Film description

An elegant wife and mother, living in a comfortable house in the suburbs, unexpectedly finds out that someone is interested in her past. As it turns out, it is full of secrets one should not touch without a loaded gun in their hand. To save her family, she will have to use her old skills – and a lot can be expected from a character played by the mistress of Hong Kong action cinema, Kara Wai.

A dark, powerful, and poetic story from the author of "Rain Dogs" (6th Five Flavours) is an homage to the classic Hong Kong action cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, with its realistic fights, where the fascination with the body and the ethos of a solid training are more important than the spectacular ornaments. The skills are passed from generation to generation, as shown by the relationship between Ms K and her daughter. The fights are not the final goal though – Ho Yuhang’s film is mostly a artfully written, stylish story filled with irony and dark humor.

Kara Wai starred in over 140 titles, including the classic kung fu cinema, wuxia films and contemporary action film productions with meaningful titles such as "Clan of Amazons" (1978), "The Tigress of Shaolin" (1979), and "The Lady is the Boss" (1983). Her filmography is a complete overview of poetics and styles of Hong Kong genre cinema. While working on Mrs K, the actress (born in 1960) did not agree to the use of doubles and played in all the action scenes.

Her screen partners are the stars of Hong Kong cinema Simon Yam ("Election", "Sparrow", 7th Five Flavours) and Tony Liu ("A Man of Immortality"), a Taiwanese rock musician Wu Bai and Faizal Hussein from Malaysia ("Bunohan", 6th Five Flavours). Playing in the subversive episodes are directors Dain Said ("Bunohan"; "Interchange", 10th Five Flavours), Fruit Chan ("Made in Hong Kong"), and Kirk Wong ("The Big Hit"). 

Jagoda Murczyńska