Review | Film review: Good Take! – anthology of Macau-set shorts by five Hong Kong directors
Mixed bag of short stories has a cast of Hong Kong favourites. There’s a definite macabre flavour to some of them, and the materialistic excess of Macau comes into focus too
3/5 stars
Until Ten Years ’ recent success, omnibus films have rarely made an impression in Hong Kong, be it due to the lack of a strong unifying motif (2008’s A Decade of Love) or mere incompetent screenwriting (2013’s Hardcore Comedy ). Produced by old-timer Eric Tsang Chi-wai, Good Take! seeks to revive the format with five self-contained, Macau-set stories – some of which were made in 2013 – that showcase the less commercially minded efforts by emerging directors.
Three out of the five segments in this portmanteau are decidedly macabre, including the first, Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung’s Concrete. Following a young cop’s (Pakho Chau Pak-ho) investigation into a family dispute complaint in a deserted residential building, the Twilight Zone-like effort also features an unrecognisable Cecilia Yip Tung and Yanny Chan Wing-yan as a creepy mother and daughter.
Family love then comes in wildly different shapes. While Henri Wong Chi-hang’s A Banquet spends heartwarming time with a single dad (Eddie Cheung Siu-fai) and his young son before they attend his ex-wife’s (Jessica Hsuan) wedding, Wong Chun’s Good Take sees an ageing bit-part actor (Lo Hoi-pang) cling on to the body of his deceased wife, while contemplating playing hero in life at least once before killing himself.
Even if the majority of these shorts feel underdeveloped – and consequently less memorable than they could have been – it’s a testament to the talents involved that many of the genre-based stories display intriguing potential to be developed into full-length features. As it stands, Good Take! is fun, if nowhere near essential, viewing.
Good Take! opens on April 14
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook
