Simon Yam plays a thief in the new Johnny To film, "Sparrow." [Photo:jinghua.cn]
"Sparrow," a gangster thriller by Hong Kong director Johnny To, will premiere on the Chinese mainland on August 22.

The movie, starring Kelly Lin and Simon Yam, finished to enormous applause at a screening in Hong Kong in June, and has been entered in the 58th Berlin International Film Festival.

The movie tells the story of a gang of four thieves who try to steal a key for a beautiful, mysterious woman. Sparrow is the code word for "thief" within their gangster circle.

Johnny To spent four years working on the film, the Beijing Times reports.

Johnny To is famous for his works portraying the dark side of society, but says he wanted to add a little romance to "Sparrow."

To that end, the filmmaker invited dancers from the Hong Kong Ballet to create dances that add a romantic element to the movie.

"I wanted to express something both exciting and subtle in 'Sparrow,'" Johnny To explains.







[article from cenglish]