Anita (2021)

Original title

梅艷芳

Directed by

Longman Leung

Genre

drama film, biographical film

Country

Hong Kong

Runtime

2h 17m

Rated

15

Rating

7.9 of 10 from 21 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This biographical film follows the life of Hong Kong singer and actress Anita Mui from her childhood through her rise to fame and her final days before dying of cervical cancer in 2003. It portrays her personal struggles and her impact on the entertainment industry.

bittersweetinspiringnostalgicmelancholicpoignantreverentemotionalgrandiose

What happens

Anita (Chinese: 梅艷芳) is a 2021 Hong Kong biographical musical drama film directed by Longman Leung, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jack Ng, based on the life of singer and actress Anita Mui. Louise Wong, in her screen role debut, stars as the titular singer, depicting her life from childhood until her last moments before her death of cervical cancer in 2003. The film features an ensemble cast, including Terrance Lau, Fish Liew, Gordon Lam, Miriam Yeung, and Louis Koo in supporting roles. Production of the biopic began in the 2010s when Bill Kong, president of Edko Films, initiated the project to commemorate Mui's legacy. Leung signed on the project and took over a year to write the script with Ng, as well as finalize the cast. Principal photography took place in 2018. Although its initial 2020 release date was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, Anita was released in Hong Kong on 12 November 2021, followed by some Southeast Asia countries in the same month. The film received mixed to positive reviews, and made its HK$12M box-office debut with previous preview screenings. It is currently the ninth-highest grossing Hong Kong film of all time. An extended director's cut, featuring 1 hour of extra footage, was released digitally as five-episode miniseries on Disney+ through Star starting from 2 February 2022. A 4k re-edit version at 191 minutes was released in Hong Kong movie theaters in October 2025. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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