Our Time Will Come (2017) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A young woman transforms from a private, bookish citizen into a resistance leader whose struggle survives through memory and uncertain sacrifice.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A City Under Occupation

Fang begins as a bookish young woman living in occupied Hong Kong. Her broken engagement reveals the moral divide between private comfort and the suffering around her.

Key Events

• Occupied Hong Kong Introduced — The story introduces Hong Kong under Japanese occupation through a later recollection. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Hong Kong
• The Old Driver Remembers — An elderly taxi driver narrates memories of people he knew as a boy. Location: Modern Hong Kong
• Fang's Ordinary Life — Fang is introduced as a bookish young woman with a poetical temperament. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Fang's home
• Engagement Collapses — Fang breaks her engagement because Li ignores the suffering of starving people. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Fang's home

The Escape Network

The resistance learns that intellectuals are threatened with execution. Fang works with Liu to smuggle endangered people toward Free China while violence against collaborators intensifies.

Key Events

• Rooms Filled With Intellectuals — Fang's mother rents rooms to intellectuals threatened by the occupation. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Fang's house
• Execution Plan Discovered — The resistance learns that many intellectuals are marked for execution. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Occupied Hong Kong
• Resistance Escape Plan — Fang joins Liu's effort to smuggle targeted intellectuals toward Free China. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Fang's house
• Intellectuals Smuggled Out — Fang and Liu help an endangered writer and his wife escape Hong Kong. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Hong Kong outskirts
• Collaborator Is Executed — Liu executes a collaborator spy and arranges for the corpse to be disposed of. Characters: Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau, Spy Location: Occupied Hong Kong

Choosing The Resistance

Li enters the Kempeitai while Fang rejects a conventional domestic future and joins the resistance. She eventually becomes a leader in East Hong Kong, and her attraction to Liu complicates her unresolved feelings for Li.

Key Events

• Li Joins The Kempeitai — Li begins working for the Kempeitai while retaining ties to resistance assistance. Characters: Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Kempeitai offices
• Poetry Masks Divided Loyalties — Li's expertise in Tang poetry supports his relationship with the poetry-loving Japanese commander. Characters: Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Kempeitai offices
• Fang Enters The Resistance — Despite her mother's opposition, Fang formally joins the resistance. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Hong Kong
• East Hong Kong Leadership — By 1944 Fang leads the resistance section in East Hong Kong. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: East Hong Kong
• A Dangerous Attraction Grows — Fang remains emotionally tied to Li while becoming attracted to Liu. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau, Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Hong Kong

The Failed Rescue

Fang's mother carries an important message but is arrested by the Kempeitai. Fang and Liu launch a rescue attack, which fails and leads to her mother's execution.

Key Events

• Message Smuggled By Mother — Fang's mother secretly transports an important message for the resistance. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Hong Kong
• Mother Is Arrested — The Kempeitai arrests Fang's mother after the message is smuggled. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Kempeitai station
• Rescue Attack Begins — Fang and Liu lead an attack intended to free Fang's imprisoned mother. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Kempeitai station
• Rescue Attempt Fails — The attack fails, leaving Fang's mother in the authorities' hands. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Kempeitai station
• Mother Is Executed — Fang's mother is executed after the failed rescue operation. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu Location: Kempeitai station

Night Departure

Li is killed after his resistance assistance is exposed. Fang and Liu flee by junk, while the film leaves their fate uncertain and returns the narration to modern Hong Kong.

Key Events

• Li's Resistance Secret Exposed — The Japanese commander discovers that Li assisted the resistance and warned Fang. Characters: Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Kempeitai offices
• Li Is Killed — Li is killed after his covert assistance to the resistance is discovered. Characters: Li Jinrong / Wing Location: Kempeitai offices
• Flight On The Junk — Fang and Liu flee Hong Kong by junk because the city has become too dangerous. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Hong Kong harbor
• Their Fate Remains Unknown — The film leaves the ultimate fate of Fang and Liu unresolved. Characters: Fang Lan / Fang Gu, Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau Location: Hong Kong harbor
• Past Becomes Modern Hong Kong — A nighttime image from 1944 transforms into modern Hong Kong. Location: Hong Kong
• The Driver Returns To Work — The elderly narrator ends the interview and returns to his modest taxi work. Location: Modern Hong Kong

Story Breakdown

• Occupied City — The film establishes wartime Hong Kong and Fang's initial life before political commitment.
  • Historical Recollection — An elderly taxi driver narrates memories of occupied Hong Kong.
  • Broken Engagement — Fang rejects Li because he appears indifferent to widespread hunger.
• Intellectual Escape — The resistance responds to plans to execute Hong Kong's intellectuals.
  • Execution Threat — Targeted intellectuals face imminent danger under the occupation.
  • Free China Route — Fang and Liu help endangered intellectuals escape Hong Kong.
• Divided Loyalties — Li serves the Kempeitai while sometimes assisting the resistance.
  • Kempeitai Position — Li takes a position connected to the occupation authorities.
  • Secret Assistance — Li covertly supports resistance efforts despite his official role.
• Fang's Transformation — Fang rejects domestic expectations and develops into a resistance leader.
  • Resistance Commitment — Fang joins the resistance against her mother's wishes.
  • East Hong Kong Leader — By 1944 Fang leads the resistance section in East Hong Kong.
• Family Tragedy — A secret message places Fang's mother in direct danger.
  • Message Smuggling — Fang's mother transports an important resistance message.
  • Failed Rescue — Fang and Liu attack the Kempeitai station but cannot free her.
• Love And Sacrifice — Personal attachments and political violence converge during the final escape.
  • Competing Affections — Fang remains connected to Li while becoming attracted to Liu.
  • Night Departure — After Li's death, Fang and Liu flee by junk with their fate unresolved.

Directed by

Ann Hui

Key Cast

• Zhou Xun — Fang Lan / Fang Gu
• Eddie Peng Yu-Yan — Liu Heizai / Blackie Lau
• Wallace Huo — Li Jinrong / Wing
• Deanie Ip — Mrs. Fong
• Tony Leung Ka-fai — Ben