Happy Together 春光乍洩

Released Year: 1997

Directed by 王家卫 Wong Kar Wai

Casted by:

梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 黎耀輝 Lai

張國榮 Leslie Cheong as 何寶榮 Ho

張震 Zhang Zheng as 張宛 Chang

關淑怡 Shirley Kwan as 黎耀輝女友 Lai's ex gf

Story:

Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-fai, a couple from pre-handover Hong Kong, visit Argentina hoping to renew their ailing relationship. The two have a pattern of abuse, followed by breakups and reconciliations. One of their goals in Argentina is to visit the Iguazu waterfalls, which serves as a leitmotif in the movie.

The movie unfolds in the following sections:

Part 1

Ho Po-Wing bought a lamp with the Iguazu Falls on, then the two decided to visit the falls together. During the ride, however, they get into an argument and break up. Lai is the more stable and committed of the two, and desires nothing more than a fairly normal life. He tries to deal with the break-up rationally and gets a job at a local nightclub. Ho has an extremely destructive personality and is not able to commit to a monogamous relationship. Ho seems to be motivated by both a need for attention as well as a need to simply hurt Lai. Ho picks up numerous other men, and even goes so far to bring them to the club that Lai works at. Lai tries very hard to lead a normal life at this point, but is nearly driven to the edge of insanity by Ho.

Part 2

One day Ho Po-Wing turns up severely beaten at Lai Yiu-fai's apartment, who takes him in and begins to take care of him. Ho's hands are injured so at this point, he relies on Lai for nearly everything. Initially, Lai works hard to keep Ho at bay physically and emotionally. However, in the end, they get back together. Their actions indicate a continual pattern of abuse, break-up, finally followed by reconciliation. As in the previous times, in the beginning Ho does try to make the relationship work, and the two seem genuinely happy. However, as Ho recovers, he begins again to pick up other men and ignore Lai. We see gradually the destructive side of Ho's personality taking over and the familiar cycle of mutual abuse and dependence starting again.

Part 3

As Lai and Ho's relationships starts falling apart again, Lai befriends Chang, a fellow Chinese from Taiwan at work. In some sense, Chang is Ho's opposite. Whereas Ho is manipulative and volatile, Chang is straightforward and stable. After Ho fully recovers, he resumes his playboy lifestyle and leaves Lai. Lai copes with the loss by spending more and more time with Chang. It is hinted that Chang is also gay and attracted to Lai; Chang states in a voiceover that he likes 'deep, low voices' and is seen rejecting advances from an attractive female coworker. Chang's unassuming self-awareness and sincerity help Lai out of his depression, contributing to his eventual realisation that his relationship with Ho Po-Wing is based on an ideal which no longer has any basis in reality. During one of their many conversations, Chang tells Lai that his goal is to reach the southern tip of South America where there is a lighthouse where supposedly all sorrows can be dropped. Eventually, Chang departs Buenos Aires and continues on this journey.

Part 4

After Chang leaves, Lai sinks deeper into depression. He takes some changes jobs in order make more money and eventually resorts to sexual encounters with other men in public restrooms and cinemas as a means to cope with the loneliness. He remarks in voiceovers at this point that in some sense he better understands Ho's promiscuity at this point, as these encounters seem to be a way to numb the emotional pain.

On Christmas Day, he sits down and begins to write a card to his father back in Hong Kong. The card turns into a long letter. We learn that earlier Lai had stolen a large amount of money from his father's associate's business in order to finance the trip for himself and Ho to South America. Lai apologises to his father, and resolves to return to Hong Kong and deal with his past actions.

Part 5

After a few months, Ho again contacts Lai to restart the cycle of abuse and destruction. But this time, Lai has the strength to avoid starting this cycle once again. He refuses to see Ho. While on the surface, Ho is angry about Lai's rejection, privately he also mourns this loss. Eventually, Lai finds the strength to visit the waterfalls and return to Hong Kong. On the way home to Hong Kong, Lai visits Taipei and seeks out Chang's family's noodle shop in the night market. He steals a picture of Chang as a remembrance.

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

The most classic gay movie in HK, acted by the 2 most popular and good looking actors back in 1997. Every gay wanted to be like one of them, every gay in HK wanted to go Argentina for a romantic trip and see the Iguazu Falls~ It really did makes a big impact in the gay society till now, how can u ever miss it? no matter u are gay or straight, a good movie never to be missed...

Ninth Happiness 九星報喜

 Released Year: 1998

Directed by 高志森 Clifton Koh

Casted by:

张国荣 Leslie Cheung as 马麟祥 Xiang

吴倩莲 Jacklyn Wu as 紫云 Yun

钟镇涛 Kenny B as 阿Dup

黎姿 Gigi Lai as 阿香 Heong

黄百鸣 Raymond Wong as 马麟大 Dai

李蕙敏 Amanda Lee as 姣姣 Gao

周文健 Michael Chow as 马麟举 Gui

陈洁灵 Elisa Chan as 相国夫人 Madam

张达明 Cheung Tat Ming as 李老板 Lee

 Story:

In a peaceful village lead by Madam, the villagers are honest and sincere. But when come the new government Dai, he plans to destroy the peaceful of the village just to get more money for himself. Together with his brother Gui, they both created a lot of disaster and even challenge Madam on this.

Madam's niece, Yun met another brother of Dai, Xiang. She mistaken him as an angel and fall deeply in love with him. In the same time, lovely couple Dup and Heong are down to earth while Gao try her best to find her dream man which in the end turn out to be Dai.

Even though Dai & Gui manage to destroy the peaceful of the village, but quickly they realize they are wrong and together with Xiang, they manage the village well and with happiness.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

One of the Chinese New Year movie in 1998, i have watched it a few times before, but decided to rewatch it again as i kinda miss Jacklyn Wu lately. She has left the acting industry and own her own company now. This should be the only movie she acted with Leslie Cheung, kinda funny. Overall its still ok, but not gonna watch it again so fast... maybe few years later~

The Eagle Shooting Heroes 射鵰英雄傳之東成西就

Released Year: 1993

Directed by 劉鎮偉 Jeffrey Lau

 

Casted by:

張國榮 Leslie Cheung as 東邪黃藥師 Dong
 林青霞 Bridget Lin as 三公主 Princess
 梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 西毒歐陽鋒 Feng
 梁家輝 Tony Leung as 南帝段智興(一燈) Nan

 張學友 Jacky Cheung as 北丐洪七公 Hong

 王祖賢 Joey Wang as 小師妹 Shi

劉嘉玲 Carina Lau as 周伯通 Tong
 葉玉卿 Veronica Yip as 金輪國王妃 Empress
 張曼玉 Maggie Cheung as 金輪國國師 Fortune Teller

鍾鎮濤 Kenny B as 王重陽 Yang

Story:

In Jin Lun city, the empress and her cousin Feng try to grab the empire from the emperor, but the important chop is with the princess. The princess ran to seek help from her master, the master send Dong to accompany her to get the Jiu Yin Zhen Jin (the great martial arts book).

 

Along the way, they met Yang who was killed by Feng's flying shoe; Shi who followed them because she's in love with Dong; Tong who is a gay man that wanna seek revenge for Yang; Nan who wanna become a God and must reject his marriage with the princess while seek for his true love who has 666 at the chest; Hong who get rejected by Shi and forced Feng to kill him.

 

In the end, Feng get the Jiu Yin Zhen Jin and princess while the rest went to save the princess with the help of the fortune teller. Nobody can defeat Feng until the God Nan came and help them.

L² Scored: 10/10

 

L² Comment:

This movie has always always been my top 1 favorite comedy ever since i was a kid. Having all these fabulous actors/actresses in one movie is not easy. Especially after watching the serious version a moment ago, i love this movie even more~

 

Ashes of Time 東邪西毒：終極版 2008

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by 王家卫 Wong Kar Wai

 

Casted by:

 張國榮 Leslie Cheung as 歐陽鋒 OuYang Feng
 梁家輝 Tony Leung as 黃藥師 Wong Yao Shi
 林青霞 Bridget Lin as 慕容嫣／慕容燕 MuYung Yin
 梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 盲武士 Blind Swordsman
 劉嘉玲 Carina Lau as 桃花 Tao Hua
 楊采妮 Charlie Yeong as 孝順女子 Young girl
 張學友 Jacky Cheung as 洪七 Hong Qi Gong
 張曼玉 Maggie Cheung as 歐陽鋒的嫂子 Feng's sister in law

 Story: 

In this film, set in ancient times in China, Ouyang Feng, hiring famous bounty hunters. His character is portrayed as a fallen swordsman driven by greed and heartless to both friend and foe. He was perpetually being spiteful of love as his own love history was not nearly so beautiful. His bounty-hunters came and went as was narrated by Ouyang Feng himself as based on the Tung Shu predictions.

In essence, he was a loner with little love, but the bounty hunters that worked for Ouyang Feng, like Blind Swordsman and another of his best fighters, Hong Qigong, discovered the intangible secret of true love while Ouyang retained his attitude towards his fighters and the precious lessons that they have taught. However, the thread that runs through the entire narrative has clearly the spirit of refusal in the sense that one should reject another before he gets to be rejected in the future. To illustrate, nearly every character in this story has resorted to being selfish and malignant in order to prevent being rejected by others, be it in love or in comradeship as their individual hardships have moulded their attitude turning them into heartless and cold individuals in order to survive in the uncompromising desert where the story is set.

It has many moral implications but is less evident since the main character is Ouyang himself and most of the narration would unquestionably be centred on him.

 L² Scored: 8/10

 

L² Comment:

An old movie in 1994 and re-edited by Wong Kar Wai himself after so many years, just because before Leslie's one word before he die "hope this film can go international". So there goes the film to Berlin and many more countries and once again hit the blockbuster... 

Inner Senses 異度空間

Released Year: 2002
Directed by 罗志良 Law Chi-Leung

Casted by:
张国荣 Leslie Cheung as Jim Law
林嘉欣 Karena Lam as Cheung Yan
李子雄 Waise Lee as Wilson Chan
周嘉玲 Valerie Chow as Mrs Chan
徐少强 Norman Chu as Mr Chu
Story:

Psychiatrist Dr. Jim Law tries to treat his patient, Cheung Yan, a woman who believes that she sees ghosts. Law does not believe in the supernatural and thinks that she is repressing her past. Law reads Yan's diaries to better understand her psyche and learns that her parents are divorced and do not care for her. Yan's condition improves gradually and they develop a romantic relationship at the same time.

However, Law feels that he cannot become too close to Yan because she is his patient and tries to convey the message to her indirectly. Yan understands his words and feels hurt, as she thinks that he is dumping her in the same way as her ex-boyfriend did. She starts having hallucinations again and sees the spirits of her landlord's deceased wife and son, after which she attempts suicide by overdosing on antidepressants and slitting her wrist, but survives. Law travels to Yan's apartment later and hears strange noises in the bathroom and thinks that her neighbour upstairs is responsible. Once, Law sees a female ghost while looking out of his window, and sees her again on another two occasions while driving and swimming. He starts taking antidepressants as well and tries to electrocute himself, but is rescued in time and recovers.

Law eventually helps Yan recover from her mental illness by reuniting her with her parents. Following that, he starts dating Yan as she is no longer his patient. While in a restaurant one day, Law is attacked by a woman, whom he remembers to be the mother of the ghost he saw. He starts having nightmares and begins sleepwalking, behaving erratically and reacting violently when Yan and his colleagues ask him. The ghost that Law sees is actually Siu-yu, his ex-girlfriend in high school, who committed suicide after Law broke up with her. Law has visions of Siu-yu following him wherever he goes and flees in horror until he finally reaches the top of a building. He is confronted by Siu-yu's ghost, who wants to force him to jump off. Law shows remorse for causing Siu-yu's death and the ghost disappears.

After that, he sees Yan walking towards him and embraces her, and the film ends with both of them sitting together on the top of the building.

L² Scored: 5.5/10

L² Comment:

After this movie, Leslie Cheung which actually claim that he's being follow by spirit that lead him to suicide on 1st April 2003.

