Food features prominently in Hong Kong cinema, from the infamous ‘Eat my rice’ scene in Woo's heroic bloodshed A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987) to special recipes of dueling restaurants in the Hui Brothers’ comedy Chicken and Duck Talk (1988). While in many genres, food brings people together, in Hong Kong horror films, food carries ominous overtones. Cannibalism serves as main course in Herman Yau's The Untold Story (aka Human Meat Buns) and Fruit Chan's Dumplings (the former drawn from a real case and the latter a short and feature). Both explore political and social underpinnings of their time. Untold (1993) is an excellent example of crisis cinema – low budget, high anxiety over Hong Kong's return to China. Dumplings (2004) addresses post-postmodern global fascination with youth culture at any cost. Each marks class distinctions and reflects food's cultural importance in Chinese society. Food for thought!

Directors Yau and Chan have much in common. Both have backgrounds as experienced cinematographers who became prominent directors, writing/co-writing their own movies. Each is associated with the independent film-making movement, due to their documentary-style shooting. Chan has used chiefly non-professionals while Yau had notably collaborated with Anthony Wong. Yau lent his hand to Category III films like Ebola Syndrome (1996) and Whispers and Moans (2007), and Category II films such as Taxi Hunter (1993) and From the Queen to the Chief Executive (2001) that emphasise class divides. Chan likewise addressed class in Made in Hong Kong (1997), Little Cheung (1999), Durian, Durian (2000) and Hollywood Hong Kong (2001). Both film-makers have developed ghost stories, with Yau directing six of the Troublesome Nights series and Chan making Finale in Blood (1993).

Yau and Chan share similar visions. They address social issues and economic inequities. Their ideologies are steeped in class consciousness, with underclass main characters, from abused prostitutes and illegal immigrants to underage, hence voiceless, criminals and labour-intensive workers that undergo escalating injustices. Even Yau's Category III movies have this subtext. These outcasts earn viewers’ sympathy, even, to a degree, Untold's insane serial killer and Dumplings’ freelance former abortionist. Yau avoids a distinctive visual style, instead allowing narrative and characters to move the film ahead, resulting in a quasi-documentary approach; Chan follows suit in his early films, but by Dumplings favours a voyeuristic look that prioritises formalistic style.