From the Queen to the Chief Executive (Deng Hou Dong Jian Hua Fa Luo)

(Hong Kong, 2001, 35mm, 106 min.)

Director: Herman Yau
Cast: Stephen Tang, Ai Jing, David Li, Sam Wong, Alson Wong
Awards: Chosen as one of the ten best Chinese movies of 2001 by the Hong Kong Film Critics' Association

In 1985 Hong Kong, Cheung Yau-ming was one of five Chinese teenagers convicted of murdering two white students. The court ordered that they be "detained at Her Majesty's pleasure," a clause in British law allowing the government to imprison juvenile offenders for an indefinite period. The film picks up in 1997 and with six months to go before the Handover, Yau-ming and 22 other prisoners have yet to receive a sentence. However, a group of activists have taken up Yau-ming's cause and together they fight to rouse an indifferent government to action. Based on true events, the film deals with an injustice that does not lend itself easily to public support, which is perhaps what makes its realistic portrayal of flawed characters all the more admirable, and deeply depicts a city in transition. Based on true events, the film deals with an injustice that does not lend itself easily to public support, which is perhaps what makes its realistic portrayal of flawed characters all the more admirable.

Director's Biography

Born as a native Chiuchow (Chiuchow is a county in Guangzhou, China) in 1961 in Hong Kong, Herman Yau (also known as Yau Lai-To) took Communications with major in the film stream in 1981-1984 at the Hong Kong Baptist College, now known as the Hong Kong Baptist University. After leaving school, he has spent most of his time in the production of motion pictures and occasionally works as an article writer for the newspapers and magazines. Other than making motion pictures, he has also produced music TV, TV commercials and promo footage for the Hong Kong Film Awards. Music TV artists include Chang Kuan, Jie Cheng-jiang, Anthony Wong, Jacky Cheung, Andy Hui and the renowned American jazz player Eric Marienthal. In the years of 1997 and 1998, Yau participated in the filming of TV series produced by Radio Television Hong Kong. He is also one of the founders of a cultural newspapers, Chinese Youth Weekly, and two movie magazines (Unfortunately these three periodicals have stopped releasing). Yau has also published two books of his own. In the past years, he has involved himself in the production of more than 50 movies and led directorship in The Untold Story, The Untold Story III, War of the Under World, Walk In, Ebola Syndrome and the thriller series of Troublesome Night etc. Yau was the very first artist invited by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University under the "Artist-in-Residence" in 1999.

Director's Note

"We always claim that we are civilized human beings living in a society under rule of law. But we still see prisoners being locked up endlessly simply due to the fact that the authority refused to grant a definite sentence to them. The "Detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure" which was supposed to be a lenient punishment turned out to be more of a damage. The spirit of this verdict is to grant mercy to juvenile criminals to allow them a chance to make up for what they have done in view of their yet developed thought of mind. Moreover, the court does not treat juvenile criminals as adult ones. The judge will inflict a more lenient punishment and will normally leave pronouncement of the sentence to non-judiciary individual or institute. The absurdity is that "Detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure" turned out to be an endless imprisonment that is a much more severe punishment than that imposed on adult criminals, making it a life time torture. The British withdrew its rule from Hong Kong leaving behind 17 prisoners who have been inflicted "Detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure" at the time of colonial rule after the signing of the Memoranda of Article by the British and Chinese governments. Upon the handover, our Chief Executive who only dares to work conservatively and always claims to have full confidence in Hong Kong does not seem to bother to take up the mess left behind under the British rules that we are living in."
- Herman Yau

"People tend to think that movies on politics or of too serious a topic would just drive audience away. Politics never suits my appetite but I do not feel right that Hong Kong filmmaker has to avoid politics. We all can have and voice out our political urge. Why can't we use movie as historical witness? I have to say that those who claim they have no interests in politics are often the ones who get the most out of it. I fully understand that fighting for justice for criminals would likely end up fruitless. However, a serious topic does not necessarily have to be fatal. The handicap of local filmmakers is that they are too conservative and tend to make decision for the audience without actually find out what the audiences are looking for. I respect everyone has freedom of speech. But I sincerely hope that the die-hard would make way for alternative movie so that the local film industry will accommodate more variety, prosper and bloom one day."
- Herman Yau