Ele é Uma Mulher, Ela é Um Homem

I'm a bit surprised by the relatively low rating this movie has on this website. I found this film to be both genuinely funny, and also heartfelt at the same time.

Leslie Cheung and Anita Yuen give excellent performances in this movie, playing their respective parts perfectly. Carina Lau also shines in her role as the "other" woman.

Although this trope of gender swapping and miscommunication isn't new, this version of it is especially well done. It's not over the top or too silly, but does have many moments that will make you laugh out loud, cry, and contemplate what you would do in the same situation.

If you're a fan of romcoms I definitely recommend this movie!

The producer Sam (Leslie Cheung) and the singer Rose (Carina Lau) are a successful and happy couple on the screens and in the news. However, in the real life, they are splitting. Billy (Anta Yuen) is a girl, who dresses like a man, trying to get a spot in the show business. The problem is that both Sam and Rose fall in love with her. This Hong Kong version of `Victor or Victoria' is a funny romantic comedy and a good entertainment. The problem is that in Brazil, the Brazilian distributor Abril Video has decided to release a version dubbed in English, forgetting that the speech is part of the interpretation, destroying a funny movie with a ridiculous dubbing. A shame! Anyway, my vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Sou! Mas Quem Não É?' (`I Am! But Who Is Not?')

Your typical boy meets girl (only masquerading as a guy) story. Although the story is set in a modern-day Cantonese milieu, this story has a number of parallels with Victor Victoria.

A straight man is attracted to someone he believes is a man and is worried about his sexuality. Of course his love interest is a woman so the audience can enjoy a laugh at his expense without being made uncomfortable themselves.

There is an older openly out gay man who is consulted for advice and generally accepted but he is used throughout for comedic affect and seems to be the only gay man in their immediate circle who's `getting any'.

This is another of those films that seems to be using gay themes to titillate the audience and sell tickets without actually showing any truly positive gay images but at least it's not anti-gay. Used to be there was a class of movies called `Blacksploitation' films. I'd suggest that this film and others like it (`In and Out', `Victor/Victoria') will one day be labeled `Gaysploitation' in much the same way.

On a technical level, the film is well done and enjoyable but the DVD copy had some problems. The white subtitles were often unreadable against the white backgrounds and some went by so fast that I found myself constantly pausing and replaying a scene to see what was said. The translation was a bit off as well. There were frequent misspellings and grammar errors and several of the Cantonese songs were not translated at all. What made this particularly annoying was that the subtitles only had one setting (English and Mandarin) so when these un-translated Cantonese songs were going on the Mandarin subtitles continued.

Rose (Lau) & Sam (Cheung) are a superstar singer and her brilliant manager. They are also lovers. Wing (Yuen), a spunky and resourceful young woman, is one of their biggest fans. When Sam holds a contest to find a new male pop star, Wing cuts her hair and ... you can guess the rest. Misunderstandings and love triangles!

"Tootsie" & "Victor, Victoria" are two movies that deal with similar issues of gender and fame, and this movie is just as entertaining. Anita Yuen is very good (& attractive) as BOTH a boy and a girl, and it's easy to see why Sam and Rose fall for her. Leslie Cheung sings a terrific song called "Chase," and Carina Lau makes a great bossy diva.

This is the 16th year that Leslie had decided to end his life. This movie portrays his golden year in music and film industry. He is so enchanting being a music producer, together with the mature acting of Lau and natural portrayal of Yuen.

A fond memory of his flair in music. The movie will be remembered by his died hard and 'post wing' young fans.