFF opens, Cinema Online (21 March 2011)
  11. HKIFF Collection – Titles, Hong Kong International Film Festival Society
  12. Quattro Hong Kong 2 (HKFF), Cinema Online Malaysia
  13. HKIFF Film leaflet, The "Beautiful" and "Quattro" Series

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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