Just Like Weather

Best Director, 1987 Hong Kong Film Awards
Official Selection, 2026 New York Film Festival

2026 RESTORATION BY M+, THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF CHANEL

In the 1980s, a young couple from Hong Kong—Christine Lee and Chan Hung-Nin—set out for the US, their beacon of hope for a better life. Yet the pressures of everyday life and the political climate gradually fuel a growing doubt: did they make the right decision?

A pioneer of the Hong Kong New Wave, filmmaker Allen Fong was inspired by the everyday marital stories of the real-life Lee and Chan, and had them play themselves in this blend of fiction and documentary. His use of nonprofessional actors complements other creative techniques: a mixture of staged and documentary footage, references to his filmmaking process, and a nonlinear ordering of events. The interplay of reality and fiction gives the film a distinctive patina, bringing texture to its central theme: the US is not quite the promised land many imagined. As the couple navigate the distance between their hopes and harsh realities, Fong maintains a nonjudgmental stance toward their choices and compromises, their dream of marriage and their “American Dream,” which happens to be the Chinese translation of the film’s title.

– Wentao Ma