Review | Ladies Market movie review: Hong Kong drama, featuring one of Liu Kai-chi’s last performances, is diverting but unrealistic
- This story is about a group of people connected by a boy who was abandoned by his illegal immigrant father
- The titular tourist market provides an atmospheric backdrop for this engaging if unrealistic story
2.5/5 stars
Set around the titular tourist attraction in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok neighbourhood, Ladies Market is a modest drama about several grass roots characters looking for that elusive sense of connection their respective family has failed to provide.
The film plays more like an urban fable narrated from a child’s perspective than the gritty thriller that its subject matter, occasional use of adult language, and copious chase scenes otherwise hint at.
The protagonist is the young boy Tung (Arrommy Leung), whose dreams of watching fireflies in the Hong Kong night sky bookend the film, and whose actions bring every major character into the story.
Dubbed “Lying Tung” for his mischievous ways, he is in fact an illegal immigrant who was abandoned by his birth father years ago, only to be taken in by the benevolent but harsh Shan Lao (Liu Kai-chi) – though the film doesn’t explain how.
Shan forces the undocumented boy to live a life of deceit by asking him to pretend to go to school every morning and do his non-existent homework at their street store in the afternoons, while never allowing him to talk to the police or venture outside the neighbourhood. Tung’s wish to have a proper family then partly comes true when he finds a kidnapped little girl, Yan (Ma Suet-ching), in Shan’s storeroom and the two quickly form a bond.
Also crossing paths with the kids are Chi-ho (Ron Ng Cheuk-hei), an undercover policeman whose crime boss is about to sell off the loot from a robbery; and Pui-yi (Annie Liu Xin-you, perpetually soaked in sweat), a “Ms Strong” – as the community addresses her – who stubbornly takes over her deceased father’s career as a delivery truck driver.
The fleeting connection this quartet forms while going into hiding is the film’s true highlight.
While his character – portrayed with Liu’s usual vigour and poignancy – often goes missing in the second half, the film does make it a point to salute him in its uncharacteristically mournful finale.
Despite never quite ringing true with its superficial character settings and totally unrealistic depiction of criminal activities, Ladies Market just about does its job as an unsophisticated Hong Kong drama to kill time with. The on-location shooting in the Ladies’ Market and the old buildings nearby also lends a touch of realism to a diverting yet unconvincing story – Kayu Hui wrote the screenplay – that could use more of it.
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