Starring: Patricia Ha Man-chuk, Carrie Ng Ka-lai, Michelle Ye Xuan, William Chan Wai-ting Director: Calvin Poon Yuen-leung Category: IIB (Cantonese)
Calvin Poon, the renowned lyricist who has penned some of the most memorable Canto-pop love ballads, has now come up with Hi, Fidelity, an erotic drama about four desperate housewives venturing north for sexual adventure.
The movie begins with Pat Ha - a sex icon of Hong Kong cinema thanks to her tantalising role in Patrick Tam Ka-ming's Nomad (1982) - smoking a cigarette before leaping into a vehicle that takes her and three other lonely and rich tai-tais (played by Michelle Ye, Carrie Ng and Bonnie Xian) across the border. There they find a bunch of high-end gigolos who order red wine not by label but by price.
'Give me the most expensive bottle,' says Bill (William Chan), whose boyish looks are as seductive as his sexual prowess. He sweet-talks Ha's character, Bing, who eventually falls under his spell. Then the sex begins, lesbian and gay love, a catfight and then murder.
Yet the film is neither misogynistic nor pornographic. Poon's obsession with women's beauty is equalled by his fascination with their souls. As a result, the sex scenes are oddly sad rather than arousing, because they are more about suffering than orgasm. Just look at Ng's character in the midst of sex: hers is a face of desperation, not of desire. In that sense, Hi, Fidelity is one of the most shocking Hong Kong films celebrating women's sexual freedom in the face of diehard patriarchal values. Arguably, the script suffers from too many unconvincing twists and turns, and Poon's direction is far from perfect. Yet in this sex-crazed business, one is relieved to find a filmmaker who respects women.
Ha (above right with Ye, left, and Ng)retains an aura that commands the worship of the camera. The supporting cast also delivers a memorable performance. Yet the real star of the movie is Chan, who unfurls the dark side of his character like a snake shedding its skin. Here is a young actor who has the talent and courage to abandon himself to the camera.