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One of the preeminent works of the Hong Kong New Wave, Boat People is a shattering look at the circumstances that drove hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to flee their homeland in the wake of the Vietnam War, told through images of haunting, unforgettable power. Three years after the Communist takeover, a Japanese photojournalist (George Lam) travels to Vietnam to document the country’s seemingly triumphant rebirth. When he befriends a teenage girl (Season Ma) and her destitute family, however, he begins to discover what the government doesn’t want him to see: the brutal, often shocking reality of life in a country where political repression and poverty have forced many to resort to desperate measures in order to survive. Transcending polemic, renowned director Ann Hui takes a deeply humanistic approach to a harrowing and urgent subject with searing contemporary resonance. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Ann Hui, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New conversation between Hui and filmmaker Stanley Kwan, who was the movie’s assistant director Keep Rolling, a 2020 documentary about Hui made by Man Lim-chung, Hui’s longtime production designer and art director As Time Goes By, a 1997 documentary and self-portrait by Hui, produced by Peggy Chiao Press conference from the 1983 Cannes International Film Festival Trailer New English subtitle translation PLUS: Essays by film critic Justin Chang and scholar Vinh Nguyen

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Product Description Arbelos Films presents LIFE IS CHEAP … BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE - New digital restoration of Director Wayne Wang's definitive cut of this much-loved independent film. Exploding a seemingly simple premise - a nameless "cowboy" courier (Spencer Nakasako) arrives in pre-Handover Hong Kong to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a mercurial Mob boss whilst becoming entangled with his femme fatale mistress (Cora Miao) - independent filmmaking legend Wayne Wang's LIFE IS CHEAP … BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE barrels through inspired genre deconstruction, guerrilla docu-fiction and fierce political jeremiad, all with a keen sense of humor and deeply rich visual palette. Tracking the Man-with-no-name's increasingly byzantine mission across every level of the city's social strata, we're introduced to fortune families, cabdrivers, hustlers, butchers and more, each punctuating the high-octane Neo-noir narrative with instantly memorable monologues that capture a now-distant era in Hong Kong history. Multifaceted but never incoherent LIFE IS CHEAP … BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE is among Wang's most unique and bracing contributions to the independent film cannon. Much-loved on the international film festival circuit but unjustly overlooked in North America, this is a maverick tour de force ripe for rediscovery. Specs: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1. DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono. Region code: A. Special Features: New 4K restoration of Wayne Wang's final cut by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts in collaboration with University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. New video interview with Wayne Wang. New video interview with Wayne Wang and co-writer/co-director Spencer Nakasako. Original chase sequence. U.S. Theatrical Trailer. New essay by Aliza Ma. Review Director Wayne Wang's versatility has never failed to impress. --Matt Zoller Seitz, Rogerebert.com (I)ncredibly unique ― and a reminder of how gloriously unhinged late 20th-century independent cinema could be. --Lee Jutton, Film Inquiry Wayne Wang's Hong Kong Noir Dazzles In New Director's Cut & Restoration. --Kyle Turner, Playlist Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Life is Cheap But Toilet Paper is Expensive