McCourry Films is helmed by producer Grace Yan Yan Mak and film director Craig McCourry.






Christmas at the Royal Hotel

Logline:
A Canadian soldier, a hotel maid and a Chinese female journalist become trapped in a collapsing city during the Japanese attack on Hong Kong in 1941.

Historical Drama / English /
108 minutes / 4K / 2018


Synopsis:

In 1941, Tom a young Canadian soldier living in Winnipeg has been ordered to serve in the far-flung British colony of Hong Kong. Tom’s wife Emma is worried about the potential dangers of Tom’s deployment, but Hong Kong is considered a relatively safe posting, as the “real war” is happening in Europe.

Arriving into Hong Kong, Tom checks into the Royal Hotel, a slightly defunct establishment full of war profiteers, refugees and spies. Here he meets a mysterious female journalist named Mayling who works for the South China News Agency.

Mayling who fled the Japanese attack of Canton in 1938, is haunted by the ongoing war in China, especially after the disappearance of her husband during the fall of Canton. The Royal Hotel is her refuge and also the base camp of her protagonist, a Mr. Cheung who had a secret meeting with her husband before he went missing.

Mr. Cheung is an opportunist, operating at the front lines of the war zone where the most profits can be gained. Mr. Cheung is also a hard-nosed political operator with uncertain loyalties. Mayling suspects Mr. Cheung is playing a two-sided game, but whose side is he on?

In early December, Tom has been assigned to a military recon group in charge of watching the Japanese troop movements along the Hong Kong border. Stranded thousands of miles from home, Tom sadly contemplates the upcoming Christmas holiday with only the infrequent mail service providing him a glimmer of hope for some communication with his wife.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changes everything. The whole Pacific blows up into a war zone. During the early morning hours of December 8th, the Japanese attack Hong Kong. The fighting goes badly for the British army, as the Japanese forces quickly gain the upper hand. It becomes apparent to Tom and Mayling that Hong Kong will soon fall to the Japanese. There is nowhere to go, and the refuge of the Royal Hotel now becomes a trap. The underlying Christmas spirit that normally brings friends and family together is now being ripped apart by the onslaught of war. For many, their future is lost.

Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas day. That day is now remembered in Hong Kong as the Black Christmas.