Jackie Chan / “Nick Steelhead”
A tractor repair man from Heilongjiang, China, Steelhead sneaks into Japan illegally after losing contact with his girlfriend, Xiu Xiu. Under the guidance of friend Joe, he settles into life as an illegal immigrant and soon discovers that Xiu Xiu has already married Eguchi, a yakuza leader. Steelhead later finds himself working with Eguchi in order to use the latter’s power to gain legal status and start a new life. But Joe’s betrayal brings things to a head.
Naoto Takenaka / “Inspector Kitano”
While giving chase to group of illegal immigrants, Kitano is saved by Nick. The two cross paths several times over the course of his investigations and a grudging respect develops between them. With Nick’s help, Kitano is able to break a major narcotics case involving the yakuza.
Daniel Wu / “Joe”
Nick’s fellow villager, the timid Joe has settled into life as an illegal in Japan. While helping a friend work a scam at a local pachinko place, Joe is badly beaten and disfigured. Unable to get over the trauma, Joe’s personality goes through a dramatic change and he soon starts peddling drugs for the yakuza. His own addiction to the poison brings about his own downfall.
Xu Jinglei / “Xiu Xiu” and “Yuko”
Nick’s girlfriend from China, Xiu Xiu goes to Japan to study. She meets and marries Eguchi, a yakuza boss, and has a daughter with him. When she sees Nick again, she worries about their survival.
Masaya Kato / “Eguchi”
Eguchi is an ambitious young turk who is the second in command of the "Sanwa Kai" faction of the yakuza. He is embroiled in an internal tussle for gang leadership and makes use of Nick to help him achieve his aims. When gang leader Muranishi Hisaishi is assassinated, Eguchi takes over. Both he and Nick love the same woman, Xiu Xiu (Yuko). Like Nick, he is also betrayed by a close friend.
Fan Bingbing / “Lily”
A mama-san at a local night club, Lily's path crosses with Nick's when he rescues her and a client during a robbery. The two become friends and later, lovers.
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Derek Yee / Director
As an award-winning actor, director, screenwriter and cinematographer, Derek Yee is one of the most versatile film talents in Hong Kong. Yee started his career as an actor with the famed Shaw Brothers and appeared in over 40 films in 9 years. He made his directorial debut with the award-winning The Lunatics and followed that up with other acclaimed productions including the wildly popular C’est La Vie Mon Cheri (1993), Full Throttle (1995), Viva Erotica (1996), Lost In Time (2003), One Nite in Mongkok (2004) and, more recently, Protégé (2007). Yee has proved himself to be one of Hong Kong’s most bankable directors who can tackle a wide variety of genres, although his forte lies in his trademark dramas of complex relationships that play out in our daily lives.
Kita Nobuyasu / Cinematographer
Best known for his quirkily atmospheric work on Taguchi Hiromasa’s Mind Game and Morita Yoshimitsu’s award-winning The Black House, Kita Nobuyasu made his foray into film-making as assistant to auteurs such as Sengen Seizo, Kayano Naoki and Shinoda Noboru. Since taking over the viewfinder in 1997, Nobuyasu has worked with many of the top filmmakers in Japan.
Peter Kam / Original Score
Soundtrack wunderkind Peter Kam reached a new career pinnacle when he became the first Hong Kong composer to win the Silver Bear for the best music at the 56th Berlin Film Festival for his evocative score in Edmond Pang’s Isabella. The composer’s love affair with movies, however, began in the 80s when he was asked by director Peter Chan to write the music for The Age of Miracles. Since then, Kam has written and won awards for scores of pop songs and original soundtracks, including Perhaps Love, the first Chinese musical in three decades.
Chin Ka-lok / Action choreographer
Chin Ka-lok is one of Hong Kong’s top stuntmen and martial arts choreographers, having worked on some of the biggest Hong Kong blockbusters such as Full Throttle, All’s Well Ends Well ’97, and Full Alert. The sometime-actor received his training at Madame Fan Fa Lok’s opera troupe and started his career with Sammo Hung’s stunt team.
