Hooked on You (每當變幻時)

It’s been about a week since July 1, officially HKSAR Establishment Day in this Special Administrative Region though more popularly Protest Day. It’s customary for citizens to air all manners of grievances against the government, but this year, the eighteenth under Chinese rule, there was little to mark the occasion. While protesters still numbered in the tens of thousands, many stayed away having made their point pretty clear during the months-long Occupy Movement. The Central Government also tempered their approach, wanting the day to pass with as little incident as possible.

It’s a remarkable change from the fanfare that greeted the tenth anniversary of the Handover in 2007 when there was a distinctly celebratory air to the proceedings. In addition to the slate of cultural events on offer, Hong Kong pop stars also got in on the act with an uplifting theme song about their glorious territory. It seemed for a short while that this crazy “one country, two systems” plan might just work after all. We’d weathered the Asian economic crisis and pulled through SARS, new parents still had no problem buying milk powder, and retailers rather enjoyed the boost from Mainland tourism. Hell, people even migrated back to Hong Kong from their American and Commonwealth safe havens. Maybe this could all work out.

Maybe. That’s the overriding feeling of this Johnnie To produced, Law Wing-Cheong directed feature, very much a product of 10^th anniversary, calm before the storm sentiment. The film follows Mui (Miriam Yeung) and Fishman (Eason Chan) in the years after the Handover and is a love story but not the conventional kind. Mui and Fishman spend much of their time apart, their feelings for each other and their timing never quite in sync, but the real and deeper romance is between the audience and a changing Hong Kong. The writers overlay one with the other and end up with a script that tells of love and heartache on a personal and societal level.

The tale spans a decade and begins in 1997 when Mui and Fishman meet at the Fortune Market. They are competing fishmongers, and he’s none too pleased that her cheerful personality and strong work ethic have won over customers and hawkers. The wet market is his natural milieu, and Fishman’s crusty demeanor matches its charged, sometimes aggressive atmosphere. He doesn’t seem to mind that he’s up to his elbows in fish guts every day, and anyway, his best friend’s a butcher (Huang Bo).

Mui, on the other hand, is not sure where she belongs, but she knows it’s not Fortune Market. At twenty-seven years, she makes it her goal to leave the stall and establish herself in a better class of position. Mui is aspirational but realistic; she simply wants to find a respectable and rewarding job, and husband to match, by the age of thirty. But for the time being, she agrees to help out her good-for-nothing dad (Stanley Fung) pay off his debts to Mr. Right (David Lo), working at his stall by day and selling congee by night.

Hooked on You’s first fifteen minutes set Mui and Fishman up for a bit of an opposites attract dynamic and steers the story in the way of a goofy romcom, which it is not. It takes some time for the film to find its footing and eventually does when a real crisis hits Fortune Market – the arrival of a flashy chain grocery store. With its plastic wrapped products and credit card-ready check out terminals, the supermarket threatens the livelihoods of the hawkers, and they scramble to find new ways to retain customers.

Their strategies are laughable and produce humorous results, but it’s increasingly clear that there’s a larger narrative at work. As the years roll by, Mui and Fishman are pressured by social changes and events, such as the financial crisis and SARS, all of which are presented episodically. Sometimes these are given too cursory a treatment and the situation itself becomes secondary, but the movie is really grounded in the two main characters and their tenuous, long-term relationship.

Fishman, sensitively played by Chan, is the resolute Hong Konger. Stubborn and plain wrong on numerous occasions, he makes his decisions without compromise. Perhaps like the city itself, he hangs on just a little too long, and his attachments to Fortune Market and Mui suffer accordingly. Mui likewise shows a side of Hong Kong, but her strengths and flaws paint a different picture of the city and her character. Unlike Fishman, she sees opportunity in change and often takes chances when they come, whether about her career, her finances, or her love life. Some decisions leave her better off and some do not, but she is always working to get one step higher. Like Chan, Yeung is a fine actress when she tones down her comedic volume, and in her hands, Mui grows into an admirable woman who can own her mistakes as well as she can take pride in her successes.

