The local Cantonese slang 拍住上 (paak zyu soeng, loosely translated as “partner up”) is a vivid idiom literally depicting people patting each other’s shoulders while overcoming hardships together. Extending this expression, camaraderie moves them forward in lockstep. In the world of film, 拍 (paak) is a key part of the production process, as the camera rolls steadfastly in capturing stories for the silver screen. It is the only way through which filmmakers better themselves.

Countless classic Hong Kong films feature characters “partnering up” in times of crisis—most obviously in action adventures, where emotional sparks make cinematic thrills even more riveting, with protagonists torn among feelings of amity, justice, trust, suspicion and betrayal, perhaps even (momentarily) losing their bearings. What remains constant is the final moment, when disparate forces form a united front against a common enemy, attesting to an essential human attribute: Since we’re in the same boat, we’re on the same team.

Aren’t the above Hong Kong people’s cherished values?

The first duty of great films is to bear witness to their times. Black Rose from the 1960s exudes conventional chivalrous virtue. In the 1980s, Aces Go Places addresses the issue of elitism. Among the films of the 1990s, Once a Thief remains the quintessential embodiment of romanticism, Police Story III: Super Cop accentuates cultural integration, and Gen-X Cops witnesses an inter-generational passing of the torch. From the 2000s, Rob-B-Hoodexamines post-millennium changes in human nature, and by the 2010s, Blind Detective highlights what it takes to become strategic partners. Most recently, Rob N Roll follows men from disparate backgrounds meeting along the same track. All of these bear testimony to our changing times and increasingly complex web of interrelationships.