This is one of the most misunderstood Hong Kong films. Some of the reviewers here got part of it right. The film does borrow heavily from the Monkey King Legend. The young pimp, for example, is referred to as the Monkey King several times within the film, and the Chu family members are a visual reference to the Pig King. At one point, the elder son of the Chu family was also called the Pig King. What is conspicuously absent here is the Tong Dynasty Monk. Therefore this movie is not a modern version of Journey to the West, but it is in fact an attempt to deal with the fate of the Hong Kong economy after the handover from Britain to China, using the well known characters of the familiar novel as metaphors.
The Monkey King is well known for his ability to morph into just about any being on earth. He represents the adaptable Hong Kong economy. One version of the Monkey King is the young pimp, who calls himself the little tiger, as in the tiger economies of Asia. Unfortunately for the tiger, who tried to succeed with his computer, he ended up smashing it instead. This is Fruit Chan's disdainful reference to Hong Kong's failed attempt in the 90's to base its economy on the computer industry. He calls that attempt "tiger head and snake tail," or a roaring start and a whimpering finish. The Monkey King nevertheless is not limited to one morph. As one scene shows, the phone book is full of people who have the same name as the young pimp, whose name can be translated as "strong will." The Monkey King can indeed change again if necessary. IOW, despite the failed attempt to turn Hong Kong into a high tech based economy, the Monkey King lives on.
However, the Monkey King does have a nemesis, and it is the five-finger mountain. The Monkey King was in fact imprisoned under the five-finger mountain for hundreds of years before he was freed to accompany the Tong Dynasty Monk on his journey to the West. In this movie, the five-finger mountain comes in the form of the 5 high rise buildings in Hollywood Plaza that tower over the shanty town. These 5 buildings also represent the building boom in Shanghai and this point is driven home when we found that the mainland prostitute Tung Tung (also known as Fong Fong and Hung Hung), who claims to be from Shanghai, resides in one of the units in the five-finger mountain. This is a snide reference to the National Anthem of China, Tung Fong Hung, or the "East is Red." The mainland prostitute therefore is here representing Shanghai and China, and she is seducing Hong Kong (and pretty soon the USA) with her cheap prices. In this film, Fruit Chan is really asking whether the fast growing Shanghai economy is going to be the nemesis to the Hong Kong economy. In fact, at one point, members of the Chu family were waving a white flag at the five fingered mountain. Is Hong Kong ready to surrender to Shanghai? And how is Hong Kong's economy actually doing after the handover? This is depicted in the film by the family pet of the Chu family. Her name is Queenie, and at one point she was lost. When she came back, she had writings on her body which resemble those made by the King of Kowloon, a well known delusional graffiti writing character in Hong Kong society. Fruit Chan therefore claims that the Hong Kong economy had lost direction after the handover, and it was as delusional as the King of Kowloon. In fact, Hong Kong did go through a mild recession since the handover. So, far from being an incomprehensible dark comedy, as some people called this, this movie is actually an attempt to examine Hong Kong's economic future.
The ending, despite its gruesome nature, does contain a note of optimism. It shows the Chu Family moving into a resettlement estate and it shows that one of those people who were victimized by the gangsters had adapted to life with his mismatched hands. After all, as Fruit Chan pointed out, the Monkey King is adaptable, and so is Hong Kong's economy. It will do fine even when fate deals it the wrong hand, figuratively and literally. The key to Hong Kong's future actually lies in its past. Hong Kong's people succeeded in their past when they relied on their professional and entrepreneurial skills, such as roasting pigs, and these skills may be the key to success in the Hong Kong economy of the future. As the film shows, the head of the Chu family is the only blackmail victim who had the money to pay.
