Chung Mou Yim

I enjoyed this movie far more than I expected to. The whole cast of characters (or charicatures) was wonderful - particularly Anita Mui. This is light-hearted, whimsical storytelling about as good as it gets. A little bizarre at times, but a fun story throughout.

The laughs swirl around strong performances by Anita Mui, Sammi Cheng, and Cecilia Cheung.

Anita Mui plays the Emperor Qi(yes, that's Emperor), a lecherous, weak, cowardly fool whose destiny is to marry the infallibly virtuous Chung Mu Yen, played by Sammi Cheng. Of course things aren't that easy because a mischievous, but innocent Fox Spirit (translated in the subtitles as Enchantress), played by Cecilia Cheung, has fallen in love with Mu Yen instead.

The Fox Spirit curses Mu Yen by placing a large mark on her face, hoping the shallow Emperor's rejection of her will drive Mu Yen to love him instead. When that doesn't work, he turns himself into a beautiful woman to seduce the all-too-willing Emperor and drive Mu Yen away.

There really isn't a good reason why Anita Mui, as opposed to a male lead, was cast as the male Emperor, but somehow it works. She also plays the Emperor's Great Great Great Great Great Ancestor, the royal family's incompetent guardian spirit.

Adding to the fun are the Emperor's four flustered advisors, who record his mishaps in grand prose (a la Robin's Minstrels from Monty Python and the Holy Grail), and this film's low budget production.

A few of the script's lightning fast puns eluded the subtitlers and will elude a non-Canto audience. but there's more than enough fun energy in this film to make it worth seeing.

Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe this film, nor does off-beat. A shallow emperor, a determined warrior princess and one very foxy women who keeps switching back and forth like a ping-pong ball.

But to be honest, it is a funny little film in every sense of the word I confess, this was the very first time I'd ever seen Cecilia Cheung, Sammi Cheng or Anita Mui in a film but I have to say the sillier it got, the more it grew on me. Special mention should be given to Mui who has her hands full with role playing and the same goes for Cecilia Cheung. And even if it teeming with divas, this twisted tale has a truly off-beat charm and in this case, a little charm goes a long way-- at least far enough to keep you with it to find out where it will go next.

Another gender bending three girl Chinese kung fu movie, this time played for laughs. Anita Mui mugs incessantly for the camera, Sammi Cheng wanders around not getting the joke, and Cecilia Cheung is nice to look at. Slow in parts but a reasonably amusing way to spend a couple of hours if you're feeling out of sorts. Apparently a quickie Chinese New Year effort that has the production values of a high school skit.

This delightful production shows that great acting, good script and effective directing are still the basis of good cinema. This film takes a life of its own and transports us effortlessly to a fairytale world where virtues and vices are greatly exaggerated and fantastical elements are smoothly incorporated with our mundane understanding of the world.

The writer/director Ka-Fai Wai and his fellow director Johnny To elected to play with subjectivity and let the audience continuously use its imagination. For instance, they chose to have the emperor played by a woman and allow for a mere mark on the face to be the symbol of utter ugliness. In that , and in all other aspects of the feature, they succeeded in maintaining the feel of a true fairytale. The sets and decor, the use of camera, the singing narration, and the over-the-top screenplay and acting all felt authentic to the genre. This respect of tradition is in fact the starting point of the ingenuity and originality of the movie.

The foundation of the movie lie in the hands of three potent actress who play their various parts to perfection. The intensity of the acting transcends even the language barrier. The versatility of Anita Mui is breathe-taking. Sammi Cheng plays the strong role of Wu Yen with conviction and intensity, while Cecilia Cheng plays the conniving enchantress so well that you literally hate her. Even the supporting actors add flare to the movie in their small roles, especially the emperor's cohort.

The script is of high quality with strong dialogue, witty humor (both subtle and overt), and a storyline full of surprised. Here again, Wai and Yau opted to keep the children story/fairytale feel with extravagant situations and moral implications prominent. This may feel a slight bit tedious as elements are repeated as if to emphasize points to a child, but it serves its purpose in involving us into the story and in keeping the package coherent in its aim and structure. Besides, the screenplay has enough steam to allow a few short, strategically placed, stagnating moments.

The only unfortunate thing about this movie is that I don't speak Cantonese. The dialogue is so rich that I am certain to have missed some extra nuances. Also, the subtitles are cut short just as the movie is ending to leave place to the credit. I found this very regretful and I urge anyone who understands the language to fill me in on what happens at the end (you can email me). I also hope that the DVD version might remedy that problem.

In conclusion, this movie is a humble masterpiece with an enormous amount of laughs, an interesting plot and an emotionally charged love story. Go see it!! (9/10)