King of Comedy.
Before reading on, you should be informed that I am prone to overeacting once in a while. However, everyone will have their own opinions, and these are mine.
Directed by: Lee Lik Chee, Chiau Sing Chi (1999).
Starring: Chiau Sing Chi, Ceciliya Cheung, Karen Mok, Ng Man Tat.
Ok, I finally got hold of this, but I'm not going to tell you where from, as this will confirm my insanity to you all. Before I started watching this, I had a terrible feeling it was going to be shite, as no-one I knew who had seen it had been particularly entusiatic about this Lunar New Year release. Ne pas de tout.
The story follows Wan (ChiauSC), a damned movie extra, who in wishing to put his very best into even the smallest of parts, repeatedly pisses off the director and his crew. All he wants to do is act though, so he persists and persists. In his spare time he is teaching acting to a couple of local small time triads who wish to apply such skills to being more successfull scoundrels. Also, some Club Hostesses turn up for lessons in sincerity to please their customers, one of them being Ceciliya Cheung. While one thing leads to another between the two, he keeps going to the movie set in search of any available part. Try and try again, his persistence rewards him a role bigger than he could imagine. I ain't about to spoil it for you, but things take a bit of a twist.
Everything about this film was right. The music was terrific and expressed each scene perfectly. The performances of all was outstanding, Chiau and Ng Man Tat especially. Just check the slo-mo shot of Tat as he is walking away after having thrown Chiau's lunch box to a puppy. The normally chilled guy just looks mean in this film. One observsation of Chiau's character would be the fact that he is so likeable, unlike many of the characters he normally plays who are complete bastards - a sterling performance from Mr. Funny. The parodies of celebrities and genre were very well done as well. The use of white doves and candles in the shoot out right at the beginning had the household in stiches, as did that which followed. The comic highlight for me was a naked baby who gave a shot at stealing the show - half way through the film, I saw something which I could not actually comprehend was happening on my TV, it was too outrageous, it was absolutely ridiculous and that's a large part of what was making me laugh more than I ever have in my life - again, I won't spoil it for you as you need to witness this. One thing about the feature is that the mood and direction changed so often, yet didn't lead to confusion or lose it's way at all. Some parts were very moving, then it would get funny, then sentimental and moralistic. People have said about the finale feeling out of place, but found it just to be unexpected. Maybe I overeact due to my love and respect of HK films, but I finished this and was shocked with it's brilliance. I can't actually find any gripe with it and believe it should win an Oscar for best foreign film. I haven't been so excited by a film since watching er... I was gonna say DM2 for the first time, but I just realised I watched Bride With White Hair a month or 2 ago, which rocked the house.
Check it for yourself and decide or not whether I am off my head - 10/10!!!!
Clicking the above picture will take you to the official King of Comedy website.