Cageman
1992 Hong Kong film by Jacob Cheung
Cageman (Chinese: 籠民) is a 1992 Hong Kong satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jacob Cheung. It won four awards at the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards held in 1993, including Best Film.
01Plot
The movie explores the lives of tenants of the Wah Ha cage-house, who try to resist to stay in their cage-homes after the landlord announces he will take the building back and demolish it.
02Cast
- Roy Chiao, Koo Yiu-Cho aka Fatso, the person in charge of the cage-house who collects rents and pays them to the landlord
- Liu Kai-chi, Prince Sam, Koo Yiu-Cho's adult son who has intellectual disability
- Wong Ka Kui, Mao, Lam Tsung's adopted son who joins to live with the tenants and has a criminal past
- Michael Lee Ming-Yeung, 7-11, a 99-year-old tenant who sells goods to other tenants
- Victor Wong, Sissy, a tenant who is close friends with 7-11 and assists him
- Teddy Robin, Tong Sam aka Monkey Man, a short tenant who owns a pet monkey named Tucker
- Lau Shun, Taoist, a philosophical tenant who always carries a bottle of wine with him
- Joe Junior, Charlie, a former tenant who often visits the cage-house and brings food for other tenants
- Ku Feng, Luk Tung, a tenant who works as a handyman
- Tats Lau, Brother Sang
- Chow Chung, Councillor Chow
- Dennis Chan, Councillor Tsui
- Bowie Wu, Officer Lam Tsung, Mao's adoptive father
- Teddy Chan, Possession order messenger
- Sze Kai-Keung, TV interviewer
- Herman Yau, TV director
- Tang Cheung, Dai Lap Hing
03Production
In an interview for EasternKicks, Cheung said that the idea to make a film about Hong Kong's housing issues came from a newspaper reporter, who had hoped that the director would help draw the general public's attention to this matter.
04Awards and nominations
| Awards and nominations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
| 12th Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | Cageman | Won |
| Best Director | Jacob Cheung | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Yank Wong, Ng Chong Chau and Jacob Cheung | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Liu Kai-chi | Won | |
| Best Art Direction | Yank Wong and Chin Yiu-Hang | Nominated | |
05Post-release
In March 2026, M+ announced that they had restored Cageman under their film preservation program, M+ Restored. The restored film had its international premiere at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival in April 2026, as well as the Far East Film Festival that same month. Distributor Kani Releasing also announced plans to distribute the film in North America.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Cageman”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Cageman 1992 film poster.jpg by Filmagica Productions Limited, Fair use
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