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Showing posts with label Series [HKATV]. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Series [HKATV]. Show all posts
28 December 2009
RETURN TO THE TRUTH [ATV]
How Long : I can't remember
Who : 4 very very young actors,3 of them now at TVB.Kong Wah,Jackie Lui Chung Yin,Jan Lau Kam Ling,Choi Hiu Yee,Mai Suet, and 2 very talented child actor,now teenagers.
What & Where : Set in modern 80's HK,it is a tale of rivalry,jelousy,bitter hatred of two brothers,the women they both loved and their mother who is clearly biased with her love and attention.
The Verdict : I wanted to put this here first coz this will be a rather lengthy review.I personally feel this is one of the best ATV series I have ever seen,from the compelling storyline to the acting of the child actors and their grown up conterpart,you'll probably cry as much as I did.If you could find this one,do rent it.But since this was like so long ago,I don't think ATV has it until they re-released it.
The storyline : Mai Suet and her well to do husband of a rice shop has two young sons,one year apart.The eldest one is the soft spoken and not so smart and the youngest one is the smart,over achiever,naughty and the apple of his mother's eyes.It is very obvious who the mom loves more because all the best things is for this young son to the point that the oldest son is ignored way too much.But the boy,for all the inadequacy of love and atention from his mom got just as much love from his father,a good decent hard working man.And so he never felt little so to speak.But during one time because of the youngest son's malice towards an old woman who had criticised his favourite dead hero,Bruce Lee,he put rat poison into the rice that the woman bought and thus the whole family was poisoned to death and his father's shop was burnt and they were forced to live in proverty.At the same time,the mother's ex lover(a very young Lau Dan) saw that incident and kept quiet.He would pursue this woman but she tired to avoid him,staying true to her husband eventhough they lived in proverty.But the husband was beginning to suspect the wife was having an affair of the heart with this man.Then one day,tragedy struck.The two young boys,and the neighbour's daughter that they both liked was playing and the eldest son who was good at cycling was showing off to the girl.The young brother,feeling jeolous and rage decided to race his brother but instead,he feel down,knocked his head hard.The brother panicked and brought him home,only to have his father arguing with the mother and refusing to let the son see a doctor out of spite of the wife.Poor boy who by now was having a very high fever and beginning to feel numb in his limbs.But after a while,they brought the boy to the hospital and it was too late.He will remain paralysed and would not be able to walk ever again for decades because he has brain damage.But he could still observe and he isn't stupid.The wife by now had lost all hope since her only hope is now almost in vegatative state,left with her lover with a stack of cash for her son and the promise that she would come back for her two sons once she is settled.Poor eldest son who begged his mother refusing to let go of the car .That began his hatred for his mother.Because of the brother's condition and his father who is too weak to work,the young boy,barely into his teens left school and worked to support his family and to save enough money to cure his brother.Then 20 years later,they're both grown up,the eldest son is now an uneducated,tough talking renovater in the form of Kong Wah and the youngest son is still paralysed in the form of Jackie Lui.The gilr whom they both wanted is now a pretty nurse in the form of Choi Hiu Yee,Kong Wah's suffering girlfriend.When the son got better and when he met his mother again,that was the beginning of their nightmares as Jackie became more ruthless each day,to take back all his lost years.
The Worst Of The Lot is : Definately Jackie Lui's character.When he regained his clear mind and movements,he did worked hard but his mother,who have tried to find him for many year but couldn't pampered him and spoilt him.He was in love with his borther's girlfriend,raped her one night because she thought he was the older brother.When his brother found out,he let him have her .But because of his greed,he married a rich man's daughter(sister of Jan Lau).But he didn't have to do that because he is smart and he could've made it even without connections whatsoever.But his greedy and malicious side got the better of him.And in the end,he killed his step father,killed his motehr(accidentally) only to discover that all his mother's wealth has been left for his eldest brother.He then tried to cause serious harm to his brother by the law but Jan Lau,who is a prosecutor and by now,the brother's GF caught him before he did.Though in the end,he had almost everything but even if the law couldn't quite catch him in his criminal ways,God did.His condition reversed and even before he killed himself,he had wanted his brother to shoot him but his brother,by now who has no more feelings for this brother that he had slaved most of his life for,walked away.
The Most Difficult Person To Be Is.. : The oldest brother,Kong Wah.Deprived of a decent chance of a decent education,all of his life he lived with the guilt that if it wasn't him who had raced with his brother in that fateful aftrenoon,the brother would not have been living his life in a wheelchair.So he worked hard,sacrificed his education,threw away his pride to use the money his mother left for them, sacrificed his dignity to kneel in front of the doctor who eventually cured his brother.From a wimpish boy who cried without a second thought,he became a tough talking man who refused to cry.He fought for his brother's dignity.Some might say he should but how much must one man do to be forgiven for an act he never did do?When he met his mother again,he,unlike the spineless brother was unforgiving .But in the end,when he discovered his own brother became an entirely different boy that he once loved and knew and when his own unreasonable father died of a heart attack because his youngest said the unthinkable,the brother began to hate this young man who had seduced his wife to be,and when his mother told him that he was the better son and she regretted not loving him as a son,all is forgiven but it was too late.His mother was dead and he knew who did it.When at last his own little brother became as he was before,he had begged his elder brother to shoot him,to make it easier for himself and probably to have the blood on his brother's hands,Kong just walked away.You may say he is heartless to his brother's plight but in the end,those who sin must bear the conseqeunces themselves.I would say that Kong is the Most Hourable Character in this series.
The HATE factor : Jackie Lui who at first would be my Most Pitiful Character nominee
but towards the end you'll hate him.So he spent most of his life in a wheelchair deprived of everything thinking that his brother had a better life.But what did he know of his brother's hardships?He was ungrateful,spineless for calling that man 'daddy' and in the end,evil.But we do know that something about him wasn't right since the first episode.He was boastful(which brought about his own misery),malicious and evil too for putting those rat poison into the family's rice.He wasn't a good boy and when he grew up,he wasn't a good man.But when he was paralysed,he was the most decent man.So somehow,you would wish if only he wasn't cured.
The Best Scene : The first 2 tapes that featured the two young boys,especially the younger one who I feel is the best child actor I have ever seen in HK.He was also the young Wong Yat Wah in the excellent classic,Looking Back In Anger with Deric Wan,Carina Lau,Kathy Chow.By the way,those two boys are real life brothers,now all grown up and not acting.A great pity for someone with his talent.Other secens would be the ending.Simply well,simple,poignant and full of unspoken meanings.
