Nomad (1982 film)

1982 Hong Kong film by Patrick Tam

Nomad

Film poster

Directed by| Patrick Tam
Written by|

* Chiu Kang-chien
* Joyce Chan
* Eddie Fong
* Kam Ping-hing
* John Chan Koon-chung
* Patrick Tam[1]

Produced by|

* Jeffrey Lau
* Dennis Yu[2]

Starring|

* Leslie Cheung
* Pat Ha
* Kent Tong
* Cecilia Yip

Music by| Man Yee Lam

Production
company

Century[1]

Release date

* November 26, 1982 (1982-11-26)

Running time

| 87 minutes[2]
Country| Hong Kong[1]
Language| Cantonese[1]

Nomad (Chinese: 烈火青春) is a 1982 Hong Kong film directed by Patrick Tam. It is about the experiences of a group of youngsters who feel lost and try to find the meaning of life.

At the 1983, the film was nominated eight awards with two of them for Best New Performer with both Pat Ha and Cecilia Yip being nominated. It has since been included on Best-Of lists organized by Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005 and the Hong Kong Film Archive in 2010.

## Plot

[edit]

Louis (Leslie Cheung) is a young man from a rich family and misses his dead mother. He has a good friendship with his cousin Kathy (Pat Ha). Louis and Kathy later meet Tomato (Cecilia Yip), who becomes Louis' girlfriend, and Pong (Kent Tong), who becomes Kathy's boyfriend. The four live a casual life together, hang out aimlessly, and share their dreams and difficulties with one another on frequent trips to Hong Kong's outlying islands. But Kathy's past returns to haunt her. She once lived in Japan, and had a romantic relationship with Shinsuke Takeda (Yung Sai-kit), a member of the Japanese Red Army. He is tired of this work and wants to quit the organization. This leads to the army vowing revenge, so he runs to Kathy to ask for help. They are found by the killers dispatched by the Red Army and both die, while Louis and Tomato, who is pregnant with Louis' child, survive the ordeal.

## Cast

[edit]

* Leslie Cheung as Louis
* Pat Ha as Kathy
* Kent Tong as Pong
* Cecilia Yip as Tomato
* Yip Ha-lei as Pong's dad
* Yung Sai-Kit as Shinsuke Takeda

## Release

[edit]

Nomad was released on November 26, 1982.[2] Nomad was released on blu-ray as a double feature with Tam's My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) by Radiance Films on February 24, 2025.[3]

## Reception

[edit]

In Hong Kong film magazine City Entertainment Film Biweekly [zh], a critic complimented the art direction as maintaining the style established in Tam's previous film Love Massacre [zh] (1981) which added a strong atmosphere to the film. The author found that Tam's direction was slightly messy but with many strong moments. [4]

At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005, various Asian film critics, film makers and actors voted for the top Chinese films from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Nomad was listed at 73rd place on the list.[5]

In 2010, both contemporary and former research officers and programmers of the Hong Kong Film Archive as well as the Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the dean of School of Film & Television at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts submitted a list of the 100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies.[6][1] Nomad was included on the top 100 list.[7]

## Awards

[edit]

Award  | Date of ceremony  | Category  | Recipient(s)  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

Hong Kong Film Awards | 1983 | Best Film | —  | Nominated  | [8]
Best Director | Patrick Tam  | Nominated
Best Actor | Leslie Cheung  | Nominated
Best Screenplay | Chiu Kang-chien, Joyce Chan, Eddie Fong, Kam Ping-hing, John Chan Koon-chung, Patrick Tam  | Nominated
Best Art Direction | Willam Chang  | Nominated
Best New Performer | Cecilia Yip  | Nominated
Best New Performer  | Pat Ha  | Nominated
Original Film Score | Man Yee Lam  | Nominated
Best Cinematography | Wong Chung-Biu  | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
2. ^ a b c City University of Hong Kong.
3. ^ Blu-ray.com 2024.
4. ^ Movie Fornightly 1980, p. 10.
5. ^ Hong Kong Film Awards.
6. ^ Alberts 2012.
7. ^ Ho 2011.
8. ^ Hong Kong Film Awards [I].

### Sources

[edit]

* Alberts, Hana R (17 February 2012). "The 100 Must-See Hong Kong Films". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 June 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
* "Radiance Films Announces February Releases". Blu-ray.com. 6 November 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
* Ho, Sam (2011). "100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies" (PDF). Hong Kong Film Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
* "烈火青春 Nomad". City University of Hong Kong (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
* "電影雙周刊" [Movie Fortnightly]. 電影雙周刊 Film Biweekly (in Chinese). No. 99\. 14 August 1980. p. 10\. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023 - via City University of Hong Kong.
* "List of Nominees and Awardees of The 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards" (in Chinese). Hong Kong Film Awards [I]. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
* "[最佳華語片一百部] The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures" (in Chinese). Hong Kong Film Awards. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* "100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies". Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Nomad at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Patrick Tam

* The Sword (1980)
* Nomad (1982)
* Final Victory (1987)
* Burning Snow (1988)
* My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989)
* After This Our Exile (2006)
* Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020)

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