The film consists of two police stories, and both happened within the few days in 1997 when Hong Kong was about to be handed over to Communist China by Britain.Part 1 ( One Body Two Flags ) is about two middle age cops, also cousins, on the way to the airport, and looking back on Hong Kong and at their own lives.This Part confronts the explosive issues of the 1967 Hong Kong communist riot, and the police uprising against the ICAC ( anti-corruption agency ) in 1978.Part 2 ( The 5th ) tells about the turbulent love relationship between a young traffic cop and his pro-democracy activist girlfriend amid major political storms of 1989 pro Beijing student democracy movement, and the 1997 Hand Over of Hong Kong to China. The title came from Beethoven's 5th Symphony which the HK police used to drown demonstration voices on that fateful night.