The Love factor : Choi was the GF of Kong,but he always neglected her and during one drunk night,she selpt with Lui thinking he was Kong.In the end,she lived in with Lui only to have him married to a rich girl(I think the girl's name is Strawberry something,now in TVB).She gave him a son but she kept the son.Kong then met Jan and Jan feel for this honest and honourable man though he wasn't as educated nor rich as she was.You could say in the Love Factor wise,it was a happy ending.
The Most Unreasonable/Annoying Characters : The father.Being as unreasonbale as he was,it was no wonder that the wife left him.And also the mother,whom I felt was the cause of all their miseries.And Lau Dan.What more can I say except that he deserved his ending.
Is Jackie Any Worse Than... : Kelvin Kam of Secret Of The Heart? Well,almost. In fact,the story is quite similiar with this series,but Kong's character is not as stupid and naive as Sunny Chan's character.But in terms of Jackie's character and Nick Cheung's character,quite similiar,only less gruesome deaths in this series.
Lei Chi Hou of Kindred Spirit? Nope.Lee will have the honours for being TV's worst son/brother.And the fact that he has all the best lines which made Kindred Spirit such a hit.
But the one person that I could see the most similiarities is two characters.One is Ming Chi Kit of Flaming Brothers and the other,Deric Wan's character in Looking Back In Anger.What is it with younger poor brothers who wanted much more in their lives adn the only way they think they could achieve that is by:
1)dump good poor GF wh would always be brother's former GF
2)marry nice mega rich girl and torture her emotionally
3)kill lots and lots of people,beginning with their own family(especially mothers)
4)Got a lot of money and THEN do more criminal stuffs like selling drugs,ect which kinda make all his past efforts redundant
5)before he either got killed/killed himself,his brother would be the one who will enjoy the fruits of honest living
6)AND he never ever goes to prison.
The Best Performance : The two young boys,Jackie for his doey-innocent-turned bad eyes,Kong Wah for his excellent potrayal of a man caught between,well eveything,Mai Suet for her excellent potrayal of a wman biased and lived to regret it.Nope,the others weren't that good,especially Choi whose acting is a bit raw here.
Is it worth Renting : Definately .Enough said.
Is It Better Than ...: All the above mentioned series?All have their similiarities in the sense that honest older brother,good turned bad younger brother,how the older brother would deal with the youngest brother in the last episode.But the main difference is the ending.Ok,so THEY ALL DIED in the end.BUT...
Flaming Brothers : Michael forgave a very repentant and seriously injured Patrick
Looking Back In Anger : Deric wasn't that repentant but he knew he was wrong.The brother wanted to forgive him and the only way for forgoveness is for him to face the consequences of his own actions.So Felix Wong sent his brother to USA for a business,knowing that the plane would land in Malaysia where the brother was a wanted murderer and before he was to hang to death(death penalty),the brother forgave a very scared to die brother.
Kindred Spirit : I am sure when Lee died,everybody forgave him.
But in this series,which is the only difference with above mentioned series other than the way they died itself,which now we rarely see this very realistic ending,Kong never forgave a not very repentant Jackie and his brother told his young brother do whatever you want with your life,it is you life and he walked away amdist the sound of "BANG".and he continued to walk away.Classic ending.
Interesting Facts : Out of five principal characters you see in this series,four is now in TVB and one (Choi) in China/Taiwan.Even Lau Dan is in TVB.And I would say for some,it was a good decision,like Jackie whos is getting a lot of exposure in TVB.But for Jan and Kong Wah,I really don't think so .So they have work,a very consistent thing but all Jan is playing is,..can anyone remember?And for Kong,though he has much more exposure but now after JTTW,all he played is Kings and more Kings.I am not complaining coz I have a feeling that he is probably the only TVB actor who can boast that he hugged more up and coming actresses than Louis(who got to kiss most of them though),and also all of the series he is in in TVB are all big time hits,which is a good thing.But then,he has less demanding roles.Since he is older now than he was in ATV,I guess other younger actors will get more screen time and hero roles.Which is a great pity for this actor who was simply irresistable and amazing as the very complex Yong Zheng in Secret Battle Of The Majesty.He deserves to have meatier roles that deman much more acting chops than he is having right now.
By the way,you can see him in Legend Of Lady Yang,Ups And Downs and also you can hear him in his coming album.
Jackie can be seen in When Dreams Come True
MY DATE WITH A VAMPIRE [ATV]
How Long : 20+ tapes.
Who :
Eric Wan Tin Chiu~ Fong Tin Yau
Joey Mun Yee Mun~ Ma Siu Ling /Grandaunt
Kenneth Chan Kai Tai~ Saan Boon Lung Yat
Kristy Yeung Kung Yue~ Wong Jan Jan
Cheung Kwok Kuen ~ Fong Fuk Sang
Lui Yau Wai ~ Au Yeung Ga Ga
Ng Ting Yip ~ Ken
To Man Jaak ~ Gam Jing Jung
Chan Wai ~ Miu Sin
Keung Ho Man ~ Go Bou
Cheung Man Chi ~ Saan Boon Mei Loi
Mak Ging Ting ~ Baak Seh
Wong Mei Fan ~ Ching Seh
Leung Bik Ji ~ Bik Ga
Ching Dung ~ Fung Ping
Wong Syu Tong ~ Hoh Ying Kau (Kau Suk)
Yeung Ga Nok ~ Lam Kwok Dung
Wong Oi Yiu ~ Ah Sau
Lee Yung ~ Herman
Gam Saan ~ Jeung San
Jung Yeung ~ Peter
What & Where : 2 periods of time,one in the 40's China and the second the 90's Hk.It is basically a tale about blood sucking vampires,bent on dominating the world and populating it with blood sucking vampires(or draculas,if you prefer that term).
