Film Review: Up for the Rising Sun 抱擁朝陽 (1997) - Hong Kong
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 6/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★
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In the grand tradition of Hong Kong melodramas that blend business intrigue with family soap opera, “Up for the Rising Sun” arrives like a sturdy cruise ship: reliable enough to get you across the harbor, but hardly built for waves of excitement. It’s the kind of mid-tier 1990s production that feels assembled from familiar parts—wealthy tycoon, sacrificial marriage, resentful offspring—and while it floats along pleasantly on the charms of its leads, it never quite achieves liftoff.
The story follows a capable young businesswoman (Anita Yuen) whose family enterprise is sinking after a devastating scandal. On a cruise from Shanghai to Hong Kong, she encounters a self-made billionaire (George Lam) who offers a life raft in the form of marriage. What begins as a pragmatic arrangement soon collides with the realities of blended family life, particularly the icy disapproval of the tycoon’s possessive daughter (Jessica Hsuan). It’s a classic setup: love versus duty, old money versus new beginnings, all set against the gleaming backdrop of pre-handover Hong Kong.
Yuen, always a luminous presence, brings warmth and quiet dignity to her role as the outsider trying to navigate treacherous emotional waters. She carries much of the film on her capable shoulders, making the heroine feel grounded even when the plot grows contrived. George Lam lends a certain gravitas as the older husband—charismatic yet somewhat remote—while Hsuan chews the scenery with entertaining ferocity as the jealous daughter. The supporting cast, including Pan Hong, fills in the domestic drama adequately, but the screenplay (adapted from a novel by Fung-Yee Leung) too often settles for declarative speeches over subtle character development.
Director Victor Tam Long-Cheung keeps things competent but rarely inspired. The pacing is deliberate—some might say glacial—which allows for moments of genuine tenderness but also invites impatience during the more repetitive family confrontations. There’s a comforting familiarity to it all, like flipping through a well-worn family photo album, yet one wishes for bolder visual flair or sharper dramatic turns. The film seems content to ride the gentle swells of emotion rather than risk a storm.
What “Up for the Rising Sun” does capture is a snapshot of a particular Hong Kong sensibility: the intersection of commerce and personal sacrifice, where marriages can be mergers and family bonds are tested by ambition. In that sense, it’s a modest success—earnest and undemanding, best appreciated by fans of Anita Yuen or those nostalgic for late-period Cantonese studio dramas. It won’t linger in the memory like the greats of the era, but it passes the time with a certain old-fashioned decency. (Neo, 2026)