Portland Street Blues (1998)
A spin-off from Hong Kong's popular "Young and Dangerous" action series, this fast-paced tale of a lesbian's rise to the top of the Triad hierarchy features top-notch acting and plenty of martial arts excitement. Most of the characters from the series return, and many events taking place in this story occur simultaneously to those in the others; as a result those familiar with the "Young and Dangerous" series will delight at the many inside references to it. Told in flashback, this narrative
centers on leather-jacket-wearing, pompadoured Sister Thirteen (Sandra Ng). Those around her believe that she was always a lesbian, but her past story reveals otherwise. As the teenaged daughter of a low-level mobster, she had a crush on Coke (Alex Fong) a handsome but taciturn boxer. When he did not return her affection, Sister Thirteen turned to women for love. She entered Hong Kong's organized crime network via a scruffy band of low-level gangsters in the Mongkok district. There she earned her nickname and was mentored by Scarface (Shu Qi), a female drug-addict with a horrifying history of abuse. Under Scarface's tutelage, Sister Thirteen toughens up, learns to fight, and becomes the leader of the gang. From there, she and her cohorts fight their way to the highest echelons of the Triad. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
