#cantonese film

[pandasmagorica]

Memory reach: Comrades: Almost A Love Story

OK, flying by the seat of my pants here, working on pure memory. I am one of those lucky people who knew what Jim was talking about when, in Moonlight Chicken, he told Wen about the movie Comrades: Almost a Love Story. I saw that movie many years ago here in San Francisco, either at a film festival or at one of the three theaters, alas, long gone, which used to show movies from Hong Kong. It's a great movie. I remember it in particular as the movie that showed me that Lai Ming (namesake of Li Ming in Moonlight Chicken) could act; before that, I had not been impressed by his acting abilities (although I'm not sure where I might have gotten that impression, as I can't seem to be able to figure out which of his earlier films I might have seen, so it may have been a false memory even at that time). But it really is a great movie and worth hunting down. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available on any of my current streaming services.

(Edit: Worldcat lists Comrades' availability in various editions.)

So yes, having to go on a memory of a movie I probably saw about 25 years ago as well as the description on MDL. I've reconstructed my memory about it from two important real world events which happened during the course of the movie: the 1987 closure of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for four days and the 1995 death of Teresa Teng. Please forgive me for errors of fact in describing the movie.

I also suggest reading @telomeke's post on the connection between Comrades: Almost A Love Story and Moonlight Chicken and @waitmyturtles' post on the same subject, as they will likely be much more coherent than my post which follows. Nevertheless, I am thinking about that movie, want to discuss it here, and will plunge forward with my two Hong Kong cents.

Basically, it's about a long time flirtation between two people who meet after emigrating from mainland China to Hong Kong around 1985 or 1986. Qiao, played by Maggie Cheung - who does a great job as well, and always has yes - knows Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, and is a bit of a schemer. Jun, played by Lai Ming, is a bit simpler and speaks Mandarin. After Qiao's attempt to cheat Jun, they somehow wind up attracted to each other. However, Jun has a fiancé back in China and Qiao falls in with a mob boss, so although – if I recall correctly – they do have an affair, they never fully connect or wind up with each other. Not sure the exact sequence, but at some point in the film the 1987 stock exchange debacle happens and Qiao is wiped out financially. Possibly that is the trigger for her winding up with the mob boss. And Jun marries his fiancé. I think. Again, my memory of the film is hazy.

Full disclosure: Although I have long known and like the song which opens every Moonlight Chicken episode, I am not a Teresa Teng fan and don't recall that aspect of Comrades beyond: the one scene that I will mention in the forthcoming spoilers, and that the Cantonese title of the film is a title of one of her songs.

The theme of the film seems to be that even that if people might be right for each other, the time may not be right for them to be together. Jim echoes this explicitly in his dialogue with Wen in Moonlight Chicken.

Although the focus of this post is the movie and not the series, I do want to give a side prop to Khaotung for being willing to be caught on screen singing that song badly. This goes hand-in-hand with Ohm's destruction of If You Don't Love Her You're Crazy in that bar scene in He's Coming to Me, another Khun Aof series.

Before we get to the spoilers, another Maggie Cheung film I can recommend is Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye. Warning: it's a weepie. I've also seen her in Days of Being Wild and Behind the Yellow Line but I don't find it either of those films particularly memorable.

Spoilers follow

Back to the movie:

Flash forward 10 years. Both of them wind up in New York City, both now single, still separate and unaware that the other is not far away. Qiao is picked up by immigration authories but escapes. She winds up in front of an appliance store with a window full of televisions. A news story is playing about the death of Teresa Teng. She turns, and also watching the story is Jun. They recognize each other and smile. End of scene.

The film then flashes back to one of them arriving in Hong Kong on the train from China. They get off the train in one direction. The camera pulls back and we see the other one get off the train in the other direction.

So the film is kind of a variation on the idea of people who are destined to meet. In this case they meet very quickly, but just can't manage to be together because the timing is wrong. We don't even know whether they get together this time because the film has cut away. We hope they'll succeed this time, but technically it's an open ending.

It is truly a beautiful film and I recommend tracking it down and watching it if you can.

