Okinawa Rendez-Vous
Reviewed by YTSL
Six years ago now, Faye Wong made her first
big screen appearance (in Wong Kar Wai's "Chungking Express"). Such
was the impact of the then girl-woman whom Quentin Tarantino called a nymphet
that, in lieu of their not getting to see her in other movies, quite a
few Hong Kong film fans I know ended up checking out and becoming major
appreciators of this megastar's music. One marriage, divorce and
daughter as well as many albums and concerts later, the Beijing-born singer-actress
was finally successfully persuaded by producer, director and screenwriter
Gordon Chan to make her return in an ensemble piece which also would star
her close friend, Leslie Cheung.
OKINAWA RENDEZ-VOUS is the fledgling 100 Years
of Film company's second offering. Like its first production (the
popular "Needing You" which has become Hong Kong's top grossing local film),
it is primarily a romantic comedy. Unlike "Needing You", "And I Hate
You So" and other fluffy, "feel good" concoctions that seem to have replaced
horror as the HKSAR movie genre of the moment though, its two multi-talented
star headliners do not get all of the best lines and a disproportionate
amount of screen time. Although such news will doubtlessly disappoint
rabid fans of Ms. Wong and Mr. Cheung, this (re)viewer's feeling is that
this state of affairs actually helped the production as a whole since:
For one thing, it allowed for the existence of multiple intersecting mini-stories
rather than a single, too straightforward - and consequently thoroughly
predictable - plot-line; and for another, there thus came to be amusing
roles for such agreeable talents as Tony Leung Kar Fai, Gigi Lai, Vincent
Kuk, Stephanie Che, Masayo Kato and the actress whose Japanese character
divulged that she had learnt Cantonese by way of watching Hong Kong movies!
IMHO, it is Tony Leung Kar Fai who steals the
show as Dat, a vacationing low level police filing clerk who aspires to
catch such big time criminals as Jimmy Tong (Leslie Cheung plays his blackmailing
character as more of a boyish lady killer than someone to be feared and/or
disliked) and his partner (Vincent Kuk sometimes gives off an air of menace
but proves to be as teddy bearish as he looks). While not everyone
might agree, my own sense is that Gigi Lai's caring Sandy - who had gone
to holiday in Okinawa with Dat and a tougher female friend named Cookie
(portrayed by Stephanie Che) -- was the movie's most successful stealer
of hearts. In contrast, Faye Wong's Jenny character - who upsets,
in different ways, the plans of a soulful-looking Yakuza head (played by
Masayo Kato) who seems to have a thing for Hong Kong women, Jimmy, Dat
and Sandy - does not have enough opportunity in OKINAWA RENDEZ-VOUS to
do more than stay enigmatic, look good and invoke memories of "Chungking
Express" by way of there being a few scenes in which she finds herself
once more behind the counter of a food-and-drink place and others where
she cleans things.
Though Gordon Chan told a TIME magazine interviewer
that OKINAWA RENDEZ-VOUS only took a couple of months to conceive and film,
and required improvisational work from its cast members because its script
was being written as the movie was being made, it must be emphasized that
this is NOT even close - in mood, style and content - to being a Wong Kar
Wai work. This is not least because all of the production's main
characters happily end up with someone else in the end (N.B. I don't consider
this to be a major spoiler since I have not divulged who started off with
whom as well as who ends up with whom). Then there's the general
emphasis on light notes and comic (re)solutions as well as situations (even
- maybe particularly - with regards to (potentially) criminal acts); something
which may also have contributed - along with the film's unhurried pacing
-- to the offering's feeling like it's without tension.
In sum then: OKINAWA RENDEZ-VOUS comes across
as a pleasant enough movie expressly designed to not be too taxing on anyone's
brain yet also not appear all that patronizing towards its viewers.
Though it doesn't contain many memorable moments which will linger way
past the day in which they got viewed, this playful work does possess some
nice touches (of which my favorites relate in one way or other to the Yakuza
boss whose romantic yearnings and impulses taxes to no end his minions'
patience, tolerance and sense of (self-)respect) which ought to make you
smile, giggle and maybe even guffaw upon their presentation for your clear
and innocent amusement.
My rating for the film: 7.5
