Mahjong Dragon
Reviewed by YTSL
When done right, as in the case of the superb
"Peking Opera Blues", the mixing and matching of diverse elements can result
in a wonderfully genre-transcending film. With lesser efforts though,
what one can end up with is a not particularly logical mish-mesh of a movie
that feels too confused and/or schizophrenic to make for a generally enjoyable
viewing. Additionally, the production's better bits can not only
feel wasted but also seem negated by their being in the company of lesser
ones.
MAHJONG DRAGON has some comic sections that
are rather amusing (many of which are provided by its lead actress, Josephine
Siao Fong Fong). Much of it comes from the portion of the film that
centers on a gambling addict of a Hong Kong policewoman (Josephine Siao's
Fan Sau Tin character plays mahjong as well as bets on horses and plays
the lottery) who is considered to be such a jinx that the still single
middle-aged dame consequently feels compelled to go look for a husband
among Mainland Chinese men who will value her because she can provide them
with a foreign passport. Alternatively, this (re)viewer feels that
this offering would have been better without the inclusion of the blunderbuss
of a secret admirer played by Blackie Ko and also, really, a forgettable
elderly aunt and uncle for the female protagonist.
This Corey Yuen Kwai, David Lai and Jeff Lau co-direction
also has some good action sequences (notably those fights which pit the
athletic Chiu Man Cheuk against the formidable Ken Lo). MAHJONG DRAGON's
hero is a handsome young man named Quick Hands. As can be discerned
from his having such an appellation, the individual Sau Tin met while on
her husband shopping excursion is a master gambler (albeit one who is reluctant
to play any more high stakes games, especially on behalf of a friend turned
enemy whose Chinese name translated into Southern Dragon). As one
would expect of a character played by Chiu Man Cheuk, he also turns up
to be a pretty talented martial artist. As 'luck' would have it in
this movie, so too is his hard-hearted rival (Southern Dragon/Tin Lone
is menacingly portrayed of Ken Lo).
Although its title and the description of its
main characters might seem to suggest otherwise, there actually isn't that
much gambling action to be found in MAHJONG DRAGON. Considering that
it seems to contain pretty much everything but the kitchen sink, this is
a rather ironic state of affairs. I personally would have loved to
see some skilled sleight of hand work (which do for gambling what Tsui
Hark's "Chinese Feast" did for cooking). Instead, valuable screen
time and space on what turned out to be Josephine Siao's last film -- the
former child star has retired to become a child psychologist -- got rather
stupidly wasted on such as superfluous subplots involving: A love-struck,
physically ill lass who dreams of going to France and being cured by the
Virgin Mary (Kwan is played by Desiree Lam); the long, dyed haired leader
of a bunch of young Triad rascals; and a separate group of youngsters who
make blue movies because they need the money to do such as pay for someone's
grandmother's badly needed operation.
Perhaps all this would have made more sense, or
felt more consequential, if MAHJONG DRAGON had been a better written, assembled,
edited and directed film. But it isn't, and they thus don't seem
so. Add to this already less than smooth mix the truly groan-worthy,
clumsy and heavy-handed incorporation of references to 1997 -- the year
of Hong Kong's Handover as well as when this film got released -- and accompanying
political messages that are more like propagandistic platitudes than thoughtful
assertions or suggestions. All in all then, this is a movie that
has a few entertaining sections but requires its audience to be largely
tolerant and willing to generally switch off their brains when viewing
it.
My rating for this film: 6.
DVD Information:
Distributed by Mei- Ah
The transfer is pretty clean - reasonably sharp.
Letterboxed
Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks
The subtitles are burnt on Chinese and English
There is no menu - thus zero extras.