The Story of Woo Viet

Infobox Film
name = The Story of Woo Viet


caption =
director = Ann Hui
producer = Teddy Robin Kwan
writer = Alfred Cheung
starring = Chow Yun Fat, Cora Miao, Lieh Lo, Cherie Chung
music = Lin Minyi (林敏怡)
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1981
runtime = 92 min
country = flagicon|Hong Kong Hong Kong
language = Cantonese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Boat People"
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0082534

"The Story of Woo Viet" (Chinese Title: 胡越的故事 , "Woo yuet dik goo si") is a 1981 Hong Kong political drama made by director Ann Hui. Actor Chow Yun Fat played the title character, Woo Viet. The assistant director was Stanley Kwan and the action choreographer was Ching Siu-tung.

The movie was one of the first few political dramas made in Hong Kong. It used the story of Vietnamese refugees (boat people) to reflect on Hong Kong's handling of the refugee issue, and also on Hong Kong's sentiment regarding their uncertain future of sovereignty at the time. It is also the second part of Ann Hui's Vietnamese trilogy.

The movie features a famous Cantonese song, "This is Love", sung by Teddy Robin Kwan, the producer of this movie.

The story features Woo Viet, who wants to leave his country, Vietnam, behind and start over in the United States. But he first must make his way to Hong Kong. In a refugee detention camp there, he discovers many of his countrymen are disappearing under mysterious circumstances. As Woo tries to find out what is happening, he realizes his life is in danger, and has to leave for the United States immediately using a false passport instead of seeking asylum. In the process, he meets a beautiful woman, Cham Thanh, who then travels with him. When Woo and his new love stop over in the Philippines, they discover that the females are conned to stay there to become prostitutes. Instead of taking the plane to the United States, Woo Viet decides to stay in the Philippines to save his love. However, as he is stranded in Manila's Chinatown, Woo Viet is forced to work as a hired killer.

Woo Viet, as he is Vietnamese, should actually have the surname of Ho (as in the "Ho" in Ho Chi Minh) rather than the Chinese translation of the Wu / Woo / Ho surname.

External links

*imdb title | id = 0082534 | title = The Story of Woo Viet
* [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=463 HK cinemagic entry]