The Contract (Chinese: 賣身契) is a 1978 Hong Kong comedy film written, directed by and starring Michael Hui. The film also co-stars Hui's brothers, Samuel Hui and Ricky Hui. It was very successful at the Hong Kong box office being the second-highest-grossing film there at the time.
The Contract | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Traditional | 賣身契 |
Simplified | 卖身契 |
Mandarin | Mài shēn qì |
Cantonese | maai6 san1 kai3 |
Directed by | Michael Hui |
Screenplay by | Michael Hui So Chi-hung[1] |
Produced by | Raymond Chow |
Starring | Michael Hui Samuel Hui Ricky Hui |
Cinematography | Tom Lau |
Edited by | Peter Cheung |
Music by | Samuel Hui |
Production company | Golden Harvest |
Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
Release date | 3 August 1978 (1978-08-03) |
Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Cantonese |
Box office | HK$7,823,019[2] |
The Contract was a commercial success, earning HK$7,820,019 at the box office, making it the second highest-grossing films in Hong Kong at the time, behind only the Hui brothers' last film, The Private Eyes.[3][2]
In The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997, John Charles described The Contract as "totally disarming and one of The Hui's Brothers most consistently amusing efforts"[4] while Stephen Teo in his book Hong Kong Cinema: the Extra Dimensions wrote "Michael Hui ended the decade with arguably his best film".[5]
The film was nominated for three Golden Horse Awards in 1978, and was Michael Hui's first and last nomination for a Golden Horse Award, until his nomination for Best Actor for his work in the 2016 film Godspeed at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.[6]
Award | Date | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
15th Golden Horse Awards | 1978 | Best Film Editing | Peter Cheung | Won | [7] |
Best Director | Michael Hui | Nominated | |||
Best Feature Film | Golden Harvest (HK) Limited | Nominated |
The Contract is Sam Hui's fifth Cantopop album with the title track being the film's theme song. In Asia soundtrack has shifted 500,000 units.[8]
The Contract 賣身契 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1978 | |||
Genre | Cantopop | |||
Language | Cantonese | |||
Label | PolyGram | |||
Sam Hui chronology | ||||
|
Films directed by Michael Hui | |
---|---|
|
![]() | This article related to a Hong Kong film of the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
![]() | This film article about a 1970s comedy is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |