C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri
Reviewed by YTSL
This past weekend, in a bid to get myself out
of some doldrums, I rewatched the 1993 surprise critical and box office success
-- it won 5 Hong Kong Film Awards (including Best Picture and Best Actress)
along with raking in HK $31,149,673.00 in cinemas alone -- whose French title
translates into English as “That’s Life, My Sweet”. Despite the skepticism
expressed by a couple of my Hong Kong movie fan friends, the re-viewing of
the dramatic work whose ending is admittedly not the happiest around really
did do the trick. To my mind, there are many reasons for this; and
all of them reflect very well on an obviously lovingly put together offering
whose scriptwriter cum director is the same Derek Yee who previously had
a fairly successful career as a leading man (in movies as diverse as “Magnificent
Warriors”, “Four Loves” and “Vengeance is Mine”) and appeared for a time
in gossip columns as Maggie Cheung’s love interest.
Chief among these is the fact of C’EST LA VIE,
MON CHERI being filled with characters almost anyone would welcome spending
some time with (yet still are recognizably human rather than impossibly saintly
ideal(ized) types). The heavy on sentiment -- yet never mawkishly sentimental
-- film’s leading female character, a young woman named Min (who is wonderfully
portrayed by Anita Yuen), is shown to be the kind of person who can banish
away black moods and make others into better people than they were prior
to her entering their world. Its main man, a moody songwriter cum musician
named Kit (who Lau Ching Wan makes more sympathetic than lesser actors could
have done), is the (apparently) rare male who is both cursed and blessed
with the capability and capacity to feel and care deeply.
After splitting up with a more successful pop singer (Like she did with her
Rose role in “He’s a Woman, She’s a Man”, Carina Lau endows C’EST LA VIE,
MON CHERI’s Tracy with a surprising amount of sensitivity and tenderness
along with a glamorous outer layer), Kit moves out of their luxury living
space to a much more humble abode. Among his new neighbors are a group
of down-to-earth folk whose de facto household head runs a Chinese opera
school and also has charge of a troupe who usually can be found entertaining
people at their outdoor Temple Street venue (Former child actress, Petrina
Fung Bo-Bo, is additionally known to Kit as Min’s generally unsmiling mother).
Other notable members of this close-knit family -- through professional affiliation
as well as biology -- are the seductive-looking Yau Ling (played by a Carrie
Ng in mature and fine form) and Min’s endearing Uncle Cheung Pan Tze (who
is portrayed with gusto by Derek Yee’s half brother, HKFA winning actor,
Paul Chun Pui).
Before too long, Kit is effectively adopted into this little community of
people who are not the wealthiest or luckiest around yet also are among those
who don’t complain much about their lot. Along the way, they -- and
their friends, including some Filipino musicians who turned Min’s mother’s
birthday party into a rousing jam session -- serve as a positive contrast
to Kit’s too bitter jazz -- and alternative? -- musician friends (composer
Tats Lau and director Herman Yau are among those who put in cameo appearances
in C’EST LA VIE, MON CHERI) as well as Tracy’s commercial minded colleagues
(U.F.O. doyen, Peter Chan, lends his face to one of these comfortably living
individuals who Kit rather obviously feels contempt towards because of their
having chosen to make money at the expense of creating music that sincerely
speaks to the heart and soul).
As I see it, C’EST LA VIE, MON CHERI is an appealingly warm movie with an
uplifting outlook and sound recommendations re how one should lead life and
deal with people plus the sometimes not great situations in which one finds
oneself (I particularly like the truism voiced by Min that “Not everyone
on earth is your enemy”). It thus is especially heartening to learn
that many friends of Derek Yee apparently came together at a time when his
career was at its lowest ebb to help him to complete this personal -- and
not at all as preachy as it may sound -- project (by doing such as working
for gratis on the film). For the record: Some others besides
those already mentioned who reputedly did such are the delightful Sylvia
Chang (who puts in a short but sweet appearance as Min’s doctor), Jacob Cheung
(in a cameo role as the fortune-teller whose positive prediction Kit hears
with quite a bit of incredulity), Jamie Luk (in a small role as the rather
tough “Blacky”), Joe Junior (who sings with Anita during her studio cover
song), Andy Chin, Teddy Chan, Sherman Wong, Eugene Pao and David Wu.
