Street smart

A touring festival brings Hong Kong gangster films to six cities on the mainland, especially for those who have only watched them on VCR, Xu Fan reports.

From Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat to Tony Leung, many big stars have left their mark in gangster movies from Hong Kong, among the most influential genres in the city's cinematic history. But most mainland people born in the 1970s and 1980s watched the classics only on VCR, the forerunner of the CD.

Making up for that is the Hong Kong Thematic Film Festival, now in its fifth year, running in Beijing through Sunday. It will show 15 acclaimed gangster films, most of which have yet to be released on the mainland.