00:00Urban Legends of Alien sightings in Hong Kong in the 80s serves as the inspiration for the drama Chao UFO.
00:06In 1985, a group of kids living in the Wafu estate, Wong Yu, Nam's Heem, Chewie, Tianyu's Keen,
00:12Charlene Choi's Hoi Yee, and her little brother, played by Ng-Soo Hin, believe they saw a UFO from a
00:18rooftop.
00:18But as the years pass, they drift apart against the backdrop of the massive changes in Hong Kong
00:23around the time of the handover in the 90s.
00:26Chao UFO has a bit of an unusual story off-screen as well.
00:30This premiered at film festivals back in 2019, but it sat on the shelf for six years
00:35because one of the investors wouldn't agree to a release strategy until the rights finally reverted back to the producers.
00:41But its weirdly belated release hot on a wave of nostalgia in Hong Kong and became a surprise hit
00:47and won Best Film, Supporting Actress, Director, and Screenplay at the local film awards.
00:52But despite the premise, this isn't really a sci-fi film,
00:55and the UFO is merely an extraordinary event that is a metaphor for childhood imagination and optimism
01:01and links them and their different fortunes in their individual plotlines.
01:06He in battle leukemia is a child, and he's the one that most believes in aliens,
01:10but his lack of thought for the future makes him rudderless.
01:13Kin becomes a computer and vacuum cleaner salesman who tries to elevate his standing
01:17by becoming a trader on Hong Kong's booming stock market.
01:20Hoi Yi finds herself forced into a workaholic life as an accountant that makes her unhappy.
01:25While the battle of events is very culturally specific, the emotions are quite universal,
01:31as is a lot of the 90s nostalgia from Tamagotchis to the Windows 95 boot-up screen and music,
01:37which is enough to make me feel very old indeed.
01:39Chao UFO is directed by Patrick Leung, best known to Western audiences for Beyond Hypothermia
01:44and The Twins Effect 2, and it also serves as a big reunion for the three leads,
01:49who all appear together in 2002's Summer Breeze of Love,
01:53although they don't all share a scene together until the film's final stretch.
01:57Multiple plotlines playing against almost two decades is a lot to juggle,
02:01and the film especially struggles early on,
02:03where it feels very disjointed and fragmented in a way that can make it hard to follow initially.
02:08But eventually the film finds a rhythm and coalesces into something very bittersweet
02:13thanks to a number of moving scenes,
02:15including a subplot with Kin reconnecting with old friend Yan,
02:18a performance that Michelle White deservedly won an award for.
02:22The movie piles on the melodrama with death, infidelity, cancer,
02:26stock market booms and crashes, and a climactic wedding
02:29that can feel like it's trying hard to get the audience emotional,
02:33but there is a warmth and humour to balance out the hardships.
02:36Despite its erratic tone and structure,
02:39I did find Chao UFO to be a poignant look at the gap
02:41between what we aspire for our lives to be and the lives that we receive.
02:46It's quite a sad movie, but a hopeful one as well,
02:49so long as we remain true to ourselves.
02:52We're creating some bureaucracy that there are sombols.
02:52See you soon.
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