Barefoot Kid, The (1993)



Producer: Mona Fong Yat-Wah
Director: Johnnie To Kei-Fung
Action Director: Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Ka-Leung)
Cast: Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing, Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk, Ti Lung, Wu Chien-Lien (Ng Sin-Lin), Cheung Siu-Fai, Kenneth Tsang Kong, Paul Chun Pui

A sort of remake of Disciples of Shaolin which itself was loosely based on the plot from Big Boss. Aeron Kwok plays an illiterate (and barefooted!) peasant boy who arrives in town and is drawn into a scheming merchant's evil plot to sabotage and buy out a rival, the owner of the Four Seasons Weavers, played by Maggie, who has a secret formula for dye, much superior to the merchant's own. At the same time Aeron develops a relationship with a local school teacher played by Wu Chien-Lien, better known for her role in Eat Drink Man Woman (but also wonderful in the excellent To Live and Die in Tsim Sha Tsui).

The Barefoot Kid remains one of my favourites, with outstanding performances from Aeron and Maggie, and some superb cinematography.

^{Fantasia review}