The Other 1/2 and the Other 1/2

A peculiarity about Hong Kong cinema in the run-up to 1997 was how rarely local filmmakers grappled with the handover in a meaningful manner. Not that The Other 1/2 and the Other 1/2 (1988) rates as an in-depth exploration of the issue, but director Clara Law Cheuk-yiu's debut commercial feature is among the first to have the impending transfer of sovereignty as its premise.

The Chinese title literally translates as I love an astronaut, employing the then new slang term for couples forced by overseas immigration laws to geographically separate until one spouse qualifies for residency and the other half can join them in their new abode. In the film Canada is the destination for two astronaut pairs and, while one husband and one wife are establishing residency in North America, their other halves are forced by circumstances to co-habit in a Hong Kong flat.

Law's direction is heavy on the slapstick, allowing little opportunity for strangers-turned-lovers Sam (Kam Kwok-leung) and June (Tien Niu) to tone down their exaggerated emoting and let some genuine humanity come through. Their other halves (Eric Tsang Chi-wai and Cora Miao Hin-yan) are even more one-note in character.

The picture is a time capsule of 1980s yuppie life, especially regarding the antiquated nature of one of its central motifs, long-distance communication. The principals journey to Cable & Wireless to place overseas calls, stand in line outside a phone booth in Central, and snatch a passerby's oversized mobile phone.

Nearly a quarter century later, it is elements such as these that endow the production with an extra dimension as it explores the anxieties of many people in the waning years of colonial rule.

The Other 1/2 and the Other 1/2, Dec 18, 7pm, Jan 7, 9pm, HK Film Archive