The storyline : Interestingly,it started very promisingly.It's China in the 40's and a Ma ghostbuster (Joey) was on the trail of the Vampire King who will be awaken later that night.At the mean time,a bunch of Japanese soldiers led by the General,Ken Chan arrived at a small rural village looking for a fugitive,who is an anti-japanese guerilla who is our hero,Eric Wan.There,the people rather die than reveal his real identity as he was hiding amongst the crowds.Somehow they found out and as they fought and fought and tried to escape,our Ma Sifu is still searching for that Vampire King.Somehow,our two heros',being Eric and Ken and another little kid ran into this dark place and Ken killed the kid. Then the vampire king emerges from his long sleep with really long fangs and looking a bit dumb and also looking for food.He bit all three people there and the Vampire King disappears together with Ken Chan.And then what we see next is the 90's,with a very much alive Eric,with a very stylish look and sunglasses in broad day light catching criminals(he is a cop,a super cop in fact coz he has super-powers like jumping higher,running faster,better eyesight than everybody).And then we see the boy as a Standard/Grade 3 students who is a bit too old for his age because of the way he talks.Next we were introduced to Joey Mun as Ma Siu Ling,who is the next generation of the Ma Ghostbuster who seemed more interested in making money than doing what she does for a good cause.And how did they all meet?In Japan where Joey was invited there by a rich old Japanese man to catch some ghost in his hotel.She brought her best friend,Kristy who is a soft-spoken and sweet school teacher.She fell for Eric on first sight and he liked her too but not Joey.She is a bit of a skeptic when it comes to love.Then we meet Ken Chan who is this really old Japanese hotel owner who supposedly has a young grandson looking like him.But we know better.And then there is this much more complex love relationship happenning amidst all these dramas,like Joey realised she's in love with a vampire,but that vampire is seeing another vampire,well it's complicated.And because of this love for Eric,Joey lost ALL her powers and skills!
As more and more episodes go by,we discovered some startling truth that we all knew all along.Eric and Cheung Kwok Kuen(who plays a 60 year old trapped in a 9 year old body) AND Ken Chan are all vampires.The only difference is Ken has much more of a super power than they both,and he has a grown up daughter(Mei Loi) and few assistants,all vampires.And they have one sinister plot.According to some old prophecy,in 199(something,I forgot the year),vampires will dominate planet Earth and one Vampire will be the KING.Ken thought it was him and so he did many many things and killed many many people to realise this revelation.Until he saw Kristy,who looks exactly like his dead wife.But Eric and Joey sacrificed their lives to beat this Ken in his world domination and they succesfully killed him with the help of Mei Loi,his own daughter.AND YET THE STORY CONTINUES and that is where it starts to be rather tedious and downright ridiculous.
How Come... : Joey lost all her powers?There is a rule in this Ma clan.If they want to practise this Ghostbuster thing,the girls must never ever fall in love,.And they must never ever shed a single tear for a man,if they do,POOF!No more powers which was what happened to Joey when Eric,in the first ending,had no choice but to suck the blood of Kristy who laid there dying of some wound.After he did so,he went beserk,crazy like you just had your first(and hopefully) last taste of some drugs,and he became violent.Joey would have to kill him but she couldn't.Instead she begged him to stop,and when she was begging him,she shed a single and then many many tears and so there goes her career.And what happened to Eric?He fainted into a coma.
Ken has much more power than Eric and the boy?Well,there is a rule in vampire world.If you suck human blood,you'll have super powers beyond all powers of normal vampires BUT you would be hooked on it.You cannot NOT suck human blood after your first suck and you'll crave for more and more and you'll become crazy,beserk even violent and you'll just wanna suck and suck.This was what happened to that little boy when Ken kidnapped him and forced him into a small room with no food but a human person.So he was so hungry that he sucked that girl's blood.Ever since then,he could not drink any other blood because the blood will taste like spoilt milk,sour.Joey had wanted to kill him but Eric begged her not to.In the end,the boy came to her himself but instead of killing him,Joey put him into a long long sleep until,hopefully a cure could be found.And there was in the first ending where there was this supposedly synthetic blood that has the same components as human blood but ain't human blood.So there cures his craving for human blood.
Ken and Eric the Vampires seemed stylish and normal whilst towards the end of the series where vampires are everywhere,those vampires looked and act like stupid zombies?Well,there is an explanation to that.Just imagine you are first generation so smart and all.Then you do the in-breeding thing and so future generations has more illnesses and problems genetically.Here,the Vampire King is the first generation.So he possessed all the great genetic advantages of a vampire.Then he bit Eric and Ken and everybody else which will inherit the fine qualities.By the time Ken bit another who bit another who bit another who bit another(you get the picture,right?),the genetics advanges are all jumbled up and all you have are poor qualities of the previous copy.That is why the later episodes vampires looked stupid.
Eric/Ken generation is not afraid of sunlight,sleep in coffins,afraid of crosses and talisman?Well,as above,the first generation vampires have all the normal things,like human qualities but with super power and hunger for blood only.As the later generations go by,more defects can be seen that is why,European Vampires(as explained in this series) are afraid of the sun and all the cross thing.Great explanation,isn't it?
Mei Loi,Ken's daughter would participate in the plot of killing her own daddy?Well,there is a sad rule in vampire world.You do not grow old,you will remain as you were sucked at that age.Which means everybody dies but you don't die.So Ken was sucked,he went back home to Japan a confused vampire.He hid himself from his wife and after many years,the wife died of old age and he still looked great.Afraid of impending eternity all alone,he sucked his only beloved child.In turn ,this child sucked her BF and his family(and her BF became her father's right hand man).And so started the hatred of the century.The father loved the child but the child hated the father and thus she did everything to rebel against him.And she killed him to stop him in his evil plot.
Ken want to dominate the world?Simple,as above,he didn't want to be all alone.Imagine this.You're the only chinese in an island populated by white people.Wouldn't you want some of your own gang?It was selfish.Why?Look below.
The "I don't Get It" Factor : This is one of the flaws in the script and possibly the mind of Ken the vampire if there is one.So you suck everybody and everybody becomes a vampire.But do not forget,you depend on human blood to survive.So the I don't Get It Factor would be,who then will be his dinner?Wouldn't they all will starve to death because no food by then?
Another factor that I don't get it is later in the series,where Ken and Eric is fighting all of a sudden they both changed into this tuxedo(glittering type) wearing,lizard head with horns and scaly bodied vampires.I mean ATV wants to show off the make up effects but they have over done it to the point of well,it's funny when we are supposed to be worried for their safety.Perhaps they should learn from Journey To The West make-up team.Just nice and brings out the highlight of the hair too.
The Many Sub-Plots : Plenty of unneccessary sub-plots here.Probably to make it longer.Anyway,there is this one with green snake and white snake plot,the Kuan Yin/Buddha plot,seven warriors plot,the many ghostbusting plots.Each have their well,special mention in here.
