20:30:40
Reviewed by YTSL
Some time back, Sylvia Chang got together with
the two talents who she manages, Rene Liu and Angelica Lee, to record a music
album entitled “20:30:40”. As the story goes, over the course of doing
so, the trio started talking about making a similarly themed film together;
whereupon the eldest of the three women laughed and said that they had better
hurry and do so, then, since it wouldn’t be long before she would no longer
be in her 40s (For the record, Sylvia Chang turns 49 in 2004). Intriguingly,
she also suggested that each one of them write a story for the movie that
had as its main character someone who was in -- plus represented -- their
age group). This they duly did, and their tales are what form the narrative
base of this interesting primarily Mandarin-language -- but with some Cantonese
and bits of Hokkien and English thrown in -- offering which had its world
premiere at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival.
“20:30:40” begins with the characters portrayed by Sylvia Chang (who also
directed and co-scripted -- along with GC Goo Bi and Cat Kwan -- this undoubtedly
female-centric film), Rene Liu and Angelica Lee all on board a flight from
Malaysia to Taiwan. Soon after landing in Taipei, however, the three
of them end up going their separate ways; with their paths only ever infrequently
crossing in a “just centimeters apart”, “Chungking Express” kind of way (Incidentally,
there’s an amusing scene in this similarly “love is in the air”-feeling movie
that specifically brings to mind the one in Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 romantic
urban offering where a lonely Takeshi Kaneshiro phones up a whole bunch of
ex-girlfriends to ask them to go out for one evening with him).
Like with the real-life personality who portrays her, 20(-something)-year-old
Xiao (i.e., “little”) Jie (who is played by Angelica Lee Sin Jie) is a Malaysian
Hokkien female who left her Alor Setar hometown to pursue a singing career
in Taiwan. Probably unlike the woman who hit the big time by doing
such as winning Golden Horse and HKFA Best Actress awards (for “The Eye”)
though, Xiao Jie belatedly discovers that the long-haired musician/dreamer
(amusingly essayed by Anthony Wong) that she was looking to take as her mentor
had this conceit that she and another young singer (Kate Yeung gives a confident
performance as Yi Tong, the secret(s)-nursing Hong Konger who Xiao Jie came
to befriend in Taipei) could be the Taiwanese version of the Twins.
And if this was not bad enough, the wistful lass soon also has emotional
as well as professional heartache to contend with.
Meanwhile, 30(-something)-year-old air stewardess Xiang Xiang (Rene Liu portrays
this woman whose name tag states that her name is Rene) tends towards the
view that the itinerant nature of her work is majorly responsible for her
personal life being the unstable mess that it is. Alternatively, many
a viewer of “20:30:40” might be inclined to think that there is no excuse
whatsoever for her concurrently having two boyfriends in addition to continuing
to hold a candle for a third man. Lest it be thought to be otherwise
though, here’s making clear that this situation is one that gives Xiang Xiang
little real comfort, happiness and solace. And it is only after she
severs her ties with all three of them that she can start to find the solid,
responsible and dependable Mr. Right that she would be happy to have as the
one man in her life.
In contrast, at the beginning of “20:30:40”, the often surprising film’s
third major character was under the impression that she had long found --
and was married to -- Mr. Right. And it was only after 40(-something)-year-old
florist Lily (Sylvia Chang puts in a quite daring plus immensely delightful
performance) delivered a bouquet of flowers to what turned out to be her
husband’s second home that she realized that her daughter’s father had been
a bigamist for some years. After getting a divorce, Lily appeared to
have decided that it was about time she had some serious fun of her own.
However, the more one observes this middle-aged woman’s frenzied attempts
to try out new activities and connect with other men (including a very energetic
young fellow played by Richie Ren along with the more sedate personality
essayed by Tony Leung Kar-Fai!), the more it seems to be that what Lily --
who had not lived alone for what must be decades now -- truly wanted was
to learn how to be comfortable with her own company plus self.
As this review should have made apparent, “20:30:40” offers up no small amount
of insights; and especially about how life can be for women of the age-groups
represented in the film along with its stars (and probably also trio of accomplished
scriptwriters). This is not to say, however, that it is a preachy work
or even one that is preponderantly serious and dramatic in tone. Instead,
this Hsu Li Kong and Patricia Chen production was patently fashioned by individuals
who are not afraid to have a laugh or two, and often at their own expense.
To wit, Angelica Lee and her character’s conceivably auto-biographical reactions
to an earthquake; Rene Liu and the scenes involving a pail of water and stranded
fish; and those gasp-inducing sections of this Category IIB-rated movie which
had Sylvia Chang dressed only in her underwear.
My rating for the film: 7.5
