LIFE IS CHEAP … BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE

US, 1989, 89 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Wayne Wang.

Wayne Wang has become an interesting director over a period of twenty years. Born in Hong Kong, he has made his films in the United States, sometimes returning to Hong Kong. He made his debut with Chan is Missing, a small-budget thriller (1982). He made a heartwarming film about Chinese customs – especially eating, Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985), followed by a film noir, Slam Dance (1987) and then another film about Chinese- American customs, Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989). Then came this film – something of a surreal aberration. He then returned to more conventional film-making and success with The Joy Luck Club and Smoke in the early 1990s. He made a film with Jeremy Irons and Gong Li for the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, Chinese Box, but it was not a success. Though he made the erotic film, The Centre of the World (2001), his other films have tended to be very American and somewhat sentimental: Anywhere But Here, Maid in Manhattan and, especially, Because of Winn- Dixie, Last Holiday.

This film is a surreal journey through Hong Kong. A mysterious man, with a briefcase handcuffed to him, arrives on a mission in Hong Kong and his contact does not turn up. He then tours around Hong Kong, seeing its rather strange and weird sides, including violence, slaughter of animals … The film then gives an opportunity to see a seamier side of Hong Kong.

1.The work of Wayne Wang? This film in his career?

2.The Hong Kong settings, the visuals, the dark side of Hong Kong, the 1990s, anticipation of 1997?

3.The title, its ironies, the focus on bodily functions?

4.The style of the film: interviews, tableaux, close-ups, individual, the stage of set sequences, the style of photography, experimental, the foot chase, the editing and score?

5.The ducks, death, blood, Hong Kong food, culture and style?

6.The character of the uncle, his age, dance, violence?

7.Cowboys and the US, race issues, the mission, the meeting and the types, the woman and the gangsters, the boss, issues of marriage, the taxi driver, the chase? Comparisons between US and Hong Kong?

8.The sinister character, played by Victor Wong – in so many of Wang’s films? Playing against type?

9.The dubbing, the sex, the gangster, the mistress? Sinister atmosphere?

10.The boss, the blend of the genial and the sinister? The issue of marriage? The couples, traditions, talk?

11.The taxi, the driver, the ride?

12.The contents of the briefcase? The long foot chase?

13.The place of Hong Kong in the Far East, as related to China, in itself? The prospect of Hong Kong becoming part of China?