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R E V I E W
United We Stand, and Swim
Mei Ah / 2001 / 91 minutes
Directed by Matt Chow Hoi-Kwong
Written by Matt Chow Hoi-Kwong, Felix Chong Man Keung, Joe Ma Wai-HoWith Sammy Leung, Pace Wu, Anthony Wong
B A C K G R O U N D : director, in cinemas, recent and related films
Matt Chow Hoi-Kwong's first produced script was the action comedy Hero From Beyond the Boundary of Time in 1993, co-written with Joe Ma (and Yip Wai Chung). Chow and Ma have worked together a number of times in subsequent years (mostly comedies, including Feel 100% in 1996 and First Love Unlimited in 1997), but Chow has also written ghost stories (The Day That Doesn't Exist in 1995, July 13th in 1996). Chow and Ma also colloborated with director Wilson Yip on an acclaimed trio of films beginning in 1998 (Bio-Zombie, Bullets Over Summer, and Juliet in Love). Chow's directorial debut was the comedy L…O…V…E…LOVE in 1997; he followed that up with the dramatic PR Girls in 1998. Co-writer Felix Chong Man Keung and Joe Ma also contributed to the recent Final Romance.
The film was released on DVD in late September 2001. It carries a 2000 copyright notice.
M O V I E : plot, performances, production, rating
Plot: Yu Kam-Kei, AKA Little Fish, is dismissed by a girl when she discovers that he cannot swim. The neighbors make fun of him, and his mother, who owns an aquarium shop, is embarassed. For his birthday, she gives him a certificate for swimming lessons at the local community pool. He is dismayed to meet the coach, Mao, who seems more interested in pushing his own line of swimsuits than in teaching the class how to swim. And the rest of the class is not terribly encouraging -- among them an overweight triad, a young married couple, and a drunk. All seems lost until the lovely and outgoing Audrey appears. Temporarily encouraged to continue his lessons due to Audrey's presence, Little Fish soon finds himself caught up in a dispute between an experienced swimming team and his own inept teammates -- a dispute that must be settled with a 4 X 100 relay race.
Performances: Sammy Leung portrays Little Fish initially as a goofy kid, and this creates the expectation that the film will be a straight-out farcical comedy. As the story develops, we see that director/co-writer Matt Chow has something different in mind. Little Fish has some depth to his character, and Leung brings this side out effectively. Although early scenes make it appear that the romance with Audrey will play a bigger role, Pace Wu (previously seen as Daniel Chan's girlfriend in A War Named Desire) as Audrey ends up having little to do during much of the running time except mysteriously change her mind about Little Fish. She is charming and slender; while there's nothing wrong with her figure, her modest swim suits emphasize that the heart of the story is fixed on the characters and not on their bodies. Anthony Wong appears to be racing through his lines halfheartedly during several scenes; his performance is disappointingly average. Wyman Wong adds personality as the triad Fat Dice, but Joe Li is wasted in a small part as a drunk. Kitty Yuen plays, I believe, Little Fish's mother, in a very affecting turn. Director Wilson Yip has an amusing cameo playing himself.
Production: The film is an enjoyable, character-driven series of episodes that vary in the quality of their writing and directing. Most of the humor is gentle and softly lobbed at its target; as a result, the pace feels slack and loose-limbed, as though the plot itself were under water. The story occasionally wanders away from Little Fish to check in on the other characters, but we learn little about them. For example, we know Fat Dice is a triad and that his son ("Boss" Chung) wants his Daddy to quit the gangsters, but we don't know why Fat Dice suddently agrees to do so or what happened to the mother of "Boss"; Audrey changes her romantic mind about Little Fish so often it's a wonder the poor boy doesn't have whiplash, yet we never learn anything about her, such as why she's so emotionally mercurial; and so forth. On the other hand, while the film never pretends to be a deep examination of dramatic characters, it does portray certain scenarios in a very touching and believable way — such as the interplay between the carefree Little Fish and his loving mother. The photography by Rocky Tsang emphasizes primary colors and the frequent underwater shots introduce a pleasant visual variety. Another bonus is the electric piano stylings featured in the musical score composed by Tommy Wai. Stanley Cheung provided the lively art direction (the yellow locker room is a sharp contrast to the cool blues of the water-based action) and Chan Ki-Hop served as editor.
Rating: Category IIB. I should check the rating; a trickle of blood, no sex/nudity, little if any profanity.
D V D : look, sound, subtitles, features
Look: The letterboxed (approximately 1:66.1 ?) presentation looks fairly colorful owing to the bright palette of director of photography Rocky Tsang; unfortunately the colors look muted and not as sharp as they should be. This is also reflected in the black levels being insufficiently deep. The source print also betrays very occasional speckles and dirt.
Sound: The DD 1.0 Cantonese audio track routes some audio to the rear speakers, but it seems that it would have sounded better just coming from the front speaker. On the other hand, the DD 1.0 Mandarin track pumps all the sound out of the front speaker, and it sounds hollow.
Subtitles: The white removable English subtitles are displayed in an easy-to-read font. The problem for non-Cantonese speakers is that the English titles are poorly translated and sometimes defy comprehension. Also included are traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles.
Features: Nine chapters can be selected from a still-frame menu. The "databank" consists of a brief synopsis and a main cast and crew listing. "Bestbuy" is a trailer for Glass Tears, produced by Joe Ma.
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N : buy, rent, or pass?
Rent. A colorful cast of characters and some sharp writing make up for the slack direction and below average quality of the DVD presentation.
(Reviewed 11/06/01)
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