Lawrence Ah Mon, sometimes known as Lawrence Lau Kwok-cheung, was one of the second group of Hong Kong New Wave directors who made their mark in the late 1980s.
Lau, who cut his teeth at Hong Kong broadcasting company RTHK, made his name with two documentary-style social realist dramas: 1988โs Gangs and 1990โs Queen of Temple Street โ still one of the cityโs finest films.
But his follow-up, the two-part Lee Rock, was something entirely different: a four-hour-long Godfather–like crime epic divided into two films.
Halfway through shooting, Lau and producers Wong Jing and Jimmy Heung Wah-sing decided that rather than cut the story down to two hours โ which was still 30 minutes longer than the 90 minutes mandated by cinema owners at the time โ they would release two films weeks apart.
Both Lee Rock: The $500,000,000 Detective and Lee Rock 2: Father and Son were big hits, taking a combined HK$53 million.
Lee Rock is loosely based on the life of the notorious Lui Lok โ here renamed Lee Rock and played by Andy Lau Tak-wah โ who is widely regarded as the most corrupt policeman in Hong Kong history.