The 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival runs from May 01 – May 11 at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), CGV Cinemas located in Koreatown, the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at NCPD in Little Tokyo, and the historic Art Theatre of Long Beach.
This week the festival continues as 8Asians is the proud Community Co-Presenter of various screenings this year, including Firestorm:
How far is an upstanding cop willing to go to make sure justice is realized? That is the very question the cop played by superstar Andy Lau is faced with in hit action thriller FIRESTORM. Written and directed by SHAOLIN scriptwriter Alan Yuen, the riveting story follows the cop’s desperate hunt for a gang of dangerous thieves and the struggles of an ex-convict (Gordon Lam) trying to resist the temptation of the crime world. The intense drama in the first two-thirds of the film culminates in an astonishing finale rarely seen in the history of Hong Kong cinema: an explosive shootout set in the busy streets of Hong Kong.
On the surface, Cao Nam (Hu Jun) appears to be an art dealer, but he’s really a notorious robber who has been successful at avoiding being charged by the police. The leader of a crew of seasoned criminals armed with high-powered weapons, Nam brazenly pulls off smooth and violent armored car heists in broad daylight in a crowded street. Whoever tries to get in these criminals’ way are shown no mercy putting the police force through public shame and humiliation. Meanwhile, Lui Ming-chit (Andy Lau), a hard-boiled senior police inspector, leads a team of upstanding police officers who have been hot on the trails of Nam and his tight crew. They are determined to put an end to the crime wave that has claimed the lives of innocent people. During their latest attempt to catch Cao in the act, Lui’s arrest is disrupted by Bong (Gordon Lam), an ex-convict who happens to be Lui’s former classmate. Despite the objections of his loving girlfriend (Yao Chen), Bong has returned to working for Lui’s crime unit upon his release from prison. Even though Lui is forced to let Cao Nam go once more, his informant (Philip Keung) has agreed to go undercover in Lui’s gang, despite the dangers involved. The consequences of these actions will drive Lui to the edge as his determination to catch Cao begins to overshadow his moral judgement.
Firestorm screens at LAAPFF 2014:
-Wednesday, May 07 9:15 PM CGV Cinemas 2
You can buy tickets using the following discount code: 8Asians
