Dragon Boys
credits:
Director: Jerry CiccorittiProducers: Michael Chechik, Howard Dancyger, Andrew Ooi, Ian Weir
Writer: Ian Weir
Cast: Byron Mann, Lawrence Chou, Tzi Ma, Steph Song & Eric Tsang
US Premiere
Canada 2006 | 180 mins | DigiBeta | English, Cantonese w/E.S.
IN PERSON: Jerry Ciccoritti, Byron Mann, Tzi Ma, Steph Song, Simon Wong
A gritty, high-octane tale of crime, survival and revenge, DRAGON BOYS breaks new ground in its densely layered portrait of Vancouver’s Asian Canadian community. Originally made as a three-hour mini-series for Canadian television, the film features an all-star cast of U.S., Canadian and Hong Kong talent including Tzi Ma, Eric Tsang and Byron Mann, among many others.
Tommy Jiang is a Chinese Canadian cop whose sole purpose is to take down the triad that runs Vancouver’s Chinatown. In doing so, he must confront both the police force’s distrust of the Chinese and his own community’s rejection of him as a “banana boy.” But when the gang goes after his family and reputation, it ceases to be about justice, and becomes personal. Smooth-talking, fast-rising gangster Moviestar deals with Tommy, and makes a power-play within the family. But the situation worsens when his tracksuit-wearing underlings start murdering the wrong people, and involve an innocent father and son. Just arrived from Cambodia, Chavy is forced to work in a triad-owned massage parlor; unable to speak anything other than Khmer, she must fight for her own survival while trying to hold on to the innocence she’s rapidly losing.
With action, dark humor and an intricate, multi-character plot, DRAGON BOYS recalls the best of recent American series like THE SOPRANOS and THE WIRE, while providing an impressive showcase for Asian talent rarely seen on screens this side of the border.
—Vina Ha
