Which Is
one woman's realisation of how much she is not loved and finding her true destiny after she died.A ghost-human love story as a sub plot.
Most Interesting Aspect
Gallen Lo as a woman,bras,shaved legs,facial treatments and all the make up.
How Long
20 epsiodes/10 tapes
Who
Gallen Lo ~ Dang Bing Kuen
Flora Chan ~ Fong Si Ching (Christine)
Kong Wah ~ Cheung Ho Wah (Andrew)
Cheung San Yuet ~ Fong Si Hung (Sardonna)
Tong Ying Ying ~ So Lai Ying
Kwok Siu Wan ~ Francoise Lee Fan Fong
The Plot
Quite an interesting premise actually.Flora Chan is your typical successful woman who has it all,beauty,brains,a loving husband,a thriving career and a wonderful family.Almost perfect,until she died in a freak accident,that everybody believed it was murder.She then came back as a ghost,has some sort of a spiritual connection with the man she detested,Gallen Lo,a chauvinistic head of a small village who has some serious misunderstanding with her that was also unfortunately was shot together with her(he was standing behind her and the bullet shot through her and hit him in the chest,but she died and he survived.After much persusion and threats,he agreed to help her by letting her enter his body,infiltrate into her workplace as Diana(Gallen Lo as a woman) and found some disturbing truths;her little sister,Sardonna,the usually nice girl is actally a night time girl,going to pubs,being generally quite easy with people around her;her mother was actually still giving money to her father who is a no good husband and father(in her own opinion),her husband is actually two timing her with her secretary(Tong Ying Ying) and all her colleagues,especially Francoise wanted her dead because she was domineering as a friend,a daughter,a wife and a sister.Quite a loser actually.And the only friend she has was her boss(Joe Jr) and later,Gallen himself and they fell in love through many twist and turn and when the real identity of the murderer was discovered,it was better not to have known the identity at all.
Best Scenes
I am a Kong Wah fan,so naturally any scenes with him in it will be my choice for Best Scenes.But one stood out in particular,the ending so do not miss it.
Any scenes with Francoise(Kwok Siu Wan) in it.Quite a pitiful character,envious of Flora's success,pretending to have a perfect French husband who is so in love with her who actually left her months ago for the house maid!And she then fell for Andrew(Kong Wah) because he was nice to her when everybody suspected her as the one who paid for the assasination of Flora.And quite a sad ending actually for this character.
Most Compatible Couple(s) as in the serial
I personally feel that Gallen nad Flora is no good for me.As I have said before,Bowie and Flora would be great.Kong Wah and Flora is like no chemistry at all,didn't seem like husband and wife and Tong Ying Ying and Kong Wah was ok though I wouldn't say their love story is the most perfect story in this serial since they're actually quite a murderous couple.
I would have wished for Francoise and Andrew but alas,watch the ending and you'll know why that this love affair was never meant to be,in fact never started at all.
Most Confusing/Mind Numbing/"I Don't Get It" Aspect
The transformation of Gallen into Flora so to speak.He may be Diana,but actually it is Flora inside of him,so when gallen is Diana,it is actually Gallen as Flora.Great but I do not see any Flora's characteristics in him.You see,they do have some same characteristics,how they both fold their hands over their chest,quite similiar but that's where the similiarities end.Flora as Flora speaks in a very rude,"I don't care" manner,a bit louder and not that feminine and with a quint chinese accent.Gallen as Flora(Diana) speaks in such a soft ,understanding voice,a bit too feminine and with perfect CHinese accent and some really bad English.Now,I know I am expecting a lot but these inadequacies in the part of Gallen perfecting the art of being Flora marks one of the greatest failure of this serial,in my opinion.
The Most Hated Character
No one to hate,in fcat you will probably end up pitying the villians in here.
The Most Irritating Character
Definately Gallen's Bing Kuen.Rude,chauvinistic but later he transformed himself into a really good man.
The Most Unexpected Villian
Could be Tong Ying Ying if not for Kong Wah's excellent performnace as the grieving husband.HE was the first suspect,even his wife suspected him,after finding out that her insurance is in his name and he was having an affair with her secretary.But Flora didn't suspected him before the affair became well known as she was the one who brought the insurance and put it in his name.WHen the affair came out,everybody shunned him,except for Diana and Gallen.They in fact later became friends and later nobody suspected it was him because he was such a darn good man,even Flora later encouraged him to marry Tong Ying Ying.But then,the real truth came out.He was THE ONE,for money because he played in the stock market and lost terribly.He could have gone to his wife but he couldn't for pride and because his wife will never help him.In one of the most poignant scene in the serial,he was shot after kidnapping Gallen and before he drew his last breath,he saw Flora kneeling next to him and he explained why he did it and he said,"You have changed",when Flora said she would've helped him somehow and then he died.It was a sad scene actually because I can't help but root for this man.He's actually a nice guy,gone awry for money,like in most cases only that his is teh most desperate case of all.But his treatment of Tong Ying Ying is unforgivable,but anyway,you'll end up pitying him.