Kuan Yin and Buddha Plot :At the second ending, Kuan Yin is worried that the world will be congested with Vampires.With all the deaths and sufferings,Buddha had decided to kill off all mankind via his palm by crushing the earth.Kuan Yin begged to perhaps there might be another way.Of course there is.And this brings us to this second sub plot.
The Five Warriors Plot : At the second ending where Ken is resurrected into this heartless vampire bent on dominating the world(again)but this time he is just a puppet of another scarrier(not vampire) human with super powers.Well,prophecy has it that the world will have a King of all Kings but he could be stopped by five warriors from the long ago legend,where seven warriors sacrificed themselves to trap this mean evil dude.Guess who are these 7 warriors?Some we have seen in earlier episodes that died,plus Eric and well,Ken!And Kristy is the virgin whose blood is needed to dominate the world(too complicated to explain in here).I mean this is ridiculous story but well,they fought hard and everybody dies at the end and before they died(which includes Joey),Eric requested to Buddha/Kuan Yin that they all be given a second chance and he requested that when they were fighting with each other(where the boy actually died but was alive because the vampire bit him),and the vampire never got to bit ay of them.So the boy died,Ken went home to Japan and lived a happy long life,his daughter Mei Loi grew old with her BF/husband very happilly,Joey and Kristy all lived in the 90's AND Eric appears in their lives looking like we knew him in the first episode.Weird I know and weirder still,he is not the Eric we know but probably his son!And then they all have this deja-vu thing when thay all sat together for a friendly gathering.Do we all smell a sequel here?
The White snake/Green snake Plot: If you know this chinese legend,you would understand why the woman waited for her love that wasn't there and there was this crazy old monk after centuries being trapped in some stone escaped and only wanted to do one thing;to kill white snake.Well,if you don't know,this is why I am doing this.
Legend has it that there was this white snake and green snake who after thousands of years,took the human form.White snake fell in love with a nice scholar who is a human.She lied about her true identity and married this man and lived quite happily until one nosy monk who could not tolerate human-devil love relationships(just like those in Journey to the West series) decided to tell the husband her true identity.He didn't believe him and the monk told him how to get her to reveal her true identity.He made her drunk one night and in the midst of drunkeness,she became her true self,a white snake and poor husband died from shock.Now you know why in this series,that past love was referred to as a traitor,a coward and a useless man.Sad.
Is Ken That Bad...: Actually,no.He's just desperate.He really loved his daughter to the point that when he was given a chance to rectify the past,he took that chance.Meaning he,Joey and Eric travelled back to the 40's and will try to kill the Vampire King before they all get bitten.If they did got bitten,they'll kill themselves.Which means that Ken himself will be killed but to him,this was the only chance for him to ask for forgiveness from his daughter and give her a normal life with her BF and have her call him "Daddy" again after like decades of hatred.Of course it failed,thanks to one of his very selfish girl-assistant who didn't want to die when she did for the first time.And in one of the most touching scenes in this series.they are all thrown into the past with only a thread to hold them to the present time.The bad girl didn't want them to come back (except for Ken)and so she threw the lights which held the threads into the time hole.Mei Loi seeing this grabbed hold on one and was sucked into that time-hole and as she was sucked further in,her father saw her and held on to her but alas,failed.And so his daughter disappeared and her father became even more bent on dominating the world, until the first ending,where Kuan Yin brought her back from the third dimension to kill her father.
And he was very reluctant to suck Kristy's blood.And when he was brought back to life,the first thing he did was scream "Noooooooooo!!!!",because he was at peace.After being a walking zombie for so many years,death seemed like a very ideal resting way.He was also on his way,probably to reincarnation but was abruptly brought back to life.Poor vampire.So, he isn't that bad,just very lonely and desperate for companionship in a life of eternity.
The Best Episodes: The earlier ones,before tape 16.After that,it disintergrate into silliness.
Why? : Well,remember I mentioned first ending and second ending?They should have end it when Ken died and everybody is hurt and all.But they decided to stretch the story and after that,it just became a piece of boring series and even ridiculous in the ending.Such a great pity because it was very interesting and they had to over-kill it.It then became a comedy.
The Verdict : It was very interesting at first but well,as I have said again and again,shame on the writers for giving us crap for the next 5 tapes.
Is it worth Renting : The first few episodes,YES but if I were you,I will stop at the first ending to avoid disappoinment.If you're a fan of any of the above named actors,well,this should be it.In fcat,there is this nice winter scenery of Japan.
If I Were The Scriptwriter : End it earlier.Not give viewers cheesy sub-plots,really confusing and stupid endings.Do away with the heavy make-up and laughable costume.Concentrate more on the flow of the story and not just suddenly give an entirely different story so as to help salvage the dignity of Ken's character.Find some one who is more noble ,kinder looking and respectable looking to be Kuan Yin and Buddha.Do away with the ultra-boring green/white snake sub plot which doesn't fit into the flow of the story at all.Somehow,only JTTW can contain all these stories and still remain dignified.This is the mistake of the writers.I know if we could buy the concept of JTTW,this should be ok.But that one has an underlying theme,Buddhism and that concept fits into the story of a mythical world.This present series is set in a modern world,where we could buy the existence of ghosts and vampires but devils like snakes?And what was that with the five warriors plot?It's just so shameful to make a good series into a joke.
Special Mention : Whatever Joey was wearing in this series.Wow is all I can say.So modern,so stylish and the skirt,micro mini skirt too when her job requires her to kung fu kick.And the tools she was using,the powder case that contains well,her tools of trade.Her gadgets are my most favourite and most imaginative things in this series.A pity the story isn't so.
Is it BETTER than…: I Have A Date With Spring?different story altogether but similiar title.Interview With A Vampire with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise?Both have their weaknesses but the western one is much much entertaining and superior in the storyline.But some might find it boring and the acting a bit stiff.All those Mr Vampire movies ?NO WAY!You want good old scary chinese vampire story with a touch of comedy in just under 2 hours?Well,Mr Vampire movies will be it,especially Mr Vampire I.Scary.
Interesting Facts: This was a mega hit for ATV.In their own birthday bash,all those best actors and best actress categories are all from this series.Joey and Eric won.So reportedly,Kristy wasn't pleased coz after all,she is supposed to be big sister of ATV and she lost.Well,at least she gotta kiss both Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng and earn lots of money.