While there are some parallels between Comrades and Moonlight Chicken, an open ending is not one of them. Please don't let the potentially ambiguous ending stop you from watching Comrades.

#Moonlight Chicken #Comrades: Almost a Love Story #Hong Kong films #ql series #ql drama #thai ql #cantonese film

[anjellynajolie]

FASCINATED by Anita Mui’s queer presence in HK films, where she has been cast variously as a masculine /cross-dressing woman; a pansexual woman; a woman acting as a man; and a straight-up man. 

Rouge (1987) 

Kawashima Yoshiko (1990)

Fight Back to School III (1993)

Who’s the Man Who’s the Woman (1996)

Emperor Qi-Wu Yuen (2001) 

#anita mui #hk cinema #hk singers #cantonese singers #mui yin fong #queer films #queer cinema #sapphic #genderqueer cinema

[kuroananosanji]

Zosan love story except it’s a Wong Kar Wai movie. Imagine the chemistry. The tension. The romance.

#or any old school 90s Hong Kong film #anyone watched happy together? yeah that’s them #I’ve told my bf before how their fights would be 100x funnier and intense if they spoke in cantonese #oh to cuss the love of your life out in a slew of cantonese swear words #i could swoon #zosan #ramblings

[splinteredsoul]

Limbo (2021)

dir. Soi Cheang

#asian cinema #film aesthetic #films #film screencaps #film caps #film stills #asian films #hong kong cinema #movies #cinematography #neo-noir #智齿 智齒 #soi cheang #gordon lam #cya liu #mason lee #stills #screencaps #cantonese #thriller

[wlwcatalogue]

Five Days of Yam-Pak Movies ～ Bonus: Madam Yun // 芸娘 (dir. Chu Kea/珠璣, 1960) - starring Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝) and Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙)

Click below for more information + some commentary!

Outline & Scene Summary Inspired by Shen Fu/沈復's Qing Dynasty autobiography Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六記. Madam Yun focuses on Shen Fu (Yam Kim Fai) and his wife Yun (Pak Suet Sin), who live in married bliss with their children at the former’s familial home. However, they fall foul of the machinations of Shen Fu’s younger half-brother, who has designs on the inheritance, and are summarily kicked out. The young family struggle to adjust to their poverty, but their plight is worsened by Yun becoming chronically ill; these desperate straits result in Shen Fu having to leave his family behind in search of paying work. Thankfully, after all his efforts he is able to find a benefactor, and the family is reunited under one roof (which is, sadly, not what happened in real life). In this early scene depicting the calm before storm, Shen Fu is trying to write a poem, but struggles to find the right words to finish off a line. As he is musing, his wife sneaks up and writes in her own suggestion, delighting him with her scholarly wit.

Although the movie as a whole is pretty dour, the first few scenes really stood out to me as a lovely (if inadvertent) depiction of an F/F couple being happily married with children, especially as Pak’s character is not reduced to being a mere mother or housewife, and the focus remains on the love between the pair. It’s also notable that the source material is known for being a rare depiction of a loving marriage in Chinese literature, and the earlier 1954 film adaptation specifically cast two actors who frequently played married couples (namely Cheung Wood-Yau/張活游 and Pak Yin/白燕; see source). The casting of Yam-Pak for this movie indicates that the studio was confident the public would embrace them as not only a romantic pairing, but specifically the ideal of a married couple.

Note: Six Records of a Floating Life is very much worth reading, not only because it's a vividly-drawn portrait of everyday life in 19th-century China (floral arrangements! exam LARPing! complaining about how touristy Hangzhou's West Lake is!), but also because it contains queer elements. There are references to Yun having a relationship with another woman (and asking her husband to take her on as a concubine, lol) and being attracted to other women, none of which are mentioned in this movie.

Links:

My post about Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin being queer icons

Full movie on Youtube

#hong kong #hong kong film #hong kong movie #hong kong cinema #cantonese opera #chinese opera #yam kim fai #pak suet sin #yampak #yambak #任白 #任劍輝 #白雪仙 #pak sheut sin #bak sheut sin #theatre #my gifs #芸娘 #madam yun #浮生六記 #six records of a floating life #happy cny eve to all who celebrate!

