← Back to Directory
True Colours
Movie

True Colours

1986 • Unknown

Woke Score
1.2
out of 10

Plot

Lung and Wong are buddies in their ferocious youth. Lung fled from his motherland to escape a death penalty. Lung returns after five years and runs into Wong who becomes a priest of an orphanage.

Overall Series Review

True Colours (1986) is a classic Hong Kong action-drama from the heroic bloodshed genre, centered on themes of loyalty, honor, and redemption. The narrative follows Lung, an ex-Triad who returns home from a five-year exile, and his best friend Robert, who has transformed into a Christian priest running an orphanage for troubled youth. The plot creates a central conflict between Lung’s code of violent, secular honor and Robert’s path of Christian forgiveness and moral reform. The film’s focus is on personal moral choice and the deep, protective bond between the two male leads, as Lung works to save his former lover from an abusive marriage to a powerful crime boss. The movie is a product of its time and culture, prioritizing action, drama, and transcendent moral themes over contemporary social commentary.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

Characters are judged entirely by their actions and morality, such as their criminal past or path to redemption, not by immutable characteristics. The casting is racially authentic to the Hong Kong setting, focusing on a narrative of universal themes like friendship and loyalty.

Oikophobia1/10

The film does not criticize or deconstruct the home culture (Hong Kong/Chinese) but rather the immoral sub-culture of the Triads. The narrative celebrates strong themes of male loyalty and views institutions like the Christian mission/orphanage as a positive force for social good, reinforcing traditional societal values against chaos.

Feminism2/10

The main female character is primarily a damsel-in-distress, depicted as a victim of an abusive, powerful male figure who must be rescued by the male protagonist. She is a motivational catalyst for the male lead's quest for redemption, not an independent 'Girl Boss' figure. The narrative avoids anti-natalist or anti-family messaging, focusing on the broken heterosexual relationships caused by the criminal life.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core relationships are a deep, non-sexual brotherly bond between the male leads and a heterosexual romantic bond between the hero and his former lover. The film is entirely focused on traditional crime-drama conflicts and moral themes, excluding any commentary or focus on alternative sexualities or deconstructing the nuclear family structure.

Anti-Theism1/10

Religious faith, specifically the Christian faith adopted by one of the male leads, is presented as a central, positive force for reform, spiritual strength, and objective moral truth. The priest character is a deeply moral and good person whose faith provides the structure for his redemption and charitable work with orphans.