Nomad (1982 film)

Nomad (Chinese: 烈火青春) is a 1982 Hong Kong film directed by Patrick Tam. It is about the experiences of a group of youngsters who feel lost and try to find the meaning of life.

Nomad
Film poster
Directed by	Patrick Tam
Written by	Chiu Kang-chien Joyce Chan Eddie Fong Kam Ping-hing John Chan Koon-chung Patrick Tam[1]
Produced by	Jeffrey Lau Dennis Yu[2]
Starring	Leslie Cheung Pat Ha Kent Tong Cecilia Yip
Music by	Man Yee Lam
Production company	Century[1]
Release date	November 26, 1982 (1982-11-26)
Running time	87 minutes[2]
Country	Hong Kong[1]
Language	Cantonese[1]

At the 1983, the film was nominated eight awards with two of them for Best New Performer with both Pat Ha and Cecilia Yip being nominated. It has since been included on Best-Of lists organized by Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005 and the Hong Kong Film Archive in 2010.

Plot

Louis (Leslie Cheung) is a young man from a rich family and misses his dead mother. He has a good friendship with his cousin Kathy (Pat Ha). Louis and Kathy later meet Tomato (Cecilia Yip), who becomes Louis' girlfriend, and Pong (Kent Tong), who becomes Kathy's boyfriend. The four live a casual life together, hang out aimlessly, and share their dreams and difficulties with one another on frequent trips to Hong Kong's outlying islands. But Kathy's past returns to haunt her. She once lived in Japan, and had a romantic relationship with Shinsuke Takeda (Yung Sai-kit), a member of the Japanese Red Army. He is tired of this work and wants to quit the organization. This leads to the army vowing revenge, so he runs to Kathy to ask for help. They are found by the killers dispatched by the Red Army and both die, while Louis and Tomato, who is pregnant with Louis' child, survive the ordeal.

Cast

• Leslie Cheung as Louis
• Pat Ha as Kathy
• Kent Tong as Pong
• Cecilia Yip as Tomato
• Yip Ha-lei as Pong's dad
• Yung Sai-Kit as Shinsuke Takeda

Release

Nomad was released on November 26, 1982.^[2] Nomad was released on blu-ray as a double feature with Tam's My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) by Radiance Films on February 24, 2025.^[3]

Reception

In Hong Kong film magazine City Entertainment Film Biweekly  [zh], a critic complimented the art direction as maintaining the style established in Tam's previous film Love Massacre  [zh] (1981) which added a strong atmosphere to the film. The author found that Tam's direction was slightly messy but with many strong moments. ^[4]

At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005, various Asian film critics, film makers and actors voted for the top Chinese films from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Nomad was listed at 73rd place on the list.^[5]

In 2010, both contemporary and former research officers and programmers of the Hong Kong Film Archive as well as the Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the dean of School of Film & Television at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts submitted a list of the 100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies.^[6][1] Nomad was included on the top 100 list.^[7]

Awards

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Hong Kong Film Awards	1983	Best Film	—	Nominated	[8]
		Best Director	Patrick Tam	Nominated
		Best Actor	Leslie Cheung	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Chiu Kang-chien, Joyce Chan, Eddie Fong, Kam Ping-hing, John Chan Koon-chung, Patrick Tam	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Willam Chang	Nominated
		Best New Performer	Cecilia Yip	Nominated
		Best New Performer	Pat Ha	Nominated
		Original Film Score	Man Yee Lam	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Wong Chung-Biu	Nominated