The Other 1/2 & The
Other 1/2
Reviewed by YTSL
In the U.S.A., there’s such as Kathleen Kennedy
and Frank Marshall as well as Regina Prince and Reginald Bythewood.
In Iran, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marziah Meshkini (whose daughter, to boot,
is Samira Makhmalbaf). In Hong Kong, there’s Tsui Hark and Nansun
Shi and, until they permanently migrated to Australia, Clara Law and Eddie
Fong. Film-makers who, in the words of the last named -- an individual
who has worked with his wife, Clara Law, on all of her directorial efforts
as well as been the director in his own right of such as “An Amorous Woman
of the Tang Dynasty” and “Private Eye Blues” -- appear to have decided
that “it’s better to have two people struggling together, rather than one”
(As quoted in Fredric Dannen and Barry Long’s “Hong Kong Babylon”, 1997:110).
And “struggle” is what Clara Law appears to believe
that she has had to do for much of her career -- in large part because
of her having the kind of serious plus artistic sensibilities that can
seem anathema to the government subsidy free cinema of the territory that
this Macau-born, London-trained helmer of films has been associated with
for much of her professional life. For example, it took her a total
of two years to get her first Hong Kong movie project off the ground.
And even then, this involved her scriptwriter -- Eddie Fong -- having to
work for free, at least until their envisioned product became a cinematic
reality, as well as agree to serve as its associate producer (and, in the
process, promise to ensure that this rather modest seeming effort would
be one that was done “in a commercial way” (See Miles Wood’s “Cine East:
Hong Kong Cinema Through The Looking Glass”, 1998:72-73)).
Considering that THE OTHER ½ & THE
OTHER ½ only played for 9 days in Hong Kong cinemas, raked in a
total of HK$4,404,392 during its short run and came in 88th in the 1988
local box office rankings, it’s not a movie that can be accurately described
as having been a smash hit. In all probability, matters were not
helped by this small-scale Teddy Robin Kwan production -- that centers
on the personal relationship between a man and a women who are both one
(other) half of a married pair of “flying immigrants” (i.e., people seeking
to secure residential privileges elsewhere besides Hong Kong, preferably
before the 1997 Handover came along) -- being unable to boast of possessing
star names along the lines of Joan Chen and Joey Wong among its actually
satisfactorily competent cast.
At the same time, however, I -- who have also
viewed later Clara Law efforts like “Temptation of a Monk” and “The Goddess
of 1967” -- strongly suspect that this uneven, comedy infused drama is
one of the more consciously monetary profit oriented plus generally accessible
of this auteur’s efforts, and -- if truth be told -- suffers somewhat from
being so. Put another way: On the basis of this Jingle Ma lensed
work, it would seem that Ms. Law is weakest at handling that which might
be described as Hong Kong cinema’s more characteristic -- and often positive
-- elements, including sudden plus quick changes in emotion and farcical
comedy that borders on being utterly slapstick in nature. Alternatively,
she does excel at investing a whole lot of realistic feeling along with
sincerity into THE OTHER ½ & THE OTHER ½’s more ardent
plus serious sections. Towards this end, she undoubtedly benefited
from having the principal performers to work with that she did.
More specifically, the romantic chemistry and
tension exhibited in many of their scenes together by THE OTHER ½
& THE OTHER ½’s leading man, Kam Kok Leung (who may be best
known as the director of such as the luminescent “Wonder Women” and as
the terrorist in Purple Storm but here portrays a not very happy married
man named Sam Cheung), and the alluring Tien Niu (whose role is that of
a free spirit, named June Lee, who guiltily discovers that she is happier
when not in the company of her husband of three years than she probably
should be) could be said to rival that of Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai’s
in “Comrades, Almost a Love Story”. In addition, such as their kissing
scenes look vastly more comfortable and “natural” than those enacted by
the likes of Brigitte Lin and Chow Yun-Fat’s more inhibited as well as
tortured “Dream Lovers”, and consequently seemed much less of an intrusion
of two people’s private interactions than a celebratory declaration of
the joy they can derive from the company of each other.
Although their parts in the production are far
smaller than those of those who essayed their spouses, Cora Miao and Eric
Tsang also contributed quite a bit to making this offering and its problem
posing story as interesting as it turned out to be. If nothing else,
this supporting actress -- who in real life is Mrs. Wayne Wang -- gave
a sufficiently convincing performance as the type of female character who
this (re)viewer could see being both a good but also annoying wife.
Similarly, Eric Tsang was effective in the short time that he appeared
on screen in this work as the kind of husband who could be loving yet also
prove to be insufficiently exciting as well as empathetic in the eyes of
someone like June Lee (and consequently come across as less attractive
to her than -- even while being just as “good” a human being as -- the
lodger who she came to know as a friend and, then additionally, lover).
In so doing, her Connie and his Tak made it more understandable why their
spouses might go astray but also provided reasons as to why they should
try to make efforts to not abandon their marriages, and -- in the process
-- helped to ensure that the major life decisions that THE OTHER ½
& THE OTHER ½ came to be confronted with were not ones that
were necessarily easy to reach and effect.
My rating for this film: 6.5