The whole film is not bad, the storyline is kinda familiar with some Korean or Japs horror, but hell yea~ all the ghost story are usually the same right? :P The part which actually shock me a bit is when Karena open the toilet cabinet and saw 2 heads appear in muddy situation. Cool~

The last movie of our beloved Gor Gor Leslie Cheung, we love you.

Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬

Released Year: 1993
Directed by 陈凯歌 KaiGe-Chen

Casted by:
张国荣 Leslie Cheung as 程蝶衣 Die
张丰毅 FengYi-Chang as 段小楼 Lou
巩俐 Gong Li as 菊仙 Ju
葛优 Ge You as 袁四爷 Yuan
Story:

In 1977, the year after the end of the Cultural Revolution, two men in Beijing Opera costumes, one in a female role, the other as a stage king, enter the performance hall and are greeted by a voice off camera—they haven't performed in eleven years—and a single spot light falls on them.

The scene, now shot in sepia, cuts to 1924. A woman walks hurriedly with a small child in her arms through a crowded Chinese market. A man, recognizing her, tries to speak to her but she roughly pushes him off as he shouts,"Whore!" A crowd is watching a troupe of boys from a Beijing opera training school perform for coins in the street, supervised by their aging director, Master Guan. One of the boys, Laizi, tries to run away, and the crowd is insulted. The leader, a possible warlord, begins pushing around Master Guan. One of the troupe, Shitou (meaning "stone"), shames the crowd by breaking a brick on his head. The crowd cheers, but Shitou is later punished for pulling such a stunt.

The mother takes the boy to the troupe house but Master Guan refuses him because of a birth defect, a superfluous finger. Throughout the scene you can hear a peddler calling out his skill as a knife sharpener. Apparently the mother goes to him to get a sharp knife. As the child whimpers that his defective hand is freezing she covers his eyes with a scarf and cuts off the extra finger. There is silence, perhaps because his hand was numb from the cold, then a cut to a distressed child crying as his mother carries him back to the school. She signs the contract with his thumb print in blood and leaves without a word. Shitou welcomes him as "Douzi" [Bean]. The two boys soon become good friends.

A few years later. Laizi, craving freedom and candied crab apples, and Douzi escape, but return after seeing a performance by an opera master that makes Laizi weep and ask how they became stars, and how much they had to endure to become stars. Another reason for Douzi to return is his longing for Shitou. As Master Guan brutally beats Shitou for allowing the escape of Laizi and Douzi, Laizi hides to eat his crab apples. Douzi walks to the beating bench to accept his punishment. Master Guan begins to beat him mercilessly, but Douzi never screams though Shitou begs him to say he is sorry. Shitou charges the master but the assistant yells for the master to come: Laizi has hanged himself.

Douzi attaches himself to Shitou and is trained to play Dan (female) roles. He practices the monologue "Dreaming of the World Outside the Nunnery," but when he is to say, "I am by nature a girl, not a boy" he instead says "I am by nature a boy..." The monologue comes from the kunqu "The Record of an Evil Sea," kuhai (the Evil Sea) being a Buddhist term for a life of sorrow. Shitou learns the jing, a painted-face male lead.

When the famous theatrical agent, Na Kun, a Manchu, visits the troupe, Douzi is brought out to recite his bravura role, but he says again "I am by nature a boy," and the agent begins to leave. With the future of the troupe at risk, Shitou twists a tobacco pipe into Douzi's throat until he gargles in his own blood. Suddenly there is a soft whisper of, "I am by nature a girl... not a boy."

Jump cut to Douzi in full costume at an elaborate stage in front of a large audience in an elaborate private pavilion of the aging Eunuch Zhang, who admires him and his talent. Douzi and Shitou sing the famous duets, and the audience roars.

After their performance, the two are summoned for an audience with Eunuch Zhang. Shitou admires a beautiful sword in Zhang's collection, stating that if he were emperor, Douzi would be his queen. Douzi says that one day he hopes to give Shitou a sword like that. The boys are told Douzi is to meet Zhang alone.

