As Tears Go By

Set in 1980s Hong Kong, a pivotal era of rapid urban growth and vibrant street culture. The underworld operates within a crowded, high-stakes city where loyalties are tested by debt and violence. Personal relationships are strained by violence and the pursuit of status within criminal networks. The backdrop emphasizes a collision between glamorous city life and brutal, everyday crime.

Mong Kok is a dense, neon-lit urban district in Kowloon known for its crowded streets, markets, and a rough underworld pace. The story unfolds among alleyways and late-night debt collections, placing Wah at the center of a tense, street-level economy. Lantau Island appears as a quieter, more rural counterpoint where Ngor works at her family restaurant and yearns for a calmer life. The contrast between the two places highlights the tension between city violence and island innocence.

🤝 Loyalty

Loyalty drives many key decisions, binding Wah to Fly even as Fly’s recklessness endangers them both. Ngor’s arrival tests the limits of Wah’s loyalties, forcing him to choose between family, friends, and love. The story continually returns to what characters owe one another, and whether loyalty can survive the brutal demands of the underworld.

🔥 Ambition

Fly’s hunger for recognition pushes him toward dangerous gambles and a life beyond legitimate work. Tony manipulates ambition to tighten his grip on power, turning debts into leverage. Wah’s dual impulse to protect his friend and stabilize his own life shows how ambition can spiral into violence.

💔 Love and Loss

Romantic and familial relationships anchor the emotional core of the story. Wah’s romance with Mabel deteriorates as violence intrudes, and Ngor’s quiet care offers a humane counterpoint to the chaos. The eventual separations and memory of Ngor’s kiss underscore how love persists even as life collapses around the characters.

⚖️ Fate and Violence

The film traces a inexorable cycle of violence and retribution that characters struggle to escape. Choices in debt, loyalty, and retaliation set off a chain of events culminating in a fatal confrontation with law and mob. The ending reinforces that fate in this world often arrives through a hail of bullets and hard decisions.