A sequel is on the way with the same casts.
Interesting Observation : It's interesting you know to observe the difference in the concept of Western vampires and Chinese vampires.Not in this series but generally.Well,western vampires are much more stylish and daring.They could be bats or humans.And they aren't afraid of the cross or any religion so the only way to kill them is to put a wooden stake through their hearts.Whilst chinese vampires usually wear Ching Dynasty official clothings,are very very scary and has no brain to do the thinking.All they want to do is suck and suck.But one good thing though.They're afraid of chinese Gods and anything associated to it.And usually,they're portrayed as lost soul trapped in a lifeless body.Usually those that died in the most horrible circumstances or buried in the most evil feng shui place.In real life,some years back in Johor,Malaysia,there was a few cases reported of a few bodies buried in this particular cemetary where eventhough they died for decades but they still looked like they're sleeping,supple skins and black hair.In fact,blacker than when they were alive with long dark nails.This, some would refer to as a vampire in the making.So proper things must be done.Not that it will jump up from the coffin or something like that(though reportedly one body suddenly opened her eyes when the Ghostbuster Sifu tried to destroy her body) but it will be some sort of a bad curse for that person's future generations.And in chinese folklore and beliefs,never ever let a black cat jump over a dead body coz it might well,get up.
Another interesting observation is people assume that when you see a ghost,you flash a cross sign and there it goes away,afraid.I really don't think so.Like a movie I watched,the character said that it would depend on the ghost's religious beliefs.If it believes in Chinese Gods,then even a cross they won't be afraid.If they are atheists,I would advise you to just ignore it and go to sleep and pray real hard for the morning sun to come.And then get some expert to look at the Feng Shui of the place you encountered the ghost.Not all ghosts are Six Sense-ish.But as the old chinese sayings goes,Humans are afraid of ghosts equivalent to 3 points but ghosts are afraid of human equivalent to 7 points.Then why some see ghosts?Probably they're born with such ability/gift/curse or some is because they're low in their luck so they see such things.It's a question whether you believe in such things or not but one conclusion that I can say;these old stories and beliefs scared the hell out of me when I was a child and well,even now,especially with those bodies that never decompose.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS [ATV]
Which Is : An ultra long saga about a woman named Sau Hau and her often bittersweet relationship with her in laws,her husband's other women,her absent husband,the war,poverty and triumph of the human spirit set in the turbulent decades of China going through a social change in old Shanghai time.
How Long : 50 + tapes/100+ episodes.
Who :
Amy Chan ~ Tse Sau Hau
Steven Ma Jing Tao ~ Fong Ho Sang
Sharon Tang ~ Cheung Man Fung
Gilbert Lam ~ Fong Ho Man
Lam Wai ~ Wai Sai Bong
Maggie Siu ~ Ding Man
Wong Jung Kwan ~ Lok Ping
Chun Pui ~ Fong Sai Faan
Seung Tin Ngoh ~ Sek Pui Pui
Lee Heung Kam ~ Gam Fung Ji
Bau Hei Jing ~ Fa Yihm Ha
Yeung Ga Nok ~ Jiu Saam
Wong So Fun ~ Ho Siu
Gam Saan ~ Tse Cheung
Yiu Ji Wahn ~ Yeung Giu
Jiu Hoi Yee ~ Tse Sau Lai
Mo Kei ~ Yeung Hok Hin
The Plot : Very interesting,but being oh so long,somehow something will always go wrong.For example,the span of years being a decade or so,things couldn't be anything more interesting because it is 100 episodes and there aren't much except for repetition.But the basic storyline itself is very interesting and should be appealling to everybody,especially the older generations.So here is the plot;
Sau Hau is your typical uneducated Chinese young girl from a really poor farming family.Not the modern typical type but the good old chinese type,she rarely speaks,she will work too hard,she will do anything for the man she loves(even is it was not love at first sight),she will do anything to survive(not being illegal or immoral),she'll try not to be jealous(but deep down she is),and most important of all,she is bloody nice and too kind for her own good.And she is pretty too,so not that typical of a chinese lady of the old days.One day,the rich first wife of a really rich land owner liked her so much,and being oh so sick due to her failing health,she ordered her son,Ho Sang(Ma Jing Tao) to come home,and basically tricked,cajoled,ordered and demanded that he married this nice young girl.He was very reluctant but being a good son,he married her and subsequently ignored her.But during the course of thsoe few days that they were together,he discovered that she is really one good woman,and he fell deeply in love with her,slept with her,then left for the army because you see,he is also a good citizen,wanting to fight for his country against the big bad Japanese people during WWII.And off he goes,leaving his wife,and though the wife may want him to stay,but is a good wife to do...well,let him be a man and go!Then things starts to be even more interesting in her husband's absence.The first wife died,Sau Hau became pregnant and guess what?Old lover of her husband's came back,heavily pregnant!And get this!She is the rebellious daughter of the Sau Hau's husband's family head servant!What a small world.
Which explains why he didn't want to marry Sau Hau in the first place.He was secretly having this sordid affair with Man Fung(Sharon Teng),a nice but over demanding GF who looks like his dead student GF that died in a shootout between students and army fellas years and years ago.So basically,he fell for her because of her looks.Anyway,he used her,slept with her and against the advice of her own mother whom she hated with all her heart,she fell deeply in love with a man who didn't even bothered to tell her that"hey!I am going off to war,I am getting married and I am leaving you",making the woman think that he was forced to marry Sau Hau(true!),didn't love Sau Hau(false!) and will come back and marry her(maybe!).That began a lifelong saga kind of relationship between these two women who hated each other.You see,when Man Fung came home,she was heavily pregnant and not married.People almost wanted to drown her as was with the customs of old China for unmarried pregnant women BUT Sau Hau came to her rescue,because her husband told her about his sordid love affair with that girl and being oh so nice and kind hearted,she rescued Man Fung much to the chagrin of her father in law(because you see,son made a girl pregnant,didn't marry her,that's a real big shame to the family name).Over the course of the whole pregnancy,Man Fung contracted Chicken Pox/German Measles(of which I am not sure),and everybody avoided her,refused to give her medical treatment though she was pregnant.But Sau Hau came to her rescue once again,and she became fine.But after the birth of her daughter,Man Fung suffered from Post Natal Blues,and almost drowned her own baby,but in the process caused the miscarriage of Sau Hau(how,I forgot).Everybody hated her even more,including her own mom but Sau Hau though was saddened by her loss,she lived on and forgave her.And over the course of the years when her husband was busy fighting the Japanese bad people,they will encounter many problems,like bankruptcy,building the whole damn business again but this time,they'll create a textile empire,have lost of bickerings as to my husband loves me,my husband loves me more than you routine ,only to have Man FUng realsied,during one time after the war where the husband's belongings were brought home,Man Fung who didn't know how to read asked what he wrote in the diary,and Sau Hau not wanting to hurt her feelings,lied a bit by replacing her own name with that of Man Fung's,and Man Fung was overjoyed that he was thinking about her all along,and then Sau Hau mentioned cycling.Oops!Man FUng never went cycling with him,then she realsied he didn't love her anymore,and for once she stopped arguing,stopped waiting for a man who is clearly not coming back for her and raised her daughter and fell for a rich guy,who also hates his own prostitute mother played by Lee Heong Kam.Nice isn't it?
Anyway,her husband after the war went AWOL(Absent Without Leave),and surprise surprise,thinking that he was dead,they went searching for him and found instead his war buddy,that wan his superior,Lok Ping(if I am not mistaken).ANd he liked Sau Hau so much that he fell for her,but Sau Hau clearly indicated to him,"Sorry man!I am booked for my husband only!".And after many many search done,they finally found bim,only to have him lost his memory and gasp!Living with another woman whom he called his wife(Maggie Siu)!!!!They met during the war,she a nurse and he a soldier but they weren't close.But after the war,he was hit by something,lost his memory and she took care of him.For his years of absence from home and lost of memory,she was his strength.Sau Hau was angry but he forgot about her.But they took him home ,tried to revive his memory,Man Fung was exceptionally emotional,in that she slapped and screamed at him for the injustice done to her big sis(they have since became sisters),and then that other woman,Ding man(Maggie Siu) had the nerve to come looking for him!He was clinging to her like a baby would to his mommy and in the end,to cut the loooooooong story short,he regained his memory,with him remembering one really traumatic event that happened in the past(his mom died,he was very sad and took to drinking,and he felt trapped because he was married to Sau Hau,a woman he didn't even know,and then one night,whilst he was drunk,Sau Hau came into the wine cellar looking for him,and being a woman of very few words,she slashed her own wrist and said that "Since you want to die,I as your wife will die with you" and from then on,he became the old nice and responsible Fong Ho Sang and that was how he fell for her),and he kinda loved two women now,Man Fung was never in the equation.He married Ding man as the second wife(not officially actually,since in the old days,mistresses can be considered wives),as Man Fung was granted a divorce and she married Sai Bong(Lam Wai),but to a very sad ending.And later,Ding Man also left him for another man(Lok Ping) because she realised he just didn't love her like he did many months ago before he saw his first wife again.In the end,one plus one,then plus two more,made a really unhappy family of four people,NOW IT WAS FOUR MINUS ONE,MINUS ONE MORE and you have one monogamous couple,Sau Hau and Ho Sang!Lovely,isn't it?
How About..: I missed out on a lot of people in my plot story above because then it will be too long and too confusing.Being a hundred long episodes,there must be more drama than the above right?TRUE!
Tse Sau Lai : She is the youngest child of the TSe family,and her sister Sau Hau loved her dearly.But because theyw ere too poor,they sent her away to live with someone else(I can't remember who) and she disappeared,only to reappear many years later bearing a strong resemblance to her mother(not because the mother played two roles because the actress herself bears a very strong,almost erriely strong resemblance to the actress that played her mom,perhaps they're sisters?) and is a prostitute.Heart wrenching moment,and she fell for Fong Family's second son,Fong Ho Man,but he was and still is in love with his sister in law,until he came to his senses that he won't have her,and so he settled for the second best of the Tse family,ignoring her sad and sordid past.
Fong Ho Man: Almost the unwanted child in the FOng family because Ho Sang was like the perfect being.They didn't have a good relationship,and he wasn't a good son until the war came,brother gone to war,family only old men,old women,young women and one young man,which was him.For once he took responsibilities when the family became really poor,worked as a trishaw puller,and earned his way up to respectabilty with his family,people and himself,ran the textile business later,and then brother came home and well,he was happy.But during that time,he fell for Sau Hau,but repressed it when she made it clear "No way,Jose,I am only for your bro",and so he fell for the next best thing,and diodn't really care she was a prostitute.A good man actually,not as wimpish as his brother and definately less women.
Wai Sai Bong : Young kid made it great on his own,he was really mean at first.Wanting to take over the shop that holds the Fong Family Textile business,Man Fung hated him but later,after being repeatedly wooed and pursued by this man who genuinely loved her daughter like his own,she married him.But before that,this man shares a common thing with Man Fung,he hated his mom too.Man Fung hated her mom because she was always working,she had little time for her and she was a servant,and so she imparted the "your'e also a servant's daughter therefore you're not good enough for anybody except the really poor ones" to her beloved daughter,not with malice actually .Sai Bong hated his mom simply because she was a well known prostitue and he probably didn't know who was his daddy.Sad really.But they forgave everybody and almost had a happy ending but Sai Bong had a bad relationship with the Japanese and he was cruelly assasinated.And the Man Fung became Oscar Schindler aka Schindler's List,and used her husband's factory as a safe haven for chinese dissidents,children running away from Japanese army and at the same time pretending to work for them but actually she is a spy for her country,but people was mean and called her traitor but they didn't know better.All for her husband actually becaus eher husband may have been a mean businessman but he was never a traitor.
Lok Ping : Mean army friend of Ho Sang,they became best buddies,lost contact,met his wife ,fell for her,rejected by her,met Ho Sang again,became friends,met Ding Man,became a reporter like her,fell for her,she fell for him,they married and lived happily ever after.
Best Scenes : Plenty actually.But I can't remember the exact details because I saw this like years and years ago.But most of them involves the bittersweet relationshop between Sau Hau and Man Fung,their good relationship that is often interrupted by moments of "WHo he loves most" routine once in awhile.Other than that,I can't really remember.
Also Sau Hau's expression everytime a new "other woman" walks in.
