From the Queen to the Chief Executive
2001 · 102 MIN · IMDB 6.8 · 120 VOTES · DIR. Herman Yau
Overview
In 1985, Cheung Yau-ming was one of five miscreants involved in the brutal murder of a white couple. As he was still a juvenile, the court ordered that he be "detained at Her Majesty's pleasure," a clause in British law allowing the government to imprison young offenders for an indefinite period. The film picks up in 1997, with Yau-ming (now 28) being paid a visit by a girl named Cheung Yue-ling. With only six months to go before the Handover, Yau-ming and 22 other prisoners hope to have their sentences determined soon, fearing what might happen should the decision about what to do with them become the province of incoming Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Dialogue Timeline — 1,280 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:44 I, Tung Chee Wah, do solemnly swearto serve as the
00:05:21 Yet you don't like school
00:09:38 The anger in me... is like a lioness woken from sleep
00:14:54 Leave all metal stuff here
00:20:26 Yourtoothpaste, Ming!
00:23:28 if they are detained indefinitely
00:27:16 Hold her down!
00:31:20 Bring them in
00:34:06 So my Women's Association meeting is not important?
00:37:19 Certainly! That is what most concerns them
00:41:32 The Governor only has about 4 months left here
00:45:19 Get out, Siu-chung! I want to ask you something
00:50:05 Grab her hands! What are you doing?
00:54:53 to enable their sentences to be determined as soon as possible.
00:58:18 Why are you beating this boy?
01:02:50 Please forgive me!
01:06:55 The rest of the cases are to be handed over to the SAR government
01:09:49 If we now equate detained at Her Majesty's pleasure with discretionary sentence for life
01:12:37 What kind of logic is this?
01:17:27 We're going to have a hunger strike
01:23:19 That is the biggest hope in his life
01:29:05 The CE, Tung Chee Wah, already agreed to his recommendation
01:34:05 Let me out!
400:00:00 the harbourto see