Ann Hui’s Ah Kam, starring Michelle Yeoh and Sammo Hung, and the accident Yeoh suffered on set that left director fearing she had broken her neck

Ann Hui’s 1996 film Ah Kam, starring Michelle Yeoh as a stuntwoman and Sammo Hung as her boss, was overshadowed by a serious on-set injury Yeoh suffered

Looked at now, its mix of realistic drama about martial arts filmmaking, melodrama, and triad action – resisted at the time – doesn’t seem out of the ordinary

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Michelle Yeoh (right) in a still from “Ah Kam”. The film, directed by Ann Hui and starring Michelle Yeoh as a stuntwoman and Sammo Hung as her boss, was seen as somewhat experimental for its mix of realistic drama, melodrama and triad action.

Richard James Havis

Published: 4:15am, 19 Nov 2023Updated: 7:50am, 27 Nov 2023

Back in 1996 when Ah Kam came out, it was regarded as an anomaly by audiences.

The way it mixed realistic drama, melodrama and triad action was unusual, and the film was overshadowed by a serious accident that occurred, somewhat ironically, while its star Michelle Yeoh was performing what was considered to be a straightforward stunt.

But Ah Kam, which was directed by Ann Hui On-wah, has weathered well, and 27 years later its experimental touches do not seem out of the ordinary.

What is more, Hui’s accurate “behind the scenes” look at the making of the costumed martial arts films which dominated Hong Kong cinema in the early 1990s remains fascinating.

"The Stunt Woman" aka "Ah Kam" (1996) in HD **EXCLUSIVE**

“Hui has never tied herself to a certain style or specific genres – she moves nimbly between personal drama, horror, thrillers and more,” Tim Youngs, editor of the book The Television Works of Ann Hui, tells the Post.

“Ah Kam exemplifies not just how she jumps between totally different screen stories, but also how they can come together in a single picture.”