The movie is especially moving when it lets the actors guide the camera, and its most poignant moments are when the two characters struggle to fit into the changing landscape. But the final sequence, which contrives emotions and is out of tune with the realism of the plot, doesn’t ring as true. Nevertheless, it elicits some sort of pride in the indomitable Hong Kong spirit and leaves viewers with a sense of cautious optimism about the city as an SAR – something that is difficult to appreciate nearly two decades on from the Handover. After a tumultuous few years and more uncertainty to come, the short period of reunification bliss now seems like something out of the movies. If in 2007 Hooked on You asked Hong Kongers to let go of the past and have a little faith in the future, in 2015, it mostly makes us nostalgic for more hopeful times.

“Hooked On You” (每當孌幻時) by Miriam Yeung:

Released: 2007
Prod: Andrew Fung 馮志強
Dir: Law Wing-Cheung 羅永昌
Writer: Johnnie To 杜琪峰
Cast: Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅; Eason Chan 陳奕迅; Huang Bo 黃渤; Stanley Fung 馮淬帆; William Feng 馮紹峰; Kwan Kin 關鍵; Tam Yan-Mei 覃恩美; Farini Cheung 張睿羚; Jolie Chan 陳苑淇; David Lo 盧大偉; Ai Wai 艾威; Wong Yau-Nam 黃又南; Jo Kuk 谷祖琳; Gordon Lam 林家棟; Raymond Wong 黃浩然; Hui Siu-Hung 許紹雄; Four Tse 謝魯駟; Stephanie Cheng 鄭融; Carl Ng 吳嘉龍; Marie Zhuge 諸葛梓岐
Time: 97 min
Lang: Cantonese
Country: Hong Kong
Reviewed: 2015

Yesterday Once More (龍鳳鬥)

Third time should be a charm for director Johnnie To and actors Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, who turned out critical and commercial hits with the romantic comedies Needing You and Love on a Diet. But their collaboration in Yesterday Once More falls short of their earlier efforts and lacks both the wit and chemistry that made those movies so enjoyable. This film has a promising start and tells the story of married thieves who break up, go head-to-head, and may still be in love, but the narrative never picks up and it plods along until a surprise final act jolts the picture from its tedium.

Much of the fault lies in the characterization; it’s hard to warm to a movie in which both protagonists are selfish, materialistic criminals. Lau and Cheng have played unpleasant people in the past, but Mr. and Mrs. To have very little to recommend themselves. The pair care more about amassing stolen jewels than they do about preserving their own marriage, which causes them to head for splitsville within the opening scene.

Two years later, Mrs. To is in a relationship with Steven (Carl Ng), a rich young man still clinging to his mother’s apron strings. It’s patently obvious that Mrs. To is only in it for the family heirlooms, but daft Steven can’t figure it out. Luckily for him, mom (Shaw Brothers’ lead Jenny Hu) isn’t so easily fooled since she herself is in the thieving business. A prenup and marriage are agreed to, and Mrs. To gets a pricey diamond necklace, but not before Mr. To reappears and snatches it.

This is where the story should pick up. There’s potential for some clever cat and mouse chases underscored by the couple’s simmering sexual tension, and this push and pull is where the previous films were strongest. Mr. and Mrs. To don’t interact in any way that adds to their relationship, however. Their steady flirtation isn’t enough to sustain the action or cultivate empathy for them. A subplot involving an insurance surveyor (Gordan Lam) adds a bit of intrigue but Hu, returning to the Hong Kong screen after a decades-long absence, seems to not have warmed up quite enough, and it’s not enough to pique slagging interest.

Lau and Cheng finally get to show off in the curveball third act, which scrambles the rules of romantic comedy a bit. But in doing so, Mr. and Mrs. To are challenged to confront their priorities and feelings for each other. The actors get a lot more material to work with, and a less vapid relationship starts to take form. It all comes a little too late in the game for a resuscitation though, and this is one better left on its own.

