The System, Peter Yung’s debut feature, intricately portrays the relationship between drug dealers, the police, and informants. Inspector Chan (Pai Ying) persuades drug lord Hung’s assistant, Tam (Sek Kin), to cooperate and gather evidence against Hung. The operation, however, does not go smoothly and is sabotaged, further complicating the situation. The film’s solid and detailed depiction of investigations and drug trafficking, combined with documentary techniques such as handheld cinematography, captures a wealth of scenes on location, allowing it to stand out among the many works of Hong Kong’s first wave of New Wave cinema. The System is filled with memorable scenes, particularly the police’s undercover operations in street-level surveillance and Inspector Chan’s solitary journey up the mountain to spend the night and observe birds at dawn.

Restored in 4K in 2025 by M+ at L’Immagine Ritrovata and One Cool Production using the original 35mm picture and sound negatives preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The System is one of the films under ‘M+ Restored’, an initiative supported by CHANEL.

The screening on 13 April will be followed by a talk with director Peter Yung, actors Pai Ying and Chiao Chiao, moderated by Li Cheuk-to, M+ Curator-at-large of Hong Kong Film and Media. This talk will be held in Cantonese and Mandarin.

The screening on 19 April will be followed by a talk with director Peter Yung, moderated by Francisco Lo, M+ Assistant Curator of Moving Image. This talk will be held in Cantonese.

Peter Yung (Hong Kong, born 1949) was already a renowned photographer when he came to specialise in making documentaries on the drug trade in the 1970s. Yung is unique among his generation of Hong Kong filmmakers as a pioneer and an independent director who often produced his own films. The System is a unique example of merging tragic pathos and investigative journalism with a raw shooting style. His other works as a director include Life After Life (1981) and The Rickshaw Boy (1982) as well as Warlords of the Golden Triangles (1987), the continuation of his exploration of drug-related themes.