Douzi walks in on the old man in a lascivious embrace with a young girl. Douzi is afraid as the man eyes him up and down. He wishes to find Shitou because,"I have to pee." The old man brings a glass dragon jar, tells him to pee, stares in lusty amazement at the boy's body, and reaches for him. Douzi tries to flee, but Zhang pushes him to the ground. Hours later he emerges, and Shitou cannot get him to say a word. On their way home, Douzi spies a baby abandoned in the street. Master Guan urges Douzi to leave the baby, saying "we each have our own fate, or yuanfen," but Douzi takes him in and eventually trains him.

Douzi and Shitou become stars of Beijing opera and take on the stage names Cheng Dieyi, and Duan Xiaolou. The adult Dieyi is in love with Xiaolou, but the sexual aspects of his affection are not returned. When they become a hit in Beijing, a patron, Yuan Shiqing, slowly courts Dieyi. Xiaolou, in the meantime, takes a liking to Juxian, a headstrong courtesan at the upscale House of Flowers. (Although she is later accused of being a "prostitute", she was somewhat more elevated than Dieyi's mother in the first part of the film).Xiaolou intervenes when a mob of drunk men harass Juxian and conjures up a ruse to get the men to leave her alone, saying that they are announcing their engagement. Juxian later buys her freedom and, deceiving him into thinking she was thrown out, pressures Xiaolou to keep his word. When Xiaolou announces his engagement to Juxian, Dieyi and Xiaolou have a falling out. Dieyi calls her "Pan Jinlian", a "dragon lady" from the novel Golden Lotus. Dieyi takes up with Master Yuan, who gives him Zhang's sword. Master Guan shames them into re-forming the troupe.

The complex relationship between these three characters is then tested in the succession of political upheavals that encompass China from the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The film also follows the fates of Na Kun, who turns his theater troupe over to the new government after 1949, and the abandoned baby, who is trained in the female roles. He is called "Xiao Si", or "Little Fourth Brother", which has the same sound as "little death." They go through Japanese Occupation, Kuomintang regime, Liberation in 1949, as the People's Liberation Army enters the city, and the Cultural Revolution in which the traditional opera is attacked as feudal. The portrayal of these events led the film to be initially banned in China.

"Xiao Si" and Douzi have an argument about "Xiao Si" training and punishment at the end of which "Xiao Si" threatens revenge. On the eve of the Cultural Revolution, Shitou and Juxian are seen burning now contraband literature and clothing. After a few drinks, they rekindle their relationship. The next scene shifts to Shitou being questioned by the communist party on a few unpatriotic words he said years ago and overheard by their manager.

"Xiao Si" is seen in the background seemingly in a position of power. The Beijing opera troupe is taken out for questioning and offered a chance to repent. Under duress, Shitou confesses that Douzi performed for the Japanese and may have had a relationship with Yuan Shiqing. Douzi, enraged, tells the mob that Juxian was a prostitute. Shitou is forced to admit that he married a prostitute but swears that he doesn't love her and will never see her again. Juxian is crushed to hear his words and hangs herself. "Xiao Si" is seen in a gym practicing Concubine Yu's role, happy over having usurped Douzi's position. Communist cadre catch him in the act. His fate is unclear.

The film then jumps back to the first scene. Douzi and Shitou are practicing Farewell My Concubine. Their relationship seems to have mended since the tribunal and suicide of Shitou's wife. They exchange a smile and Shitou begins with the line that gave Douzi trouble forty years ago. Douzi makes the same error of finishing the line with he is not a girl. Shitou corrects him and they continue practicing. Douzi then commits suicide by sword in the same manner as in the play.

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

A very good film from fiction as the same name by novelist Lilian Lee Bik-Wah. In this film, Leslie Cheung definitely outshine all the others actors and actresses. So damn charming when he's in the chinese-opera makeup. Expression and twist and turn of the storyline has push the film up to a high level.