The potential viewer ought to be warned however that C’EST LA VIE, MON CHERI
does not have the reputation it has as a guaranteed tearjerker for nothing.
Put another way: Life is shown in this quality offering to be all too
capable of dealing one with a blow whose impact you cannot completely and
successfully avert but, instead, may only show true character in accepting
and dealing with as best you can. This notwithstanding, it also is
revealed to be something that is precious and frequently filled with its
share of small pleasures that ought to be treasured more than they often
are by many of us. Red bean cake, night markets, social strolls through
interesting parts of town, music in so many of its forms, friendships and
other relationships. They end up being shown to possess the ability
to touch one’s heart and soul, even as memories of them threaten to break
those of others.
My rating for this film: 8.5
Reviewed by Brian
Since YTSL reviewed this film, I reluctantly
sat down to watch and gather pictures – and was quickly charmed – pulled
into a world and a city that felt as if fairy dust had been sprinkled over
it. Wonderfully fanciful, it is a world filled with music and sentiment, friends
and lovers, saxophones wailing in the warm night air, talking and laughing
into the wee hours of the morning. Though the film is set in contemporary
times, it is lovingly drenched with a strong coating of nostalgia – in a
Hong Kong that is sadly melding into the morass of sameness - this magical
little neighborhood exists – a trapdoor into the past - where people still
gather to watch Chinese Opera performed on the narrow streets and where your
fortune can be told along with tasty red and white bean cakes - a world that
feels as if it is disappearing before us.
This was not only an unexpectedly successful film and a huge boost to director
Derek Yee – it was also a breakthrough film for both Lau Ching-wan and Anita
Yuen. Lau had been acting in films for a number of years – had success in
TV but not really in the movies. He was considered too dark (something alluded
to in the film by Carrie Ng) and not attractive enough for leading man romantic
roles. He is quietly charismatic and personable here – his hangdog eyes and
fleshy face find their way into Anita’s heart like a guided stealth missile.
He is the perfect everyman - appealing to women and men alike. He was to
become one of Hong Kong’s top leading men after this – often being paired
up with Anita in romances and comedies. Anita was still new to the business
with only a few supporting roles behind her. Her performance here makes you
feel giddy – as if trapped in a spinning house of mirrors – she is captivating,
luminous, quirky and totally lovable – it feels like she has so much energy
and scattered thought patterns that you expect her to go off in five different
directions at the same time. Thus when the lights start to slowly go out,
it is particularly devastating. This film began the Anita Yuen craze that
was to last in Hong Kong for the next few years.
There are certain films that I make an attempt to avoid no matter how good
their word of mouth is – and this had been one of them. Films with themes
of love and illness are ones that I would normally do ninja like back flips
to get away from. Not because I find them manipulative and smaltzy (which
they often are - though this one is definitely not), but because I am a total
sucker for them. I fall apart like a broken piñata and it’s not a
pretty picture I can assure you. This film had piñata written all
over it. I am still picking pieces off the floor.
My rating for this film: 8.0
Ranberator has been kind enough to translate the
song lyrics for the final song sung by Petrina Fung and the final screen:
Part I
Remembering my past, there were many laments and
feelings
My life is full of failure, pain, and turmoil
Have not blamed fate; I simply wiped my own tears
dry
Whenever there is a stormy night, we embrace and
comfort each other
That there is an end to the darkness
No matter how hard the rain falls and the wind blows
outside the window
I will always be by your side
Love will give us the strength to wait until the
wind
and rain stop and dawn’s light arrives
Part 2
This moment I am left alone and sad
I am only waiting for the nightmare to end quickly
and
the light of dawn to break through
So we can get past our trouble and chase our ideals
together again
In the future, we will continue to live whether we
are
in pain or happy
In life there will always be happiness, hatred, joy,
sadness, gatherings, separations, spring rains and
autumn frosts
I must accept life and not be discouraged; I will
always look toward the future.
I hear a voice, calling my name, wishing and blessing
my most beloved will remain unscathed.
Final screen:
If the worst thing in life is death, then there
is no
difficulty that cannot be faced while one is living.--
Kit and Min