Patrick Tam, who stunned the audience in his television days, did not enjoy smooth sailing in film. But Love Massacre gave him the creative freedom of his former days and he indulged his formal experimentations with colour, in a way unprecedented in Hong Kong. However, the work is also compromised by weaknesses in characterisation and narrative discourse, with the portrayal of the male and female protagonists being particularly conservative.

Quite a few of Tam’s standout TV works demonstrate his bold experimentation of filmmaking techniques and relatively in-depth and progressive depiction of women’s mindsets and feminine lust, most notably, Seven Women. In the first episode, Cat (Liu Wing-seong), a sexually liberated high-schooler, has her two lovers wrapped around her little finger: librarian Andy (Wong Wan-choi) and photographer Benny (Chow Yun-fat) who engages in voyeuristic exploits at the beach. The film is certainly ahead of its time—women here are not only the subject, but they undermine the male gaze.

Patrick Tam (b. 1948, Hong Kong) started his career in television at TVB. The first feature film he directed was The Sword (1980), an innovative wuxia film that helped usher in the era of the Hong Kong New Wave. His knack for visual flair continued to flourish in Love Massacre (1981), Nomad (1982), and Final Victory (1987). He is also known for editing films such as Wong Kar-Wai’s Days of Being Wild (1990) and Ashes of Time (1994). He was awarded Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards for After This Our Exile (2006).