Spinning off from Fruit Chan’s previous film Little Cheung (1999), Durian Durian depicts post-1997 Hong Kong through Fan (Mak Wai-fan), an overstayed immigrant, and Xiao Yan (Qin Hailu), a prostitute who comes from the Chinese Mainland. Both are transients in this city: Fan lives in hiding and washes dishes in a back alley, while Xiao Yan tries to make the most of her three-month stay by earning as much money as possible.

The first half of the film depicts the ecosystem of prostitutes and pimps on Portland Street in Yau Ma Tei. The footage is shot using a handheld camera that closely follows non-professional actors as they move through cramped spaces—an unmistakable semi-documentary style that is a signature of Chan. The second half makes a dramatic stylistic turn towards predominantly static long takes of Northeast China. The bitterly cold landscape appears desolate in wide shots as Xiao Yan returns to her old haunts with a completely different mindset, confronting a bleak future. Qin Hailu made a stunning debut on the silver screen, sweeping five acting awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The restoration was made using the 35mm original picture negatives and the soundtrack from the 35mm print. It was undertaken at L’Immagine Ritrovata, with colour correction completed at One Cool Production under the guidance of Fruit Chan and Lam Wah-chuen.

Durian Durian is one of the films under M+ Restored, an initiative supported by CHANEL.

The screening on 15 November will be followed by a talk with the director of Durian Durian, Fruit Chan. This talk will be held in Cantonese.

Fruit Chan (b. 1959, Hainan) is an independent director, screenwriter, and producer. Depicting the everyday lives of the working class, his films are known to have low production budgets and feature non-professional actors. Chan began working in film in the 1980s. His claim to fame, Made in Hong Kong (1997), is part of his 1997 Trilogy, which also includes The Longest Summer (1998) and Little Cheung (1999). He later made another trilogy spotlighting Hong Kong’s sex workers with Durian Durian, Hollywood Hong Kong (2001), and Three Husbands (2018). Genre filmmaking is also part of his practice, as seen in the horror titled Dumplings (2004) and the post-apocalyptic black comedy The Midnight After (2014).