# The Diary of a Big Man (大丈夫日记)
**The Diary of a Big Man** (大丈夫日記) is a 1988 Hong Kong romantic comedy film directed by Chor Yuen (楚原), produced by [Tsui Hark](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsui-hark) (徐克), and starring [Chow Yun-fat](https://www.edgepedia.org/chow-yun-fat) (周潤發) as a stockbroker who secretly marries two women, played by [Joey Wong](https://www.edgepedia.org/joey-wong) (王祖賢) and Sally Yeh (葉蒨文)[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html). It was released in Hong Kong on 21 July 1988[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/) and earned HK$19,419,539 at the Hong Kong box office, ranking 12th for the year[3](https://kungfutube.info/23626).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 大丈夫日記 (Cantonese: *Daai jeung foo yat gei*)[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/) |
| Director / producer | Chor Yuen; produced by Tsui Hark[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html) |
| Release | 21 July 1988, Hong Kong[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/) |
| Production | Cinema City (新藝城) and Film Workshop; Cantonese, color[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16) |
| Cast | Chow Yun-fat, Joey Wong, Sally Yeh, Waise Lee, Carrie Ng[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html) |
| Box office | HK$19,419,539, 12th place in Hong Kong for 1988[3](https://kungfutube.info/23626) |
| Theme song | "大丈夫日記" by James Wong, sung by Chow Yun-fat; nominated for Best Original Film Song at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards (1989)[5](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98%5B1988%E5%B9%B4%E6%A5%9A%E5%8E%9F%E5%9F%B7%E5%B0%8E%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%5D) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Chow Ting-fat (周定發), played by Chow Yun-fat, works at a financial firm in Central and falls in love with two women at once: Joey (祖兒, Joey Wong), a boutique owner, and Sally (莎莉, Sally Yeh), an air stewardess[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/) • [6](https://mail.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/oeuvre/diaryofabigman/). Unable to choose between them, he marries both, one in the United States and one in France, and keeps the two wives in separate homes in Hong Kong[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html). Apple TV's synopsis instead places the two weddings in Paris and England[4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16).
At first he only needs to schedule his time so the two women never meet. The situation deteriorates as the chances of the two women encountering each other rise, and eventually they meet at the same occasion. Chow relies on his best friend Chi-hung (志雄, Waise Lee) to help him hide the truth and escape one crisis after another[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html). In one celebrated sequence, Joey invites Sally and Chow to a birthday dinner; Chow has arranged for his friend to help him act his way out, but the friend fails to appear, and Chow must improvise[7](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fbkr50094935/). The two women eventually uncover the truth and leave him; the film ends with the penniless Chow meeting them again at a restaurant he once frequented[4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16).
## Production and cast
The film was written by Ng Man-fai (吳文輝) and Philip Cheng Chung-Tai (鄭忠泰), photographed by Lee Sun-yip (李新業), and edited by David Wu (胡大為), who also appears in the cast[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html) • [6](https://mail.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/oeuvre/diaryofabigman/). It was produced by [Cinema City](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinema-city) (新藝城) with Tsui Hark's Film Workshop, and the copyright notice names Golden Princess Film Production[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16).
The supporting cast includes Kent Cheng (鄭則仕) as a police inspector, Carrie Ng (吳家麗), Elaine Jin (金燕玲), Shing Fui-On (成奎安), and Tai Bo[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/) • [3](https://kungfutube.info/23626). James Wong (黃霑) composed the music, and the title theme song, sung by Chow Yun-fat himself, was nominated for Best Original Film Song at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1989[5](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98%5B1988%E5%B9%B4%E6%A5%9A%E5%8E%9F%E5%9F%B7%E5%B0%8E%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%5D). The Japanese release materials note that Chow sings and dances comedy numbers in the film[8](https://tower.jp/item/3047347).
## Chor Yuen and the 1964 original
The 1988 film is a remake in title and director only. Chor Yuen had directed a [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) film called *The Diary of a Husband* (大丈夫日記) in 1964, a "small husband and wife" comedy about a trading-company clerk whose wife suspects him of an affair, and a sequel, *大丈夫日記續集*, the same year[9](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2024/wch/pe-event-2024-wch-fs-film09.html). The Hong Kong Film Archive notes that he remade the story in 1988 with Tsui Hark's support, a sign of how deeply the title had entered popular memory[9](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2024/wch/pe-event-2024-wch-fs-film09.html).
The Archive's program notes draw a sharp line between the two versions: the 1988 film abandons the domestic comedy of the 1964 original for what it calls a male fantasy of keeping two wives, and it uses Chow Yun-fat's star persona of the period to carry the farce[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html). A Film Archive newsletter places the film in the tradition of situation comedy built on social satire: the well-paid stockbroker juggling several romantic entanglements mocks the "shark's fin with rice" era of financial windfalls and the hollowness of the newly affluent middle class[10](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter-105_e.pdf).
## Reception
The film grossed HK$19,419,539 in Hong Kong, placing 12th for 1988[3](https://kungfutube.info/23626). Japanese sources describe it as Chow Yun-fat's first comedy, a slapstick about a man bigamously married to two women, and credit it with showing the breadth of his range[3](https://kungfutube.info/23626). A Taiwanese film database judges that the plot devices and comic situations show visible imitation of Western films, but that the picture is lively and well acted, making it a solid piece of entertainment[7](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fbkr50094935/). Chinese-language retrospective commentary reads the film as a satire of the glib romantic mores of late-1980s Hong Kong and of the "big man" mentality of the boom years, with Chow playing an absurd, almost mo lei tau role[5](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98%5B1988%E5%B9%B4%E6%A5%9A%E5%8E%9F%E5%9F%B7%E5%B0%8E%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%5D).
Reported running times differ across databases: 86 minutes[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/), 89 minutes[11](https://filmarks.com/movies/17388), 90 minutes in the Hong Kong Film Archive's 2025 screening notes[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html), and 1 hour 29 minutes on Apple TV[4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16). The film has been released on remastered DVD and is available with Cantonese audio and Chinese and English subtitles[8](https://tower.jp/item/3047347) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16).
## References
1. [大丈夫日記（1988）, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2025/comedy-s/pe-event-2025-comedy-s-fs-film10.html)
2. [大丈夫日记 Daai jeung foo yat gei (1988), 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988757/)
3. [大丈夫日記（1988）, KUNGFU TUBE](https://kungfutube.info/23626)
4. [《大丈夫日記》, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98/umc.cmc.4jz5birsfyylr47f89j2c4a16)
5. [大丈夫日記[1988年楚原執導電影], 百科知識中文網](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%88%E5%A4%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98%5B1988%E5%B9%B4%E6%A5%9A%E5%8E%9F%E5%9F%B7%E5%B0%8E%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%5D)
6. [Diary of a big man, CinemaSiE](https://mail.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/oeuvre/diaryofabigman/)
7. [大丈夫日記 Big Husband's Diary, @movies 開眼電影網](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fbkr50094935/)
8. [大丈夫日記 デジタル・リマスター版, Tower Records Japan](https://tower.jp/item/3047347)
9. [大丈夫日記, Hong Kong Film Archive (2024 program)](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/tc/web/hkfa/2024/wch/pe-event-2024-wch-fs-film09.html)
10. [Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter Issue 105](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter-105_e.pdf)
11. [大丈夫日記, Filmarks](https://filmarks.com/movies/17388)
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*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 the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license