A 3 hour film is a bit short to show the whole life of Chen Die Yi, really marvelous. 2 thumbs up :)

All's Well, Ends Well 家有囍事

Released Year: 1992
Directed by 高志森 Clifton Ko

Casted by:
關海山 Kwan Hoi-Shan as 常父 The Father
李香琴 Lee Heung-Kam as 常母 The Mother
黃百鳴 Raymond Wong as 常滿 Moon
張國榮 Leslie Cheung as 常騷 So
周星馳 Stephen Chow as 常歡 Foon
吳君如 Sandra Ng as 程大嫂 Sou
毛舜筠 Teresa Mo as 梁無雙 Shuang
張曼玉 Maggie Cheung as 何里玉 Yuk
陳淑蘭 Sheila Chan as Sheila
李麗珍 Loletta Lee as Playgirl
Story:

The Sheung's 3 brothers are staying together with their parents. Moon the eldest was married with Sou, a woman who save everything and considered for the whole family. But during their wedding anniversary, Moon went out with Sheila the mistress and forgot about Sou. Sou finally gave up on their marriage one day when Moon was drunk and brought Sheila homes.

So the second son is a bit sissy who's been waiting for his cousin sister Yun Kuan to come back from USA. So has been always fighting with the manly aunty Shuang. Shuang however is waiting for her dream man Ka Ming to be back from USA too.

Foon the youngest is a DJ and a playboy. He met Yuk the movie freak who is hot and pretty. Foon finally slept with Yuk and Yuk wanna get involved in the relationship seriously. But Yuk later found out that Foon has been fooling with a playgirl when she's not around. Trying to get away, Foon accidentally hit his brain and cause him to become insane. Yuk was frustrated and decided to pretend as a nurse to take care of Foon, but the real purpose is to cut off Foon's penis.

Moon has found Sou working outside and become more attractive nowadays. Moon decided to win back Sou as the parents dislike Sheila. On the parent's birthday, Yun Kuan and Ka Ming was back but they announced they were engaged. This has broke So and Shuang's heart. Both of them sleep together and they got back their normal hormon. Once again Foon hit his head and got back all his memory and he promised to be with Yuk forever.

The 2 younger brothers help Moon to win back Sou and they did. Finally everybody is happy and ready for the chinese new year celebration.

L² Scored: 6.5/10

L² Comment:

This film hit the 2nd place in Hong Kong Blockbuster during 1992. As a chinese new year celebration film, it definitely earn much. Well, with so many huge celebrities inside, why can't it? Right?

Love the part where Stephen Chow and Maggie Cheung kiss in a Paris' Eiffel Tower pose, so damn hilarious. Teresa Mo and Leslie Cheung? Haha~ i remember Leslie once swore that he will not become gay if Teresa Mo ever promised to married him at that time. A very good comedy for a lazy weekend :)

A Chinese Ghost Story 2 倩女幽魂2 : 人間道

Released Year: 1990
Directed by 程小東 Chin Siu-Tung

Casted by:
張國榮 Leslie Cheung as 寧采臣 Ning
王祖賢 Joey Wong as 傅青風 Wind
張學友 Jacky Cheung as 知秋一葉 Ye
李嘉欣 Michelle Reis as 傅月池 Moon
李子雄 Li Zi Xiong as 左千戶 Zuo
午馬 Wu Ma as 燕赤霞 Yen
刘洵 Liu Xun as 普渡慈航 Tze
刘兆铭 Liu Zhao Min as 傅天仇 Revenge
Story:

The story continues from the first episode after Ning lost Qian in his life. Ning went around the city but was caught to put in jail. Inside the jail, Ning has make friend with a senior who is well known of his intelligent mind. The senior assists Ning to escape from the jail.

Ning found a girl who looks like Qian, but whom she's not. This girl is Wind who is the daugther of Revenge and elder sister for Moon. Revenge was caught by Zuo to send to the emperor and the two sisters are doing their best to save their father. Ning gave them advise and help them to save Revenge.

In the meanwhile, Ye is a ghost buster who capture spirits by earning money. He met up with a big monster and with the help of Ning, both of them manage to defeat the big monster. While when they thought they are save, Tze the scary Centipede monster has killed all the government and try to handle the whole China by himself. Unable to defeat the Tze, Ning ask the gang to find Yen who is able to help them. Unfortunately Zuo was killed by the centipede.

But after all the hardwork, they managed to defeat Tze and put him back to hell.

L² Scored: 4/10

L² Comment:

This series is not based on the novel instead but edited by the movie team. I find it a bit un-acceptable. Don't ask me why, but i jst cant tell. I still prefer Liu Zhao Ming to act as the Granny instead of Revenge :P