opium smuggling

His stylistically innovative films like 'Chungking Express' and works set in colonial Hong Kong capture the moral ambiguity and atmospheric decay of opium trade networks.

His crime thrillers, particularly those exploring Hong Kong's underworld, frequently depict opium smuggling operations within complex narratives of betrayal and violence.

His historical epics like 'The Assassin' and other period works examine colonial-era East Asian societies where opium trade fundamentally shaped political and social structures.