Queen of Kowloon (2000)

Cinematic filler rarely reaches the extremes of this ultra-low budget affair from director Clarence Fok. Coming from prolific producers Universe, Queen of Kowloon plays more as a home video catalogue title than as an full-fledged theatrical release. Yet, even on the small screen most viewers will need plenty of patience just to reach the end. Opening with possibly the cheapest opening credits this year, Fok's film seldom impresses. Filmmaking is devoid of flair or effects to enliven its lifeless pace, hardly helped by the shambolic storytelling.

Deannie Yip is Ah Si, a lonely lady always plugging away at odd jobs and helping people for board and dollars in return. She's been with married herbalist Ka-ming (Kwan Hoi-san) for 25 years now, becoming a peripheral helping hand in his family as she raises cash in hopes of starting a business for him. Ah Si spends her day running about town doing everything; cooking for people, cleaning their homes and, when necessary, winning back their love.

Thematically, it's all about perseverance and plugging away consistently for love and passions. Heavy-handed symbolism comes everywhere and just won't let up. "For a long race, you need endurance," a jogger tells Ah Si before she enters a marathon. And when that race arrives, the scene where Ah Si crosses the finish line offers cheap poignancy in similar spirit to her scene applying thinner to Patrick Tam's nether regions in Crying Heart earlier this year. In an annoying character trait, Ah Si seems incapable of walking -- she must run everywhere. Such is her effort. Yet people are still especially mean to Ah Si, with backstabbing, rejection and face issues in abundance. And other main characters fall out of favour with each other over the course of various plots, just to drill it all home. King of Kowloon Tsang Tsou-choi* even shows up in a cameo as himself, representing a Hongkonger that hasn't let up on his beliefs.

The plot rambles along for 99 minutes, following a muddled patchwork of happenings. Admittedly I appreciated the general well-meaning nature of this and Fok's attempt to convey such a positive message, and also the fact that Queen of Kowloon was so distinctly against contemporary Hong Kong filmmaking. In fact, seeing Lee Tit's '50s flick In the Face of Demolition several days later revealed Queen of Kowloon to offer a vague approximation of this film's remarkable old-style melodramatic directions. But it also reinforced my initial impression of Queen of Kowloon: that it's a big step backwards. While perseverance is a nice little theme, today's viewers need not be so numbed by it when there's little else in the film to appeal, let alone that is pleasing to watch.

I found little to note on the leads. Deannie Yip offers a monotonous performance in the lead, rarely changing her body language. Kwan Hoi-san puts in a satisfying role, meanwhile, playing a dottering old man balancing the three ladies in his life. Wayne Lai offers some good moments when woes twice head his way. And Debbie Tam (Cookie from Spacked Out) resurfaces as Ka-fu, the wayward daughter of Shooky Kwan.

The Imperial cinema's Queen of Kowloon hand-painted billboard.

Note: Tsang Tsou-choi is a Kwun Tong-based septuagenarian who says he's the rightful owner of Kowloon. He paints his political slogans all over Kowloon, and his family has reportedly deserted him, claiming him a public nuisance.

Credits:

Directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung
Starring Deannie Yip, Kwan Hoi-san, Shooky Kwan Sau-mei, Wayne Lai Yiu-cheung, Ha Ping, Debbie Tam and Tsang Tsou-choi (cameo)