How Hong Kong triad film Young and Dangerous changed the life of indie rap artist Nile Bun of The Low Mays
- Andrew Lau’s Young and Dangerous, starring Ekin Cheng, follows a group of young triad members, and for rapper Nile Bun, it exemplifies MK (Mong Kok) culture
- He saw it when he was 15, 10 years after it was made, but feels the attitudes and even dress codes were still around
Young and Dangerous (1996), directed by Andrew Lau Wai-keung and starring Ekin Cheng Yee-kin at the head of an ensemble cast, is the first film in a franchise that, for its detailed and largely sympathetic depictions of the lives and struggles of a tightly knit group of young gangsters, has become woven into the fabric of Hong Kong culture.
Nile Bun, a member of Hong Kong independent hip hop group The Low Mays, who semi-ironically celebrate brash, flashy, trend-driven so-called MK (Mong Kok) culture, explains how it changed his life.
I saw it when I was 15, but I’d already heard about it a lot. I guess this movie has just been the centrepiece of MK culture in Hong Kong. I think I finally understood why certain things were glorified, and why people around me often acted the way they did.
The main character is such an inspirational figure to, for want of a better word, trashy young kids. I think it’s a good inspiration – he’s a gangster but he’s sensitive, he’s good looking and he looks out for his brothers.
I’ve always felt there’s this weird disconnect: all the things they aspired to in the film were about loyalty and friendship – it’s very wholesome – but the set-up is so trashy. It’s about coming out of the dirt, but you’re not polluted by it.
The film really embodies MK culture: the locations, the way the city looks, the characters’ attitudes, the way people talk to each other. You’re not sure if people try to talk that way because of this movie or vice versa.
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It was shot over 10 years before I watched it, but I felt like the attitudes to dress and the way people talked were still around.
There are not a lot of movies in Hong Kong that embrace the whole MK thing the way this one did. It was very trashy but very real, it put MK culture centre stage and it presented it in a positive light. I feel it was very relatable: whether or not you identify as MK, it’s a fact that you live here and you probably know someone’s who’s MK.
My favourite scene is where (Cheng’s character) Chan Ho-nam gets kicked out of the gang, and his friend gives him a Rolex and tells him to go to Taiwan, and says, “If you need anything, just pawn the Rolex.” That is like Peak MK.
For The Low Mays, our approach to the culture is a little different – we’re so deeply ironic that people can’t tell if we’re really being ironic or not. You can take it either way.
We all went to a good school, and the first time we came into contact with MK culture at high school was a real culture shock. Hanging out with those people and finding out why they have certain cultural norms – we were inspired based on that to make music. We thought, ‘Why don’t we make an MK rap group?’
