''Stowaway'' ( zh, t=驚天大逃亡, s=惊天大逃亡), alternatively known as ''Snakeheads'', is a 2001 Hong Kong action film based on the true story of a group of

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other c ...

s from

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

illegally immigrating to the United Kingdom in 2000. In the incident, 58 illegal immigrants suffocated to death in an airtight truck of tomatoes at

Dover, England Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

on 20 June 2000."China Cracks Down on Illegal Immigration"
''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

'', 2000-08-04. Retrieved on 2008-11-10.

Synopsis

In June 2000, a group of

people spend a fortune for various reasons to be smuggled to the United Kingdom. They are first sent to Quailin, before crossing the border to Vietnam. After waiting there for fake documents for flying to Moscow, they head to the Netherlands. They are unable to travel to Moscow as the

people smugglers People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ...

are detected. The plan is changed and all the

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

s have to travel to Ukraine by car, then walk across the border to the Czech Republic through

snowstorms A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

. They are able to sneak into the Netherlands and hide in a truck to enter into the United Kingdom, but the airtight space in the truck results in the deaths of 58 people, leaving only 2 survivors.

Cast

Julian Cheung Julian Cheung Chi-lam (born 27 August 1971), better known by his stage name Chilam, is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Cheung is known for his role as Guo Jing in the 1994 TV series adaptation of the ''Wuxia'' novel, '' The Legend of the Condo ...

as Chow Tai-Fuk *

Athena Chu Athena Chu (born Chu Yan; 25 October 1971) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Zixia Fairy in '' A Chinese Odyssey'' (1995). Early life and education On 25 October 1971, Chu was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Her f ...

as Kam Lan *

Hu Bing Hu Bing (born February 14, 1971) is a Chinese actor, model, singer, designer and producer. He started as a fashion model in 1990 and been a top male model in China for over 20 years. He won the "Top Chinese Male Model" title in 1991 and was the ...

as Chi-Ming * Chang Chia-chia as Ming-Wai * Benny Lai as Vincent *

Oscar Leung Oscar Leung King Fai (, born 1979) is an actor previously contracted to TVB. His uncle is the actor Bryan Leung. Filmography TV dramas Films Micro Film , - ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" , My AOD Favourite Awards , - , - ...

as * Michael Chow as Yiu-Chung * Jady Lee as Siu-Tsui * Annie Wu as Si-Nga * Mou Feilian as Kuen Jie * Chan Jun Kin as Hang Jai

Production

Filming locations took place in

, Vietnam, Moscow, Ukraine, and England.

References

External links

* 2001 films Hong Kong action films 2000s Cantonese-language films Films directed by Clarence Fok 2000s Hong Kong films 2001 action films {{2000s-HongKong-film-stub