Louis Koo, Lau Ching-wan, Zhou Xun promote “Overheard 3”

The third installment of the popular “Overheard” series – co-directed by Felix Chong and Alan Mak – is scheduled to hit screens in China on May 29 and Hong Kong on June 5.  Three of the four leads in “Overheard 3” (竊聽風雲3) promoted the film and unveiled character posters during the 2014 Hong Kong International Film Festival.  Louis Koo and Lau Ching-Wan, who starred in the first two films, appeared alongside Chinese actress Zhou Xun onstage, while Daniel Wu was an absentee.

Both Koo and Lau described their characters as “vicious” and like “bandits.”  Koo expanded further on his character’s relationship with Lau in the film.

“We are brothers with different surnames [as in, no blood relations],” Koo said.  “We appear in many scenes together.”

“I loved the script even though I do not appear onscreen until the third chapter,” Zhou said.  “I also enjoyed the friendship with all the workers on set…as well as the directors whom I worked with in a previous film [“The Silent War” with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai].”

When asked to describe his character poster, Koo said, “My poster makes Ching-Wan’s look like real estate.”

Lau’s response: “Real estate?!”

But in fact, real estate in the context of 1980’s Hong Kong is the topic explored in “Overheard 3.”  The trailer screened at the event revealed dialogue, protests from real estate owners who refused to cave in to the government’s demands, and wiretapping.

The event moderator then asked each of the actors to comment on the poster of the absent Wu.

Lau: ‘Gwei gwei shi shi‘ [Cantonese slang for “sneaky”]….eavesdrops on people.

Koo: He looks like a zebra.

Zhou: He looks like a zebra as well as gwei gwei shi shi.

Koo: So he is a gwei gwei shi shi [sneaky] zebra!

Translations for this article were provided by Mai D. Chan.