We need emotional content! (Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon)


Rants and comments on movies

With special focus on asian films

Sunday 10 June 2007

The Golden Girls (1995)

No, this is not about three old ladies in Miami. These "golden girls" are two young and beautiful actresses who dream of becoming movie stars in Hong Kong: The time are the Sixties and Mei Ball (Anita Yuen) and her friend Lulu (Ada Choi) work as extras for the booming movie industry. The aspiring script writer Chun Wai (Lau Ching Wan) is impressed withs Mei's dedication even for her tiny parts and as well for her strong character. He falls for her and tries to get her bigger parts, but the headstrong and dignified Mei Ball isn't very popular with the directors and so her more beautiful friend Lulu rises to stardom. Now Chun Wai and Lulu try to push Mei Ball's career, but after she chases off a lecherous director with an axe, she is fired. She leaves the country and when she returns after some months, Chun Wai and Lulu are a couple...
This early movie by Joe Ma (LOVE UNDERCOVER, FEEL 100%) is a fine bit of nostalgia from the golden days of Hong Kong's entertainment industry and filled with costumes, hair styles and zeitgeist of the Sixties. A candid and funny look behind the curtain of classic studios like Shaw or Cathay is coupled with a tender love triangle without a bad guy. Anita Yuen is very good as the bold Mei who eventually finds stardom in tomboy roles (a bit like the one she played in HE'S A WOMAN, SHE'S A MAN), and Lau Ching Wan excels (as usual) as the mentor cum lover of both young actresses. His role reminded me a bit of the recent MY NAME IS FAME (2006) that brought him the Hong Kong Film Award as Best Actor.
I really enjoy Joe Ma's movies. He is a gifted author and director for comedies and romances and brings out the best in actors. Pop stars Miriam Yeung (COLOUR OF SOUND) and Charlene Choi (DIVA AH HEY, SUMMER BREEZE OF LOVE) made their best films with him and he nearly always delivers real feel-good-movies. Never overly intellectual or demanding, they make for some fluffy entertainment with a lot of emotions and (usually) a happy end. And I'm a sucker for happy endings.

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