The Mistress
Reviewed by YTSL
The allure of money. A promised life of
leisure and luxury. The power of love. A fascination with sex.
The accompanying tendency -- not just capacity -- to erotically fantasize.
What and where they lead to. What men like. What women want.
What a person has versus what (others think and (s)he figures) (s)he deserves.
The different perspectives that come from being outside looking into vis-a-vis
being fully immersed -- to the extent of effectively, albeit still metaphorically,
drowning -- inside of a relationship or situation. These topics and
themes have been the subjects of myriad cinematic productions as well as many
casual and intense discussions among friends and others.
Still, THE MISTRESS manages to find ways to creatively explore and imaginatively
depict these and still other points and ideas (notably what are the attractions
and frustrations of being a kept woman of a rich -- and, in this particular
instance (and coming in the form of Ray Lui), good-looking, still in his
physical prime and well-educated -- man in this day and age). Along
the way, the winner of the "People's Choice Award" at the most recent Deauville
Film Festival ends up covering new ground as well as painting pictures so
suffused with daring or innovation, or both, that I wager they will startle
-- not just impress -- even the most jaded (Hong Kong) movie viewer (E.g.,
I don't know what would be more shocking and seem incongruous in most other
"Eastern Hollywood" offerings, yet fit completely into this particular complex
whole: Pastoral dream sequences that look like they could have come
out of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" or five minutes of film footage showing
some of the movie's main characters actually attending -- but generally not
comporting themselves in as uninhibited a fashion there as they are subsequently
seen to do elsewhere -- an S&M party...).
And howzabout the following? An artistically rendered scene in which
men in dark suits and sunglasses coolly pick up and eat slices of sashimi
off a naked -- but covered with tattooed images of such as octopi -- human
female "plate"...which is presented as the visualization of details outlined
in a conversation among a group of five friends...during which the women
do such as enquire -- in a tone that is equal parts naive and skeptical
-- where the wasabi and soy sauce are placed and won't the raw fish be unappetizingly
warm, and the men ask their female friends whether they honestly think that
those diners really give a damn about the temperature or taste of the food!
Yet I would be only half kidding when I state that there is so much more
that is visually, aurally, intellectually and emotionally mind-blowing in
this -- yes, definitely -- Category III rated but NOT pornographic work that
if I were to seriously attempt to describe even one quarter of them, this
review of THE MISTRESS would turn into a research paper length piece.
Perhaps the most astounding realization for me is that all the incredible
images and ideas actually are being utilized to very coherently and movingly
tell a story that its auteur, Crystal Kwok, obviously cares as well as surely
has some real knowledge about. More specifically, this (re)viewer gets
the strong sense that THE MISTRESS of this film is someone who could quite
easily be taken to be her alter-ego (industry newcomer Jacqueline Peng thoroughly
convinces as a very bright, overseas educated university graduate with feminist
views and a sexual appetite, who initially does not seem at all lacking in
self-esteem and -confidence). This makes it all the more disturbing,
and painful, to see this bright spark try to play a game which men play well,
only to end up faring worse than a Mainland Chinese woman (Vickie Chen's
character has way more depth and believability than Gong Li's similar situated
individual in "Mary from Beijing") who she had initially looked down upon
and tried to counsel to do more with her life.
Such a summary of the film's plot and premise cannot adequately give a sense
of how astounding the work is. Hence my (also) trying to convey a sense
of the wit, intelligence and honesty as well as the kind of (wide-ranging)
aesthetic vision to be found in THE MISTRESS by way of writing a bit about
the creative force behind this "must see to even believe exists" film. And
for the record: Yes, I was already shocked as to the incredibly sophistication
of this work before I found out that it is the maiden effort as a director,
producer, executive producer and -- with Susan Chan -- co-scriptwriter of
a single individual who is not even 35 years old.
My astonishment got compounded upon learning that Crystal Kwok is a beauty
queen turned prominent socialite whose previous cinematic dabblings have
only been as a supporting actress -- and undoubted pretty face -- in such
movies of an altogether different ilk as "Dragons Forever", "Police Story
II", and the reputedly godawful "The Master". And almost one week after
being told of this, it still is difficult for my small mind to process that
this same soul has also hosted a feminist radio talkshow and is the author
of a Master's thesis on "Ghosts and Goddesses: Women, Cinema, and the
Image" along with popular publications with titles like "Babes and Bitches"
and "Boys and Bastards" (My thanks to Hong Kong residents Sebastian Tse and
Tim Youngs for providing me with these choice pieces of information).
On the local media's reaction to her making THE MISTRESS: "They...think
why would a female director explore a sexual topic...it is almost unladylike."
And what of the audience response to this female-centric work where women
and men are definitely portrayed as (flawed) sexual beings? "[I]nterestingly
enough, the men who see the film are more fascinated by it, because they
never see the female psychology. They never see [women] thinking about
their sexual issues...And you know damn well that there is [a] difference
when a man is directing a love scene as opposed to a women"!
My rating for this film: 9.5.
