Hong Kong film on 2010 Manila hostage crisis gets wider release

MANILA, Philippines — A movie based on the 2010 Manila hostage crisis is getting a wider release in Hong Kong next month.

“Beyond Hostage Crisis,” also distributed as “823 Hostage Crisis,” is a 90-minute dramatization about the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident that took place on August 23, 2010.

That morning, former police officer Rolando Mendoza, armed with a handgun and an M16 rifle, hijacked a tourist bus with 25 individuals, a majority of them Hong Kong citizens, claiming he had been unfairly dismissed from duty.

Mendoza claimed that he was dismissed from the force for misconduct and demanded he be given a fair hearing as the dismissal stripped him of all benefits.

The incident lasted over 10 hours, during which Mendoza released nine hostages after some negotiations. However, things turned sour when authorities arrested one of his brothers for carrying a gun near the site.

That led to Mendoza opening fire and killing eight hostages. Police stormed the bus after the bus driver managed to escape while confirming that people had indeed died, and Mendoza was fatally shot down by a sniper.

The movie, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Tony Leung Hung-wah, was released in Malaysia earlier this month — it stars Malaysian-born Hong Kong actress and two-time Hong Kong Film Awards winner Fish Liew Chi-yu — and will be coming out in Hong Kong this May 28.

The film also stars Debbie Goh, Mimi Kung Che-yan, Don Li Yat-long, Zhang Yaodong, Helena Law Lan and Chris Tong Bing-yu, with one character reportedly inspired by the experience of a survivor who boarded the project as a consultant.

Some have criticized the movie for drawing out distress and discomfort from the trailer alone, while others argued that the dramatization of the hostage incident can cause “secondary trauma” for survivors, the victims’ families, and the public who witnessed every live moment of the crisis. — Trailer taken from YouTube