[tinqwei]

esther eng- openly lesbian filmmaker!!

i just found out about esther eng (伍錦霞) the first chinese female filmmaker to make chinese language films in the us and hong kong.

her love for films started from watching cantonese operas!! she made many films in her lifetime, its such a shame most of the films she made are now lost films, except for two films: golden gate girls and murder in new york chinatown.

she was a butch lesbian and there was no controversy around that because in cantonese opera its normal for actors and actresses to crossdress. another fact that made me smile so much is that her grandparents came from toisan (台山)!!! literally punching the air rn bc im from toisan, i speak cantonese and im also a lesbian i am literally so happy.

i also loved how people called her by the nickname "霞哥" ("ha brother" in english)

i literally cannot express how much finding out about esther eng made my day

also if your interested this is the article i read

#lesbian #butch lesbian #butch #chinese lesbian #wlw #lesbian history #lgbtq history #chinese lgbtq #chinese american history #chinese american #taishan #toisan #台山 #cantonese #cantonese opera #hong kong cinema #lgbt cinema #taishanese americans #chinese filmmaker #chinese film #lgbtq cantonese #esther eng #伍錦霞 #lgbt chinese history #1930s film

[don-dake]

I got reminded of this scene from 《尋秦記》 (2001) ↑…

as I was watching Demolition Man (1993) ↓ and its “seashells” scene recently!

Context (for anyone who hasn't watched either):

In 《尋秦記》 (A Step into the Past), a cop (Louis Koo) from the future (2001) is zapped back in time to a little before the establishment of the 秦朝 (Qin Dynasty, 221 BC – 206 BC), where he finds toilet habits to be not what he expected…

Demolition Man has this cop (Sylvester Stallone) who was cryogenically frozen in a dystopian world in 1996 and wakes up in the year 2032 where the world's (or at least the US of A) toilet habits have changed drastically.

So wait, does that mean the toilet situation in the world of Demolition Man is no better than the primitive times of the (almost) Qin Dynasty? 😹

P.S.: I still have no idea how the piece of what looks like a broken piece of pottery, or the “seashells” actually work! 😹

#I usually don't like Stallone films because most of them bore me but this is #One of the exceptions! #Demolition Man #Sylvester Stallone #Sandra Bullock #Western Movies #Movies #A Step into the Past #Ep 2 #Louis Koo #TVB #HK Drama #Cantonese #Mandarin #Chinese Language #Language

[romanceyourdemons]

looking for a movie to watch i saw one that made me think hm that looks kinda fun, in a daniel lee sort of way (derogatory) and then i scroll down and it turns out it’s daniel lee’s latest fucking film. i clocked my nemesis from the summary and casting alone that’s how deep our bond is

#i have complex feelings about daniel lee’s films #but i’m not gonna watch any of them right now because today i really want to watch something in cantonese #ryddles

[sapphireshorelines]

Autumn Moon (1992), dir. Clara Law

#film blog #asian cinema #women directors #hong kong #Cantonese cinema

[strawberryplanetradio]

Fallen Angels (1995)

Soundtrack

Forget Him - Shirley Kwan

#wong kar wai #fallen angels #films #Shirley Kwan #Michelle Reis #1990s cinema #1990s #90s #cantonese pop #movie soundtrack #Spotify

[cultreslut]

墮落天使 (fallen angels) (1995), dir. wong kar-wai on archive.org

"An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him." synopsis via tmdb

#墮落天使 #墮落天使 (1995) #fallen angels #fallen angels (1995) #wong kar wai #wong kar-wai #hong kong film #cantonese #film #archive #crime #romance #action #1990s #90s #cultreslut

[kiramarch]

All memories are traces of tears.

