Passages from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake 1965 16mm film 90minsThis was the first attempt to cinematize the works of Irish author James Joyce. Based more on a stage adaptation by Mary Manning than the Joyce novel itself, the film concentrates on Dublin pubkeeper Finnegan (Martin J. Kelly), who while in the throes of inebriation has a vision of his own death. As the bemused Finnegan lies in his coffin, his friends gather for his wake. The "corpse" tries to cut through the keening and platitudes by probing the innermost thoughts of those closest to him. The surprising aspect of this film is that so much of its difficult text works on screen--a tribute to the loving care of scripter/director/ editor Mary Ellen Bute, who, while preparing this film spent her waking hours picking the brains and burrowing through the resource materials of the James Joyce Society.Although director Mary Ellen Bute’s highly regarded Finnegans Wake (aka Passages from Finnegans Wake) is a unique film that is likely to baffle anyone unfamiliar with James Joyce, it cannot be dismissed merely as a literary exercise. The director was right in claiming that her film was “not a translation of the book but a reaction to it”. It is actually based on a stage play by Mary Manning, who was also responsible for the screenplay. Joyce’s elliptical rhetoric and intricate punning, which might be considered a formidable barrier to the filming of this most opaque of his works, proved to be an attraction to Bute, whose enthusiasm for the ‘visual’ and ‘kinetic’ quality of his language led her to the surprising but well-judged move of running subtitles from the original text to support the dialogue.Visual music pioneer Mary Ellen Bute's final film was also her first feature film. James Joyce's classic story of Irish tavern-keeper who dreams of attending his own wake is brought to the screen with a sparkling energy which highlights its maker's career-long exploration of kinetic abstract animation. Perhaps best described as a 'film poem,' Passages from Finnegans Wake was the first attempt to 'cinematize' the works of James Joyce, featuring the author's highly original language spoken by characters and presented as text on screen.

原振侠（钱小豪 饰）受警方所托，紧急介入一起人质绑架案件，女记者彩虹（张曼玉 饰）为得到第一手资料不惜打乱警方布置，幸而原振侠力挽狂澜，拯救行动圆满达成，但彩虹自此纠缠原振侠使其不胜厌烦。原振侠摆脱彩虹后在自己家中遇见一名泰国男子黑龙（狄威 饰），后者要求原振侠返回泰北，以解除他身上的血降。当夜原振侠身上血降爆发，他只得求助亦师亦友的卫斯理（周润发 饰）。原来一年前原振侠在泰国结识女子芭珠（崔秀丽 饰），芭珠所在蛊族的大巫师（徐锦江 饰）以芭珠作为祭神之礼，原振侠出面救出芭珠，两人终未能逃脱巫师魔掌，双双被下了降头，一年后降头发作，原振侠请求卫斯理和白素（胡慧中 饰）同赴泰国，芭珠男友黑龙亦出现相助原振侠解除降头之危……

黑社会老大文哥（高雄 饰）被人追杀，其弟阿南（任达华 饰）安排五个人来做其兄的保镖，并命令他们查出暗杀文哥的幕后人物。这五人分别是阿鬼（黄秋生 饰）、阿来（吴镇宇 饰）、阿Mike（张耀扬 饰）、阿信（吕颂贤 饰）和阿肥（林雪 饰）。阿来和阿信是知名的高手，阿鬼、阿Mike、阿肥则是金盆洗手的昔日英雄：阿鬼是文哥以前的手下，阿Mike是神枪手，阿肥是枪械专家。五人同心协力，将杀手擒获，并查清了幕后主使人。五个不认识的江湖人成为肝胆相照的好友，这时，阿南告诉阿鬼，阿信与文哥之妻通奸，要求阿鬼去杀死阿信，阿来坚决不允许这么做。阿Mike和阿肥又分别支持阿来和阿鬼，最后他们约定在一家小餐厅解决这个问题，互相对准的枪口真是一触即发……

故事紧接《科学怪人》结尾火烧科学怪人场面，弗兰肯斯坦和他制造的科学怪人都活了下来，科学怪人并没有像博士想象的那样杀死……弗兰肯斯坦决定洗手不干，但另一位疯狂的科学家怪博士找到弗兰肯斯坦要合作造个女人，并绑架他的妻子作为威胁。弗兰肯斯坦只好答应。科学怪人逃生后，历经险阻最终与怪博士相遇，三人在古堡中期待科学怪人的新娘诞生……