Don’t Play With Fire

Now presented in a new 2k restoration supervised by the director himself. Don’t Play with Fire (aka Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind), directed by Tsui Hark (A Better Tomorrow), is one of the most controversial and violent crime films from the Hong Kong New Wave of the 1980s. Tsui’s outraged and outrageous third feature is a raw, tormented howl of hopeless rebellion that follows a trio of endorphin-addicted, bomb-planting teen nihilists as they get themselves involved with Triad thugs, gun runners, and—most perilous of all—a young woman (Lin Chen-Chi) with a penchant for torturing small animals. Shredded by Hong Kong censors who blanched at its bloody-mindedness and its employment of shocking images from the city’s 1967 riots. An open provocation to anarchic upheaval, the blistering heat of its anti-establishment rage undiminished through the years. “Often breathless in its pace, Don’t Play With Fire, which takes its original English-language title, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind, from a 1956 law banning explosives, is a ferociously entertaining picture.” – Peter Martin, ScreenAnarchy.com Note films start right at the listed showtime. Free or discounted for members. All ticket sales are final.