Hey, thanks for dropping in! Are you ready for some bonus content? That’s right, throughout the month of November you’ll see some bonus reviews from me. I am honored to have been granted online accreditation for this year’s San Diego Asian Film Festival. First up, a Hong Kong classic that underwent a 2025 4K restoration courtesy of M+… The System (1979).
Title: The System
Director: Peter Yung
Released: December 12, 1979 (Hong Kong)
Runtime: 1 hour 23 minutes
Inspector Chan (Pai Ying) works in the Narcotics division where he relies heavily on the use of informants. His latest target is a kingpin by the name of Hung, all he needs is an in. This is where Hung’s legal advisor, Tam (Sek Kin), comes into play.
One thing about Chan though, he isn’t the biggest fan of using informants. As far as he’s concerned, the system is a vicious cycle. You use a criminal to get an inside track to a bigger criminal, lather, rinse, and repeat. There’s no incentive for the lower-level criminals to leave the lifestyle if they know they’re needed to catch the bigger fish.
Despite how he feels, Chan moves forward with leveraging Tam in order to get to Hung.
With Tam’s insider knowledge of Hung’s operations, Chan can begin to concoct a plan to bring Hung down.
However, when push comes to shove, can Chan truly rely on someone who gives legal advice to the very person he’s trying to take down?
When you think of a crime thriller, you might have visions of action-packed sequences come to mind. While there is some action here, it by no means is the focal point. In fact, it isn’t until the scene on the ship that we really get a full-blown “action sequence”, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Instead, the primary focus of The System (1979) is everything that happens between the action. The research into gaining leverage on your informant, the planning of an operation, and even tailing a suspect all take turns as the focal point of the story. You’re never spoon-fed anything, rather you’re left constantly trying to figure things out alongside Chan. What Peter Yung lacked in action, he more than made up for in layered storytelling.
In addition to the story, I really liked how The System (1979) looked. The use of handheld cameras really immerse you in things as they’re unfolding. The shots of the streets of Hong Kong, both during the day and lit up with neon at night, are a thing of beauty as well.
As a cherry on top, the final scenes more than reward your patience. It is an ending that singlehandedly raised my score a half-star.
I can honestly say that I was not aware of The System (1979) prior to my viewing. Now I hope I get a chance to rewatch it in the future.
If you’ve seen The System (1979), leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and tell me what you thought of it!
Are you attending the San Diego Asian Film Festival? If so, let me know about your experience.
What are hoping to get to see before the end of the week? What was your favorite screening?
And finally, if you’d like to follow along with everything else that I’ve been watching lately, you can follow me over on Letterboxd.