#wong kar wai #films #aesthetic #aesthetic filter #movies #movie quotes #cantonese #2046 #chungking express #days of being wild #fallen angels #happy together #Spotify

[flowers4kostis]

Faye Wong

#fashion #90s #nostalgia #film #won kar wai #cantonese #china #canto pop #model

[xinyuehui]

you've gotten me to watch several shows because of your gifs, and I'm curious: which are your favorite shows? I've always wondered if the ones that end up hooking me are also the ones you like the most 😅

You're most likely right Anon! If I like a certain show I probably post about it a lot which may have convinced you to watch it at one point ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ generally speaking if I've made 3+ gifsets for it, it's a favourite! eg. The Blood of Youth, The Starry Love, Three Body (recent examples) which ones are your faves Anon??

Although the ones that hit close to the heart, I rarely talk about on my blog, mainly because there isn't a fandom on tumblr. Some cdramas just don't make it out here, I might make a post or two about it, if there's little to no responses, I don't bother with it. I too, as a gifmaker, isn't immune from chasing clout (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )づ

#ask #anon #a lot of my faves are hongkong dramas its only recent years i watch more mandarin dramas (i used to be anime trash #when i was growing up it was all about hk films/dramas (also bc im cantonese) but now hk dramas suck #not to say mandarin dramas dont suck but the pool is bigger and you can ignore the bad ones but hkdramas is just dying out 😭😭

[panicinthestudio]

Renowned Hong Kong composer Joseph Koo dies at the age of 92, January 4, 2023

Renowned Hong Kong composer Joseph Koo died in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 92. Synonymous with the golden age of Cantopop, Koo composed over 1,000 songs and compositions for Hong Kong TV programmes, films and mega stars, including the late Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. One of Koo’s most well-known songs, the television theme soundtrack Below the Lion Rock, remains the city’s unofficial anthem today.

South China Morning Post

Joseph Koo Kar Fai - TVB Theme Medley

千王之王 (The Shell Game, 1980)

上海灘 (The Bund, 1980)

倚天屠龍記 (The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, 1978)

家變 (A House Is Not a Home, 1977)

心有千千結 (The Heart with a Million Knots, 1976)

忘盡心中情 (The Legend of Master So, 1982)

楚留香 (Chor Lau-heung, 1979)

小李飛刀 (The Romantic Swordsman, 1978)

夢裡幾番哀 (The Foundation, 1984)

奮鬥 (Conflict, 1978)

#Joseph Koo Kar Fai #Joseph Koo #music #pop #cantopop #Cantonese #hong kong #pop culture #television #film #south china morning post #news #obituary #nostalgia #TVB

[wlwcatalogue]

Five Days of Yam-Pak Movies ～ Day 5: Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom // 蝶影紅梨記 (dir. Lee Tit / 李鐵, 1959) ～ Final Scene: 紅梨復艷 - starring Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙) and Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝)

Scene outline and more information below!

Final Scene: The Red Pear Tree Blossoms Again // 紅梨復艷 After many trials and tribuations, courtesan So-chau (Pak Suet Sin) is finally able to reunuite with her lover Chiu Yu-chau (Yam Kim Fai). However, Chiu – a newly-appointed magistrate tasked with eliminating corruption – is determined not to enjoy the festivities, especially as he believes So-chau to be dead. Eventually, So-chau succeeds in drawing his attention, but Chiu is shocked to see her standing before him, and immediately assumes that she is a ghost (there are story reasons for this, but it’s still funny to see). Thankfully, the misunderstandings are quickly cleared up and the pair have their happily ever-after-after. Note: The English title is a very loose interpretation of the original title of the scene, which would be more literally translated as “The Red Pear Blossom Returns to its Full Glory”. Also, the scene summary is not entirely accurate because it would take far too long to go into the exact details… this film has quite a few twists and turns XP

Links:

My post about Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin being queer icons

My summary of the film

Clip of this scene on Youtube

Full film on Youtube

#hong kong #hong kong film #hong kong movies #hong kong cinema #cantonese opera #chinese opera #yam kim fai #pak suet sin #yampak #yambak #pak sheut sin #bak sheut sin #theatre #蝶影紅梨記 #butterfly and red pear blossom #my gifs