03-01-2023, 10:08 PM
A young man, American-born Chinese, gets a rare opportunity to at last visit Hong Kong. He is entrusted with a briefcase, handcuffed to his wrist, with instructions to deliver it only directly to a boss.
A wild and crazy story unfolds. He meets an assortment of strange characters, who often address the camera directly, some speaking Chinese (with subtitles), some broken and very weird English. Siskel and Ebert championed the decision toi give this an A rating, when it was threatened with an X. It's very adult in language and food market sights, and all else, but watering it down for an R would have destroyed it.
So many precious lines, and scenes.
Lo Lieh has a small but important part as a pianist who could play Chopin's most difficult works, which got him in trouble during the cultural revolution.
A unique mix of story and documentary.
Not most people's cup of tea, but I found it interesting.
A wild and crazy story unfolds. He meets an assortment of strange characters, who often address the camera directly, some speaking Chinese (with subtitles), some broken and very weird English. Siskel and Ebert championed the decision toi give this an A rating, when it was threatened with an X. It's very adult in language and food market sights, and all else, but watering it down for an R would have destroyed it.
So many precious lines, and scenes.
Lo Lieh has a small but important part as a pianist who could play Chopin's most difficult works, which got him in trouble during the cultural revolution.
A unique mix of story and documentary.
Not most people's cup of tea, but I found it interesting.