Let’s get my prejudices out in the open, OK? I have never been a particularly big fan of Chinese opera. Something to do with growing up and listening to it and not knowing what was going on and the constant clang of the percussion methinks. Even when I saw Farewell My Concubine, my eyes kind of glazed over when there were those (thankfully) few opera scenes. That and there seems on irregular intervals, bursts of hip-hop (another type of music not in my top ten of favourite music styles) would suggest to me something I’d have to suffer through. If somebody told me I would like this movie, I am sure I would have to resort to physical violence – well, at the very least, much young asian male posturing.
But (like you didn’t see me leading into that), enjoy the movie I did. I will admit there are some pretty painful scenes in the movie but it is a rare Hong Kong Comedy I have seen that doesn’t have my jaw dropping and myself cringing in my seat (ahh, the singing and dancing in Shaolin Soccer… ahem). And yes, one or two of those do involve hip hop. The other one of note is the normal possession jokes you will see in ghost films of this type – you know, female ghost possesses male and tries to get lucky with an old flame…
The plot itself is really quite silly (and makes no sense in hindsight) but I really did not expect much walking into the film. I did know it was comic in some fashion and I was really quite surprised by the opening of the film. It was really quite creepy as the idea of the ghost was introduced before she actually came in as a character (I could attribute it to my normal distrust of clowns and the amount of make-up that the opera players put on and, well, I’m sure you can see where I’m leading with this). The film quickly lightens up however and hijinks prevail.
Eason Chan as the lead was quite cool as the up and coming Buster who had some serious self confidence issues. I’m quite surprised I didn’t recognise him though having a look through his filmography, I have to admit I haven’t seen any of them (hang my head in shame). Joey Yung as the cross-dressing Giselle also seems to have much fun in her role though how anyone could mistake her for a man is beyond my levels of comprehension. But I did mention, the movie is not supposed to make sense I’m sure.
Other notables are Yumiko Cheng as the love interest and regular purveyor of violence upon our young protagonist. In fact watching that romantic plot develop was akin to watching a primary school romance develop. Anthony Wong was probably the only face I recognised in the movie and adequate as the cowardly old antagonist keeping our young hero down. I sometimes wonder whether he plays any other roles nowadays and I suspect he’s getting typecast.
So overall, I quite enjoyed the film. Nothing special or groundbreaking but not absolute detritus. A bit of light fun really. And yes it does make me rethink my opinions of Chinese opera. Might be worth while checking out Farewell My Concubine again…