BUT hey!That's not the end.The real ending is after this and do look out for it though I felt the ending was a bit too fake and cheey,but if Ghosts exist,why not a much more supreme being that can grant them their wishes and let these two being,Flora and Gallen be happily together,ever after for eternity?
Best Performances
Some complained,in K-100 that Kong Wah's performance was not that good.Not because he can't act but because he is acting in a role that nobody expected of ush an outcome.I mean,this was the King in Happy Ever After,the honourable and noble monk in JTTW and overall honourable and noble guy in almost all his serials,and now a villian?That was the complaint,it was not believable and I tend to agree but that only goes to his image.As an actor,he is in fine form here and he is funny,and rather good looking in some scenes,but too thin if you ask me.
I have always liked Kwok Siu Wan and respected her work as an actress.Always underrated,she ia always excellent in all her roles,and she is in tip top form in here,though you may not like her Francoise.A very talented actress.
TOng Ying Ying was ok,though when she screams,it is a bit too high pitched for my ear drums.But she's ok,a different image.She was alwyas the prostitue from CHina,but here she is a nice decent secretary,but then again maybe not.,Watch for yourself.And yeah,the one she's wearing on her head,is a wig.Her hair was short at that time.
Flora was ok though not exceptionally great.Her name is here because I am too tired to write a different heading,so you could say her performance was tolerable.
Gallen Lo as Gallen was ok,but as Diana,look below.
The Most Disappointing Performance
Gallen Lo is one perfect example of how much he was Charmaine Sheh in his younger days in terms of acting abilities.Everybody trashed his acting,and he was really bad,like a wood until Secret Of The Heart where all of a sudden,he found his niche and he tapped into his character so well,that nowadays,he is just too good,l.ike he was in Old Time Buddies,even in the disastrous ATE.In here,he was good,but as Diana,there wa something lacking as explained above.The mannerisms was disapointing and perhaps much more time should have been given to him for preparation of his role as Flora,though reportedly,she would do the scene first before he would do the same scene,just to see her reactions.But you can see such a stark difference of his Diana and Flora herself that it became a bit of a joke to see him in drag.But frankly,the greatest selling point of this serial is Gallen in a skirt,but yet this was also the greatest failure of the serial.Fo that,the seiral failed in his performance as Diana.
The girl who played Sardonna,Cheung San Yuet was very dissapointing.Never really liked her,not even in Ups and Downs.Not that she can't act but it was limited to wide eyed and well,basically wide eyed.Very juvenile in her acting.And yes,compared to Charmaine,Charmaine has a much more likeable face,a viewers' face but as to talent,they rank pari-passu.
If I were the writers I would ....
Change the ending,give Andrew a real second chance.Give Gallen more time to prepare.
The Best Aspect of This Serial : The songs,especially the main theme by Flora and Gallen.Flora is a better singer than she is as an actress and she sings with such emotions,that well,she should be a singer actually,which she is,part time of course.Look out for the main theme,in chinese as a duet and the original in English,sung somewherte at the beginning scenes of the serial by Flora.Excellent stuff here.If you want to listen to teh songs,go to SCTVB ,but get a real player first.And then go to TVB Online for the music video.
Is it worth Renting
As a concept,this was a good serial but as the end product,it was still enjoyable thought it could have been better.If you have nothing much to watch,watch this then.I watched it for Kong Wah,and he didn't disappoint me.Fans of Gallen may want to leave this one alone because I do not think you would want to see your idol in drag though Gallen as a woman was surprisingly attractive,though tall.Reminded me of the Eastern Europen Women athletes.
Interesting Facts
Considered a hit though it requires acquired taste to enjoy this serial.
Gallen had facials,if you notice and I am sure he went through the torture that women go through everyday just to look beautiful and presentable,like hair removal.
It's unfair being women actually.Men,money will do though looks will be an added bonus.Women,must be beautiful,with a figure to die for and must be well,a woman.But then women can wear skirts,pins on their hairs,scarfs on their neck,make up,do the beehive hairdo,grow long long hair,and be basically cranky over everything.We can also be indecisive,that's our greatest pregotive as a woman,to be able to say "Well,I don't know,why don't you decide" and then say,"but darling,pleeeaaaseeeee,I want it the other way",and the men will usually fall for the pleeeeaaaseeeee ploy.Actually,it's great being a woman,but depends where.Moreover,we are the ones who are given teh privilege to go through possibly 24 hours labour pain to give birth to a life,and we will probably be the only ones who are sure about the identity of the father of the child,without going trough soem paternity tests.
