Immigration, and particularly illegal immigration, has been a political hot potato for many years and only seems to get more emotive with time. Mabel Cheung's award-winning 'The Illegal Immigrant' is therefore still resonant a full twenty years after its release and will doubtlessly offer food for thought in years to come. It is vital, though, to separate the impassioned subject matter from the actual execution of the story and decides whether Cheung's work here still has the mark of an award-winning production.

For the most part, 'The Illegal Immigrant' does justify its critical status and avoids the withering signs of age that have afflicted films of the same era. Mabel Cheung makes sure that her work is not just a polemic on a subject close to her heart - it would be so easy to use the storyline to manipulate the viewer in one way or another - and attempts to tell a human story rather than a thinly-veiled 90 minutes of rhetoric. Granted, Cheung does offer some commentary on the plight of her lead characters, but she never lets the film slide into a masochistic exploration of degradation. There's a balance to the argument she presents and, alongside her writer/husband Alex Law, manages to achieve a gritty realism without revelling in the difficulties that the eponymous character faces.

If there was an obvious flaw in Mabel Cheung's film, it would probably be in the writing behind the lead character. Cheng Jiun Chiou is a personable protagonist whose plight is engrossing enough, but there is a sense that the viewer is missing out on significant parts of his back story. Cheng is an educated, intelligent man who survives his time in New York because of his willingness to do any kind of work. We discover that he was an actor in his native China and a man of minor status, but his reasons for travelling thousands of miles to live the life of an illegal immigrant is never properly explored. Some impetus behind his actions, some explanation as to what forced him to leave would have given the character a greater motivation and perhaps shed some light on the decisions that many face in this situation.

'The Illegal Immigrant' is, at times, two-dimensional, but it manages to maintain a palpability because it never seeks sensationalism. The expected sombre ending - part and parcel of Hong Kong cinema - is present, but is not quite predictable as it seems. The production also gains a certain weight because of the earthy cinematography that gives New York the edgy look that has disappeared from U.S. cinema of the past decade or so. This slice of social-realism is about as far from the stereotypical Shaw Brothers output as can be imagined, though that should not deter viewers looking out for this well-acted, well-paced piece of Hong Kong cinema.

Mabel Cheung's debut feature, written by husband Alex Law (as is normally the case), at Shaw Brother's of all places but don't believe for a second this represents a martial arts side of the team we didn't know of (they were in charge of the dramatic scenes of Moon Warriors though). No, coming at the end of the Shaw's era, Cheung and Law were already in New York, dealing with the theme of immigrants like fellow filmmakers Clara Law and Stanley Kwan, only one movie away from Hong Kong's finest romance ever, An Autumn's Tale.

In actuality The Illegal Immigrant was a graduation work for Mabel Cheung, only one that drew the attention of the forces at Shaw Brother's. Expect nothing elegant though as Cheung and Law are merely armed with a shoestring budget and uses actual various New York locations for their attempt to achieve a realistic portrayal of struggling Chinese immigrants. In parts, Cheung clearly deserves her Best Director Hong Kong Film Award. Other parts, although they are fewer, are signs of a rough but talented filmmaker about to graduate.

It takes quite a limited technical expertise to achieve A snapshot of reality but of course writing has to be firmly at center stage for that well-done snapshot to happen and Alex Law's script does contain worthwhile and poignant passages. The cycle of various problems in obtaining and solving the green card issue is presented, with the sham marriage being the option for the characters at hand. A setup that can go both comedic and dramatic routes, Cheung's movie leaning towards the latter. She confidently portrays all this through the eyes of cinematographer Bob Bukowski, letting the amateur actors go about their business naturally and the direction largely works. Pace may not be refined or the performances for that matter but as the embodiment of Cheung and Law's themes, Ching Yung-Cho and Wu Fu-Sheng do fine. It's only when called upon to be emotional that all kinds of poor acting reveals itself but it's easy to be forgiving when Cheung would soon blossom as a director when employing actual seasoned actors in An Autumn's Tale (Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung plus Ching and Wu appear in support in the classic romance).

Hints of darkness are dropped in by Cheung as the New York setting doesn't allow for any kind of notion of unification amongst the Chinese. No, in the face of money, fellow countrymen and women are prepared to knock each other over and while being so typically debut feature and student like in its cynicism, the movie holds some poignant, harsh truths under some ropey execution from time to time. The American setting receives some subtle criticisms as the immigrants voice a dissatisfaction with the fact that they are not welcome but ultimately the darkness and evil that occur isn't strictly a Chinese or American trait. It's simply about people and Cheung manages to even be a little harrowing when all's sunken in.

While a known profile such as Kenny Bee overseeing the score, the music tends to hurt (and outdate) certain crucial moments of the film but Cheung chooses to drop in very little cues, even being quite non-manipulative with the romance angle and this viewer appreciated the quite long, slow development between Cheng and Li as it takes several events for her to open her heart while he's not the type who is begging for love either as it all is a business agreement for them on several levels.

The Illegal Immigrant will never rank as Shaw Brother's finest gem out of their vaults or Mabel Cheung's either but while roughly executed, it accomplishes some fine things thematically. Mostly workable natural acting carries the films intentions home as well but again, it is a debut work and such normally appear unpolished. Mabel Cheung's style quickly became refined 2 years later when returning with Chow Yun-Fat and Cherie Chung to New York for An Autumn's Tale and The Illegal Immigrant can act as an interesting warm up.