The Ultimate Classic Scene : Being a classic not because of being really good scene but because being really lousy scene,which would be the ending.I mean 1997 has passed,they're like sooooooo old,sitting together,happily.Good,if you just ignore the hours we had gone trough,like 100 episodes and that's teh ending they could give us?Can't they come out with anything better?
One I must mention would be the idea that this Ho Sang,has so many wives,and one by one left him to marry other and in the end,it's back to THE ONE ,that is his officially and legally married wife,Sau Hau.I am sorry to say this but the very idea of this is funny.Don't know why though.
The Most Sickening Aspect : Also the ending.Sickening because "Is that it?!" would be your expression towards the end."But what about.,...and the......and that......or that.....or this.......or they....".Nope,no such thing.Ending only Sau Hau and Ho Sang.But what I really do want to knwo what about the others???
Most Compatible Couple(s) as in the serial : Without a doubt,Ma Jing Tao and Chan Sau Man.NOT Cheng sau Man but CHAN Sau Man.One good looking,another pretty,both very cordial to each other(charcater wise) and both as good in their acting.
Most Confusing/Mind Numbing/"I Don't Get It" Aspect : It would have been much better if they kill off Ma Jing Tao's character,create a love affair between Sau Hau and Ho Man because frankly,the idea of that is really very delicious.I eman,bro in law with sis in law,in old china,during turbulent times,would make more drama.Instead of just showing her being such a passive character,wait and wait and wait for her husband and probably,Ho Sang would be singing,"Oops!I did it again,I played with your heart,...ooh baby baby,I'm not THAT innocent",everytime a woman walks in with him.If it weren't Ma Jing Tao,I would really hate this guy.Anyway,what is confusing is why let him live?Because we MUST have an ending of perfect relationship,husband must get back with wife?Wife must wait for husband?So that Maggie Siu has something to do in this series?It could almost be boring you know,because I mean women after women.Why can't it be men after men?If that is the case,probably I wouldn't have declered my affection for Sau Hau by calling her a good woman right?Maybe it's not that confusing after all.We must give people a good moral based story,forget the fact that this guy slept and never married the other women officially.
The Most Hated Character : For a moment,Sharon Teng's Man Fung>She could be annoying but you would emphatise with her situation.In love and waiting for a man who didn't care a bit about you.
And almost everybody hated anybody that came between Ho Sang and Sau Hau,that would be Maggie Siu's Ding man.Frankly,I like her.It's not her fault,he didn't know he was amrried and by teh time she did know that he was married,she can't just walk away right?But at the end,when she realsied that the man didn't quite love her as much,she very bravely walked away.So basically she would not have my vote as the Most Hated Character.
Frankly,the Japanese Army would have my vote,not because they showed them "rape,pillage and plunder" because I read in history books that they raped,pillaged and plundered.
The Most Lovable Character :You'll say Sau Hau.
My Most Favourite Character : You'll say Sau Hau,but i will say Ho Man.Because i like a guy who knows his weaknesses,knows that he is wrong and works damn hard to correct his inadequacies and then triumph over people expectations of him to fail.
Best Performances : Everybody was really good,so I really do not need to mention names.But one name I must mention is Ma Jing Tao.
This guy in Taiwan is well known for his over acting,but in this series,he was surprisingly subdued,and in the end,he let his eyes do the over acting,if you know what i mean.His vouce was dubbed,since he can't speak Cantonese but what a nice voice!So suitable.Anyway,he was really good in here,and after this series,I realised he can be really good,if he wants to be.Excellent portrayal of Ho Sang.
**Alert!Alert!Hacker detected!Hacker detected!! **
"Excuse me,Ma Jing Tao good?"
Not again!Seagull,is that you?!What do you want?????
"I can't believe that you say he is good.That man overacts,he rubs his chest when he is angry/sad/happy/whatever,what's so good about him?"
Aiyer,ok lar,answer you lar har,but do not delete my files!!!!!!Do not let his Taiwanese series fool you into thinking that's all he could do.I admit,people may still find him,a little bit too not to their taste,I am not his fan but you have to admit it,he is good in here,though he may seem like one expression fits it all,but his Ho Sang reminds me of this gentle and cool guy,however expressionless he may have been in this series,most of the time.
"I didn't watch this one"
Try it,but probably the only thing you can't stomach about this series is the really long story with 100 episodes and longer series.
"Was he good looking in here,like Louis?"
He's really dark in here,not tanned and I have to admit,he should play Ho Sang during the war,with little to eat.He is so thin,so ok ok,your Louis is the most good looking of ALL.
"And a better actor too!"
Maybe,but when Ma Jing Tao just act ordinarily,no throwing of chairs,screaming his lines,where he isn't playing creepy fellas,he could be really good as an innocent guy.Though I really hate his character in here,but I like Jing Tao personally.JUST IN THIS SERIES BY THE WAY.
"You're like contradicting youself.Like the person,hates the character."
Same thing as I like Miu Yeuk lan in Flying Fox but I hated Charmaine Sheh,just in this case,it's the other way around.I mean why not?Can what?!
"Ok ler,I still do not like him.I am logging off now,so more updates from you?".
If you don't go deleting my files again!By the way,if you really wanna know more about him,go to my All About Yue Ling site under Taiwan section,I have a review on his series,Green Green Grass By The River,where he was tolerable,and very very young.Maybe I should write one for Xue Ker,then maybe you'll love me for it,because I could really trash him in there.And you were right,thanks for bringing to my attention the chest rubbing habit of his.Maybe he thought he could be sexier like that.
"huh?!"
Uh,never mind.Go away then.
"Ok,then and hey,good work!"
And you,great work my friend.I am glad how things are going with this website,though reviews may be so painfully slow in being uploaded.But for what it is worth,I like to say this in print for all to see...thanks for letting me scream my opinion,beginning with DIF IV and many others afterwards.You have been a great partner.
"Eh,you sound like you're retiring or something."
Aiyor!I was just trying to be sentimental lar!I am not leaving but I haven't been catching up,probably because I have little time these days.But I'll catch up with some good series later,and notwithstanding what other poeple may write for whatever series,if I have seen it,I'll add to it,ok?
"Ok ler,I am busy too you know."
I know.....with your Koo Workshop!!Aiyer,never mind.Good riddance my friend,and everybody else who is still reading this PRIVATE THOUGHTS!!Shame on you.No..no joking.