“If Trouble Comes” (如果我有事) theme song by Andy Lau:

“For the Last Time” (最後一次) by Sammi Cheng:

Released: 2004
Prod: Johnnie To 杜琪峰
Dir: Johnnie To 杜琪峰
Action Dir: Yuen Bun 元彬
Writer: Au Kin-Yee 歐健兒; The Hermit 隱士
Cast: Andy Lau 劉德華; Sammi Cheng 鄭秀文; Jenny Hu 胡燕妮; Gordon Lam 林家棟; Carl Ng 吳嘉龍; Chun Wong 秦煌; Hui Siu-Hung 許紹雄; Lin Wai-Kin 連偉健
Time: 98 min
Lang: Cantonese
Country: Hong Kong
Reviewed: 2015

Running on Karma (大隻佬)

They say karma’s a bitch, and never has that been truer than in this provocative Johnnie To/Wai Ka-Fai film. Though the initial draw seems to be Andy Lau in a muscle suit, Running on Karma leaves viewers with a far different feeling than the last time the actor concealed himself in latex. The romantic comedy Love on a Diet also starred Lau and was helmed by To and Wai, but this collaboration departs from the laughs that characterized their earlier production, going instead for a rare Hong Kong action thriller that explores the persistence of violence and ways in which to end it.

Lau plays Big, a former Buddhist monk who turned away from his ascetic life after the brutal murder of his friend. He now slings around dumpy strip joints, and it’s at one of these that he meets Lee Fung-Yee (Cecilia Cheung), an eager police officer initially assigned to work on his indecent exposure case until the irritable and punchy Inspector Chung (Eddie Cheung) drafts her into CID. He needs her help to solve a murder and find the escaped suspect, but his callous personality makes the assignment difficult for the young officer.

Nevertheless, Fung-Yee closes in on some leads, with the help of Big, and that is where the story really begins. During their investigation, Big reveals that he can see karma. Right before someone dies, visions of the person’s former life appear, allowing him to deduce the manner in which he or she will soon expire. So it comes as a shock when haunting images of wartime Japanese soldiers materialize around Fung-Yee, and we know that things will not turn out happily for her.

The movie is fascinating and profoundly touching in the most unexpected ways. It adopts a language and style similar to that of your average Hong Kong cop thriller but diverges markedly in substance. Unlike most shoot-em-ups, the mind game here stretches beyond the immediate action. After the death of a character, Big remarks on the cycles of betrayal and trust that lead to violence and the perpetuation thereof. Not content to reflect only on the source of suffering, however, the film also asks, through the lens of Buddhism, how we stop the hatred that filters down through generations. There is a porous line between individual and societal acts, and both individuals and society share responsibility in stopping the cruelty that scars humanity. Fung-Yee is by all appearances a good person but must nevertheless bear the burden of evils committed, whether or not by her.

It’s a study in retributive justice and its limits but also a brief meditation on death. Cheung’s acting comes through especially when her character is confronted with her fate. She still plays something of an ingénue; Fung-Yee is sublimely eager and even pert on occasion. But she very much grasps that she is running on karma and not from it and thus attempts to use her impending death for good. All this helps to distract from a few bumps in the plot and Lau’s rubbery muscle suit, which serves little practical purpose. The movie picked up the Best Film prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards and definitely earns a spot as one of the better films of the last decade.

“Beyond Love” (身外情) by Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming:

Released: 2001
Prod: Johnnie To 杜琪峰; Wai Ka-Fai 韋家輝
Dir: Johnnie To 杜琪峰; Wai Ka-Fai 韋家輝
Action Dir: Yuen Bun 元彬
Writer: Wai Ka-Fai 韋家輝; Yau Nai-Hoi 游乃海; Au Kin-Yee 歐健兒; Yip Tin-Shing 葉天成
Cast: Andy Lau 劉德華; Cecilia Cheung 張柏芝; Eddie Cheung 張兆輝; Karen Tong 湯寶如; Chun Wong 秦煌; Hon Gwok-Choi 韓國材; Yu Wenzhong 于文仲; Hou Liansheng 侯連升
Time: 93 min
Lang: Cantonese
Country: Hong Kong
Reviewed: 2014