Paradise Girls (2004) User Reviews (3)

Tricky to rate

[FlorianLaur · 7/10 · 25 August 2020]

According to Confusianism, a woman has 3 stages in her life. In the first, she would follow/search her man(Miki). In the second, she will go her own way with that man(Pei Pei). In the third, if her husband passes before she does, she will dedicate her time to her son/child (Shirley).

If we see this as the "plot", I guess there is a connection.

I did like the movie, especially the first and third story. The cinematography is quite impressive for a movie on a low budget, Tokyo and especially HK look great and there are some great shots (like when Shirley walks up to her sisters(?) home and she is up, while at the lower part of the road and picture, we see a cat.

I only wish there would have been more of a conclusion to the story and a connection between those girls. We see Miki ran off from Amsterdam to Bali. Are any of her problems gone? Her trip will end, then what? How about Pei Pei? Her dad is presumably back in China, she has nothing waiting for her in the Netherlands. Only leaves us with Shirley who at least got the job there and her son seems to be ok after the surgery.

I guess it would have been nice if the movie had spent another 15-30 mins or so in Bali, to get us a conclusion. If we go back to Confusianism, it seems only Shirley's story has a happy end, a "paradise". The other two don't. That sadly takes from the film that I felt started out great, but is just lacking that final message, unless that message is really supposed to be "just forget your life has an uncertain future and play around at the beach with some Kuta Cowboys"...

Involved an touching

[hanzijl · 10/10 · 31 October 2005]

Excellent atmosphere, beautiful painted. You really felt part of the three stories. That's what a good movie needs. The acting is convincing and very realistic. In reality you can meet the people who show up in these three stories. If you've lived in the Far-East and 'have something' with east-Asian girls, I strongly recommend to watch this movie. I saw it in the cinema last year, but I cannot wait to buy it on DVD. I think it is quite underrated, and it deserves much better critics. Comparing to Fow Pyng Hu's first movie 'Jacky', Paradise Girls has much more power and although he uses the same long shots as in Jacky, this movie never bores. Han Zijlmans

Nice reflection on cultural issues

[hans_p_sprong · 8/10 · 29 December 2006]

For some reasons I liked this film a lot. Maybe it was because it caused me to reflect on some of the differences between the cultures depicted in the movie. There are hardly any plot lines in the three short stories, but there is a strong impression of how people from different cultural backgrounds are sometimes able and sometimes unable to communicate. Especially in the first two stories it shows how people can survive a cultural crisis. I suppose being Dutch and having traveled in Asia has something to do with it. This film certainly worked for me. I hope it works for others who do not share any of the background.