Jade Screen friend and 2007 interviewee Herman Yau looked like the next big thing from Hong Kong back in the early to mid 90’s: a hard-working director and cinematographer who turned out movies like a madman, ranging from exploitation triumphs like EBOLA SYNDROME to political agitprop like FROM THE QUEEN TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE. These days he has a much lower profile, but he’s kept steadily working on whatever the market will bear: romances, comedies, kid films, writing books, shooting commercials, producing and making the occasional gruesome Hong Kong gut-cruncher like GONG TAU for old time’s sake.

Yau has a couple of new movies coming up, the first of which is TRUE WOMEN FOR SALE starring Anthony Wong and Race Wong but back to his Cat. 3 roots he also has REBELLION, which is a crime thriller starring Shawn Yue, Chapman To, Ada Choi, Jun Kung (TIME AND TIDE), Austin Wai (THE BLADE) and Paul Wong (a member of pop group Beyond).

REBELLION will be the first Category III movie for all of these actors and is most likely rated Cat. III for triad language or for violence, since it’s unlikely that a star as big as Shawn Yue is having to resort to making sex films this early in his career.

Oddly enough, it seems as though the curse is coming off Cat III movies, starting a few years ago when flicks like SHA PO LANG and ELECTION 1 and 2 were rated Cat III but went on to have high media profiles and do well at the box office. Who knows how many more short years it’ll be before the Cat III rating just doesn’t matter anymore. Oh, the depravity…