“It’s FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD, yet I am so DEPRESSED.”
The FATHER-and-DAUGHTER union:
“Why is DADDY always picking on me, labeling me as an UGLY CHILD?”
UNCLE does the Ultra-Sound test:
“BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT”
Isn’t that what LIFE is about … you move in, then you shape out.”
GIGI LEUNG:
“It’s horrible to move into your mid-age and realize that you ain’t a spring chicken any more.”
“ABERDEEN” MOVIE (2014)PRESS REVIEW. (Chinese: 香港仔)
(PART ONE, The MOVIE )
“ABERDEEN” is essentially a family dramedy.
Yet it probes a fair bit more.
Basked within the genre is a weepie of a tale where the female characters collide in life’s encounters and cry buckets.
This awesome project is helmed by the versatile EDMOND PANG HO-CHEUNG 彭浩翔 who has a string of past successes dabbling as a novelist, playwright, actor and filmmaker. You just have to check which hat he is wearing.
His special strength is in weaving women’s yarns and hearts.
Specially in tales of love, woe and dysfunctional families. I have only managed to see one movie of his called “Love in a Puff”.
“ABERDEEN” is a stirring potpourri of love and the price-you-pay for broken romances within one extended middle-class Hong Kong family.
The mood and tone is as grim as you would imagine.
Director PANG boasts a top-notch cast of Hong Kong veterans whose task is to tackle the bull by its horns with orders to “make it a real-istic film”.
Why call it “ABERDEEN”?
A clue guides you to the fact that the film director was born and bred in a quiet fishing village of Aberdeen.
That said, let us move on with the plot:
Wai Ching (MIRIAM YEUNG) the family’s older sister is trying to retain her momentum and sanity. We call that mental depression. She works unhappily as a museum tour guide.
She wallows in self-pity and is unable to come to terms with the passing of her mother. Her worst nightmares tell her that her mother loathed her when she was alive.
To make things worse, her husband Yau Kin-Cheung (ERIC TSANG) is tired of her whining and is secretly philandering with his pretty nurse (JACKY CHOI) working in his clinic.
Who’d blame him when he is tied down with a tiresome wife?
Wai Ching has a good-looking brother called Tao (LOUIS KOO) who has a decent job in the tutoring line. He is obviously a pain-in-the-ass because he is self-opinionated.
Tao’s wife is Ceci (GIGI LEUNG) and she is seemingly an expired model-cum-actress. As an artiste she is alarmed that age has mercilessly caught up with her.
It’s every woman’s latent fear that she will no longer be categorized as a spring chicken.
Their young daughter with the less-than-average looks is Chloe (LEE MAN-KWAI).
She adores her father to the extent that, despite her disdain of the “smelly” of durian, she eats the pungent fruit anyway.
Why? The durian is her father’s firm favorite. What’s good for daddy is good for daughter. Yes.
Finally, the patriach is Dong (NG MAN-TAT) who’s despised by the family for his wayward ways.
He indulges in a sensuous affair with a bar hostess called Ta (CARRIE NG). It’s not just sex, it’s love too.
In real life, CARRIE NG is this middle-aged award winning actress who can floor any man. She’still a stunner who can give any young actress a run for her money.
The sum of it all? “ABERDEEN” warns us that life is not all glam and glitz.
The film is honest, heartbreaking and a convincing work of Art.
You bet!
RATING 4 out of 5
Local Distributor: GSC MOVIES
“ABERDEEN” PRESS CONFERENCE cum WORKSHOP (PART 2)
(Chinese: 香港仔)
Organizer: GSC MOVIES
Photographer: EDDIE SIEW
Date: 13th May, 2014. Malaysia.
Actress JACKY CHOI beams while director PANG HO-CHEUNG listens attentively.
JACKY CHOI:
“I set out to be a trainee Director and is fortunate that Director PANG gives me this opportunity to act.”
Director PANG:
“I like to promote new talents. It’s a healthy pursuit, otherwise the whole industry will be overcrowded with veterans.”
Director PANG HO-CHEUNG:
“To achieve as a film director you have to be patient, trust in your beliefs, meet the right connections and invest some money for a start. Even with those, you might still face various types of disappointments. But never say die!”
THIS ONE FOR THE MEMORY
The ardent students of NEW ERA COLLEGE and ONE WORLD HAN XING COLLEGE strike a pose for keepsake.
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