DVD
Directed by
Written by
|
Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search R E V I E W The Lion Roars (2002) Joe Ma has made a string of popular comedies, including Love Undercover and Summer Breeze of Love earlier in the year 2002. This costume comedy/drama opened in Hong Kong cinemas in early October 2002 and did quite well, playing for a month and grossing HK$11.9 million.
MOVIE Until Seasonal Chan (Louis Koo) enters the picture. He is a poet and a singer. He too is picky about potential marriage mates. All that changes on the night of his debut as a performer. His mentor, Master Poet Soo (Hui Soi-Hung), a poet who makes women swoon, is the main attraction. Seasonal's out-of-tune warblings bore nearly everyone to tears, including the Emperor. Only Moth is enraptured and starry-eyed. When the Emperor sees them talking after the show, he decrees that they should be married. Carried away with their emotions, Seasonal and Moth agree. After the wedding, Seasonal learns about Moth's horrendous reputation. Still, he has fallen for her. And it's clear that Moth loves him. Later, though, Seasonal falls victim to an elaborate ruse by the Emperor's daughter (Fan Bing-Bing) to get him into bed. The love between Seasonal and Moth is put to the test. Performances: Cecilia Cheung's smile is incandescent and her pout is devastating. Louis Koo mugs ferociously, to the point of irritation, but it seems clear that is what director Joe Ma wanted. To be fair, he handles an emotional scene near the end very convincingly. Hui Soi-Hung happily chews the scenery in a portrayal that avoids making his cartoonish character a buffoon. Fan Bing-Bing is a very attractive seductress. Raymond Wong Ho-Yin and Joe Lee Yiu-Ming are also featured. Production: Joe Ma has stated that he wants to move beyond the popular comedies upon which he has built his reputation. He made the quite serious and solemn Funeral March in 2001. The latter part of The Lion Roars feels like a second cousin to that film. Whereas the first half of the story is filled with silly sight gags and a multitude of comments about the proper place of men and women, once the tale shifts suddenly to drama, we're expected to treat the chacters seriously and the proceedings become weighty and filled with gravity. Frankly, it doesn't work, because not enough time has been spent to make us believe that Seasonal and Moth truly love one another. Really, it plays like a Cantonese version of My Sassy Girl. The sets look quite good, but the decision to film the proceedings with very flat, even lighting was a strange one. It robs the story of a period feel - it looks like an inexpensive television show. Cheung Man Po served as director of photography. Lincoln Lo's musical score harkens back to traditional Chinese music and instrumentation, though much of it sounds synthesized. Rating: Category IIB. A little sex talk and a lot of physical beatings. Copious amount of blood spray played for laughs.
DVD Sound: Fine. Both Cantonese and Mandarin versions are available; it sounded like the dialogue was post-synched. The audio tracks are Dolby Digital 2.0 (stereo). Subtitles: Fair. The upper half of the white removable English subtitles appeared on the image, while the bottom half of the subtitles appeared in the "black bar" area. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included. Features: Eight chapters can be selected from a two-page video capture menu. "Behind the scenes" (three deleted scenes totaling five minutes, subtitled in Chinese) and "making of" (five minutes of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, not subtitled) features are included.
RECOMMENDATION Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search |