The last message

This and Ban jin ba liang both made by Hui brothers really brought in new approach to Hong Kong cinema. Hong Kong was fortunate in that it had fertile ground for movie making because of early efforts by the Shaw Brothers, and later the Golden Harvest. Golden Harvest's contribution in modernizing Hong Kong cinema can't be overlooked, but as independents, Hui brothers did almost as much in changing the direction of Hong Kong cinema.

Interesting plot combined with comedy, set in modern Hong Kong that didn't involve love romance was a fresh new approach for Hong Kong cinema of its day. If we look at the proliferation of this type of movies in the '80s in Hong Kong, it's clear that Hui brothers were way ahead of the game.

Sam Hui also wrote the music for this movie. His talent is indisputable, as is his contribution to the Hong Kong's pop culture.

This is one of the seminal movie of its kind, and is recommended for viewing by all Asian movie fans.

This movie is one of the earlier films from the Hui Brothers, where they play two workers inside a mental institution who are constantly looking for ways to slack off or search for a quick way to find fast money. When Chiang Wo (Roy Chiao) is admitted into the hospital, the brothers, Tim (Michael Hui) and Lee (Sam Hui) eye his small white, which they think contains fragments of fine China from the Ming Dynasty. This leads to some comedic acts in from the brothers to get their hands on the fragments and leads to an interesting plot of where they could find such fortune.

The Hui Brothers brought new approach to comedy in Hong Kong back in the day and it's a type of comedy that is sorely missing in today's films that Hong Kong dishes out. While this film is more of the solemn ones from the Hui Brothers and does not contain as much comedy or humor as other entries, it's still a classic film worth watching.

Grade B

The Last Message (1975) was the second of the Hui Brothers films and like the first one it was highly successful. This time around the brothers play two workers inside a mental institution who are constantly looking for ways to slack off, cut corners or ways to make a quick buck or two. Michael stars as a lazy orderly whilst Samuel co-stars as a medical assistant. One day a big burly man with crude mannerism (Roy Chiao) is admitted into the hospital. He's always clutching a small white canvas bag to his chest. Inside it are pieces of rubbish but a couple of fragments of fine China dating back to the Ming Dynasty are amongst the trash. This peaks the interest of Michael who's always swiping gold crowns, caps and bridges from dead patients. So one day he convinces Sam to help him find out where Roy got the vase fragments. Who knows they could find a fortune. Will Sam and Michael make it big from antiques? Check out The Last Message!

The second film from the highly successful Hui Brothers. Ricky has a small part as a roller skating waiter, Dean Shek cameos as a hotel desk clerk and James Tien has a bit part as a traffic cop. The movie is highly entertaining and loads of fun. If you liked the first film then you'll get more than a few chucks from this one.

Highly recommended!