Wonder Women
Reviewed by YTSL
When (overseas) Hong Kong moviephiles talk
about the D&B Productions that they get a kick out of watching, the
works that they often cite are action packed efforts like “Royal Warriors”
(which starred the woman who did not make a single film appearance in the
three years or so that she was married to Dickson Poon -- the man who clearly
held the cards in his professional partnership with Sammo Hung) and “She
Shoots Straight” (whose lead actress went on to wed Mr. Hung...).
In the process, it sometimes can get overlooked or forgotten that D(ickson)
and B(o, as in Sammo’s Kam Bo) also produced some fine non-action efforts,
like Sylvia Chang’s award-winning “Passion” and Tony Au’s artsy “Dream
Lovers” (none of which starred Michelle Yeoh or Joyce Godenzi!).
The Kam Kwook Leung (the terrorist in Purple Storm)
directed WONDER WOMEN is one of those D&B non-action works that doesn’t
seem to have caught the attention of many fan-boys (and-girls). Alternatively,
this charming 1987 comedy has rated more than one intriguing mention in
a Hong King International Film Festival publication (plus looks to have
been included a couple of times in a HKIFF retrospective program).
After viewing that which came across as a bona fide star vehicle for the
very watchable Carol (AKA Do Do) Cheng and extremely capable Cecilia Yip,
I must admit to having some difficulty understanding how come the movie
looks to be more of a critical than popular favorite; not least since that
which really just focuses on one week in the life of two unsuccessful Miss
Hong Kong -- or Hung Kung, as a featured banner would have it! -- beauty
pageant contestants lacks a really complex, event-filled or tightly-organized
plot and, instead, seems to mainly appeal by way of its having two charismatic
lead actresses who may well be able to improve the quality of a film just
by being in it.
WONDER WOMEN’s story kicks off in earnest shortly
after the rescue of Brigitta Lin (I can’t help but think that Cecilia Yip’s
character’s name was inspired by Brigitte Lin’s!) from the grasps of an
over-amorous man by a fellow beauty pageant contestant (Do Do Cheng’s character
is named as Leung Hau Kau but also answers to “Yammie”) outside the hall
where another woman other than those two had very recently been announced
as that year’s Miss Hong Kong. The day after the conclusion of the
competition, the actually quite proper Brigitta returns to her Hong Kong
Business Centre workplace to find that things just aren’t not the same
anymore; not least because she now gets cast plenty of inquisitive looks
by her salacious newspaper gossip reading colleagues (who had learnt, among
other things, that her hairstylist boyfriend, Andre (who is played by Tom
Poon), had dumped her for someone else who was rated by the contest judges
as a greater beauty than her.
Fed up with being the center of unwanted attention
there and seemingly everywhere else that she’s the only failed beauty pageant
contest in sight, Brigitta impulsively quits her job and turns to the seemingly
way more carefree Yammie for help and understanding friendship. Despite
the two WONDER WOMEN appearing to not have all that much in common personality
wise (what with Brigitta being as introverted as Yammie is extroverted),
they establish an almost instant bond and are so comfortable in the company
of each other that they decide to become apartment mates. After this
decision is made, what follows are days -- much of which Brigitta and Yammie
happily spend together -- whose dramatic as well as comic highlights include
their: going for farcical screen tests (with the hope that they’ll be able
to follow the film-appearing footsteps of those previous Miss Hong Kong
contestants who went on to achieve fame and fortune); paying visits to
each other’s family residence (in scenes which starkly emphasize the contrasting
environments in which the two women grew up); having one pretty funny as
well as mess-making cat fight in the hair saloon where Andre (whose name
Yammie pronounces as Hon-de-lay!) works; and meeting a studly type who
tells the two frankly quite gullible women that he’s a visiting Japanese
who can speak Cantonese (played by an obviously -- plus thankfully dubbed
-- Michael Fitzgerald Wong).
Even while nothing majorly eventful occurs in
WONDER WOMEN, this (re)viewer definitely considers the entertaining time
she spent virtually hanging out with someone described by the man she had
the hots for as “so cute” and another who got praised by the same silver-tongued
individual for being “so full of character” as that which had been well
utilized. All in all, I figure that chances are high that fellow
admirers of Do Do Cheng -- who looks to have played against type in this
beautifully shot (by ace cinematographer, Poon Hang Sang) movie -- and
Cecilia Yip -- who seems to have been given a rare chance to appear in
a lighter offering than those she is more usually associated with -- will
have similar positive reactions to this enjoyable effort (that ought to
garner these two actresses more fans, if it were more widely available
in English subtitled VCD and DVD -- rather than just VHS -- formats).
My rating for the film: 7.5