行規 (The System). 1979. Hong Kong. Directed by Peter Yung. Screenplay by Yung, Lee Sen. With Pai Ying, Sek Kin, Chiao Chiao. New York restoration premiere. DCP courtesy M+, Hong Kong. In Cantonese; English subtitles. 88 min.

Starring the Cantonese actor and martial artist Sek Kin (Enter the Dragon) as a mob consigliere and Pai Ying (Lady Kung Fu, A Touch of Zen) as a police detective, Peter Yung’s The System is a lesser-known gem of the Hong Kong New Wave, about an incorruptible cop who uses an informant (“Snake”) to expose a murderous payoff scheme between triad bosses and top officials in the colonial police force. Director Yung got his start by photographing the underground drug trade in Hong Kong—at one point the great American cinematographer James Wong Howe encouraged him to make documentaries on the subject—and so he brings his investigative chops and a knowing authenticity to this gripping feature debut. Collaborating with Yung were the young cinematographer Moon-Tong Lau (A Chinese Ghost Story, Dragon Inn, and Johnnie To’s Heroic Trio), who captures a lost Hong Kong of the 1970s by filming in seamy locations like the torn-down New World Hotel on the Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront and the neon-lit streets of Victoria; and assistant director Stanley Kwan, who would become a noted filmmaker in his own right with Center Stage, starring Maggie Cheung.

The restoration was made using the original 35mm picture and sound negatives preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The digital restoration was undertaken at L’Immagine Ritrovata, with colour correction completed at One Cool Production. The System is one of the films under M+ Restored, an initiative supported by CHANEL.