This is a fairly lavish musical Hong Kong style. It tells the tale of a father, who vis a magician, and his three pretty daughters, who are singers and dancers. They perform together, and that is the most fun part of the film, when they're working together. The widower father also is pursuing a young temptress, whom he gives money to, sometimes including his daughter's salary. The three ladies eventually want to do their own thing and splinter off, one to Japan to be an actress, one to study ballet and one who stays and eventually falls in love with a composer. There are some unhappy moments, some comedy, and much drama. However, its a fun film and the songs are good. The key is whether the girls will get back together to perform. You do hope for it, they are good together. Not a perfect film, just a fun musical. If you like Hollywood musicals and don't mind a Hong Kong version, I recommend it. I liked it.
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crossbow01066 June 2008
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After having a fascinating time exploring the cinema of Canada, I joined in the second ICM challenge, this time on Musicals. Mostly knowing the major titles,I searched round for lists and found one on "foreign language" Musicals,where I discovered a film from Martial Arts studio Shaw Brothers! This led to me going out into the Hong Kong night.
The plot:
Working with their magician dad as singers and dancers under the bright lights of Hong Kong nightclubs, sisters Tsui Tsui, Chuen Chuen and Ting Ting start dreaming of finding their own place in the entertainment world. Asking for their wages,the sisters discover that their widow dad has spent it on all on showgirls. Unhappy,the sisters one by one leave his side and each explore their own unique field in the entertainment world, but soon uncovers the darker side to showbiz that lurks away from the lights of Hong Kong.
View on the film:
Coming from Japan to the Hong Kong of the Shaw Brothers, writer/director Umetsugu Inoue & cinematographer Tadashi Nishimoto bring the vibrancy of Shaw Brothers action scenes onto the dance floor,with ultra-stylised neon lights, glittering gold and red silk beaming across every corner of the movie as Ryuichi Hattori's lush score leaps around . Getting the sisters off-stage, Inoue weaves extravagant Musical numbers with high-end Melodrama, via the camera elegantly closing in on the face of each sister, when they eye up the darkness side of fame, and tragedy pours onto the family in blue- tint rain.
Watching a showgirl take money from the dads hands, the screenplay by Inoue gives the early stages of the Melodrama a playful, comedic edge,as the sisters try keep their ambitions secret, and the dad tries to keep his money issues secret. Sending them all off on their own path, Inoue makes each sisters adventure be brilliantly unique,from the touching teacher/student relationship of Ting Ting with Mr. Yen and the humble Melodrama roots of Chuen Chuen trying to settle down with songwriter Chen Tze-ching,to Tsui Tsui touching the seedy "Adult" side of cinema.
Beautifully singing together during the dazzling opening, Lily Ho Li/Cheng Pei-Pei and Chin Ping each give superb performances as the sisters. Trying to stay loyal to her dad, Pei-Pei gives Chuen a thoughtfulness focused on friends and family,whilst Ping sands down Ting for a fall-and-rise sweetness in her training with Yen, and Lily Ho Li puts Tsui in a daydream daze,as the sisters look for the bright lights of Hong Kong.