Ok,ok,I was joking.Being a girl is great,being a guy is also great.
Interesting Observation
Do ghosts exist?Could be anice concept because your loved ones may have passed on but they are still here to protect us,like some Chinese believe.
We also believe that when a loved ones die,they will alwyas come back for a final visit on the seventh day after their death,just to say good bye.
Heard of the Ghost Festival or now popularly known as Men Lan Jie?Well,it sued to be said that on the 14th day of the 7th month,the gates of hell would open and ghosts would be given a month(or something like that) off,and this would include all types of ghost,good ones,mean ones.As a human being,we offer them food and entertainment,to appease their hunger,their pain and hopefully to give them some comfort and salvation for their souls.Of course nowadays those traditional chinese opera became karaoke sessions and nobody is afraid of coming out during midnight or 3 am.
Anyway,the origin of this festival came from a very touching folklore.I can't remember the names but the story is like this.
In the olden days of China,a person who dies will be taken to a purgatory kinda place and be judged accordintg to their deeds.The best will be reincarnation,the worst would be eternal damnation in the 18th floor of the Hell.Now,Hel is not like Satan controlled place like in the Christian Beliefs,but to the chinese,we have a system.remember JTTW?It's like that.The Heaven is governed by the Jade emperor,the hells by the King Of Hell,reporting to the Jade Emperor.There are officials in the form of Blakc and White faced officials,Poon Koon and also teh mroe popular duo,horse headed man and ox faced man.Hell has 18 floors,the first for the lightest,all given a chance for rebirth,18th for eternal damnation.Could be a human,animal,insects,etc when rebirth,according to your deeds.Some could even be given a saintly status and be some sort of a demi-god in heaven.Now,this is the concept of Bible's Angels.Anyway,Hell in chinese world is not some devil's laire but is actually a court room of some sort.
So back to the story.There was once an old woman who has a good son.Now the son was a good man,fillial and respectful,despite the fcat that his mother was the worst of the lot.the mother was mean,dishonest,cruel.So when she died,in Hell she was sentenced to eternal damnation,deservedly according to her past deeds.The son,though however bad the mother was,went to Hell and rescued his mother by bribing the officials(yes,bribery exists even i hell and the infklation rate could bankrupt the world,like a billion dolars to a dolar type of inflation) and thus,the heavens wa stouched by his fillial peity that they gave the mother a second chance at life(I think),and her sould was redeemed by the good and brave deeds of the son.
The purpose and origin of Ghost festival came from this touching story.Every incense burnt,every food offered,every prayers given,is actually to help ease the sins of the ghosts and hope for their souls be given a second chance of rebirth,a plea of forgiveness and clemency to the heavens.WHy should we total strangers do so?Well,some ghosts has no family,those that died an orphan,or died in freak accidents or thsoe that died in horrible deaths have angry souls.People do so thinking that perhaps one day they would die and someone would do the same for them,It's an act of selflessness actually,so the next time you burnt an incense,think about the lost souls.Of course it si preferable for you to help thsoe that are living,to gain some good deeds points of course.
Anyway,as to the Blibical sense of Hell,it's darker,more sinister and very depressing.All Christians believe that when they die,as a Christian,having accepted Jesus as the Son Of God,they will go to Heaven.I once asked a pastor,is this automatic,and they said yes.Other religious belifes will be given eternal damnation in hell,unless their souls are saved.But you must go for confessions.In Catholic beliefs,confession is to the priest,the agent for God so to speak but that is not enough.Charity is one of the must thing to do.That's why you could see Jesuit priests,charitable organisation by Catholic groups.Protestant,you confess directly to God and Charity is not a must though you must be generous to your neighbour.
Angels does not exist in the same form as in Chiense mythology.For Christian beliefs,people always believed that Angles are something good,something nice.But in some recent shows,that viewpoint has changed.In the Bible,when God wanted something done,He sent the angels to doHis work.Seeing Angels i no longer a welcomed thing because Angels appears before a disaster occurs.In fcat,some became disturbed after seeing angels.
Well,it's up to your beliefs.This serial has no indication as to whether it is chinese or christian based but from the ending,it is more to Christian beliefs than Chinese.
Interesting Comparison
Ghost?Nahhhhhhhh!Prophecy?Nahhhhhhhh!!Atv's coincidentally?Maybe.
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