I must add that the above is just fiction,as was with Moonlight review but Seagull has read the Moonlight one,and agreed with it.So,actually it was just a simple way to distract you and not let you go biting my head off for what I may have to say about this series.I know,I am cheap!
If I were the writers I would ....:Make this series a whole lot shorter,maybe half of it could be edited or summarised,kill off Ma Jing Tao's Fong Ho Sanga nd create a much more sordid and passionate love affair for Sau Hau,make it Sau Hau's story instead of everybody because then this series becomes a bit muddled and a whole lot more unfocused though you may still see this in Sau Hau's point of view,give a much mroe better ending,I mean not necessarily that to show hope in HK,must they alwyas end it witha glorious and peaceful handover of HK to China in 1997?Since this series was before 1997,it was a hopeful ending,but now that it is year 2000,this series can be seen as a series that could be a reality,a better future,but hey,just saw 10 minutes of the future HK!And by the way,wouldn't both of them like be really old?The make up department could buck up a bit,and what's the silly thing with a pocket TV?Good I am sute but looks more like a super imposed tv screen onto a pocket calculator,so the props dept could buck up more,the make ups are terrible in here,and so was the costume,so costuming dept should buck up even more.
In the end,the story itself is good but everything else that goes with is is really very second-hand.And all the ATV actors looked so familiar,like don't they have other actors?Oh yeah right,no other actors,that was why there were two Taiwanese actors in the series.
Anyway,great voice dubbing by the HK counterparts.
If I were you,I would.... : Rent this for my grandmama.I don't know about you,but I have this feeling that the older generations always love this kinda story,you know,old China,one woman's struggle,bad in laws,other womens,husband missing,etc.
Is it worth Renting : First half od the series,yes,because it was very engaging,but the momentum of teh storyline fizzles out by second half.For those who are hoping for a fast reunion between husband and wife wil be sorely disappointed because the reunion was quite touching but somehow by that time,I just didn't care anymore.Again,because the length of time for the reunion was simply much too long before it really happened and when it did happened,it was just anti-climax.It was like you know there would be a reunion,which made it boring.And the ending was terrible.In fact,half way through,you would be tired of this series because it was all about reperirion,rich,poor,rich again,poor again...husband gone to war,husband came back,husband gone again,husband came back again,Sau Hau waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.Same thing al over again.And though their relationship was kinda touching,AT FIRST,but after a while,it kinda fizzled out,because,PLEASE REPEAT AFTER ME....the series was just too long!
Interesting Facts : A hit in HK and a mega hit for ATV.In fact,the biggest hit for them for a long long long time.Won a lot of awards but then it won the ATV own awards,so not much credibility for that.Made Ma Jing Tao a household name,AND Chan Sau Man who came to ATV that year as TVB's top actress became even more famous.In fcat,she was reportedly very highly paid for this series.
But me being such a gossip kinda person,statistics ain't interesting to me.BUT this should be much more interesting.Reportedly,Ma Jing Tao and CHan Sau Man hated one another during the filming of this series.We all know that Jing Tao can be a bit difficult,some sdaid he was arrogant but Chan Sau man being uncooperative?Hard to believe right?So I dismissed it as you know,publicity stunt.But it seemed that they're still not talking to each other.
Interesting Comparison : Many comparisons.
Plain Love I?The one with Gallen Lo as a poor farmer,and Kathy Chow as a young poor girl forced to marry him,lost her husband,found another,met each other again decades later.Very similiar,only much more touching than Good Old Days.
Plain Love II?Similiar backdrop but nothing in common as to the storyline.Plain Love II incorporates a very modern idea into a very old China,you know,poor guy made it big type of storyline,one that would have you cheering.."COME ONE!!!!".
Schindler's List?The story and struggle of Man Fung during the Japanese occupation.Though obviously it followed the American movie of the Jewish plight during WWII,BUT Oscar Schindler was a Nazi German with a conscience whilst Man Fung was a CHinese pretending to work for Japanese government to save her own people.Talking about dramatic,and touching storyline,you should watch the American movie,because we Chinese shared a same plight with the Jews during WWII.
Interesting Observation : This series was set duing WWII,a turbulent year for the Chinese.I didn't know about this but my parents kept telling me,so I never forgot about it .It was passed down through generations,and though we read it in history books,it somehow may have gotten lesser attention because the Nazi regime's cruel treatment surpassed the Japanese regimes' treament of the Chinese,simply because more than a million Jews died in WWII,and at any given one time,thousands of Jews died together whilst though the numbers for Chinese was lesser,it was nevertheless not less horrifying.
I feel a need to do this,to remind everybody of our past,so that we can be a bit more careful and see the warning signs.
Like Jews,Chinese around the world are like immigrants,though we are a certain country's citizen,we never really feel like one.We were lucky,because we have China but the Jews,before Israel,had nowhere else to go.During WWII,the treatment of both these races were even more apparent.Germans hated Jews during that time,for various reasons which if I were to put it in here,this review will never end.Japanese hated Chinese because we funded our fellow Chinese wars against Japan,and also some other reasons that I really think did not justify their cruel treatment of our race.Perhaps we were gullible,we were also weak,and so they took advantage of our own internal bickerings,weaknesses and uneducated minds and used us for experiments,tying us to the pole,a plane goes by,releasing some germs in the air,and see how fast we could die.And then step on our bodies for the blood until the last drop,we were bothing but lab rats to them.And they massacred the Nanjing people,young old,men,women and child.everybody died there,and they used women,not just CHinese but every women they captured as Comfort Women,a nicer word for free labour of a prostitue,but we were forced.And then they surrenderd,their Emperor got to enjoy life until he died many years later(I heard it was a difficult death),with a whole nation mourning for them,top Generals committed the Kami Kaze,meaning they killed themselves,young soldiers sent to jails for decades.And in the end,we Chinese moved on and lived on,but have we forgotten this sad past?Never forget,that was what my family always say.
I was very angry,especially they never really apologised offcially,and for many years the Japanese lived under a self denial way,the torture never happened.But old people,who used to be soldiers at that time came out and tearfully recounted the events and regretted that they didn't have the courage to say No,though some did and was dealt with,just like some Germans said no and they were killed for their disobedience.I was so angry,I hated the Japanese,maybe I was a Chinese in old China back then.
But I read this book by Simon Weisenthal,a Jewish man who survived the holocaust and spent his whole life trying to catch war criminals through the law.SOmetimes he succeed,most of the time he failed.Some asked,why can't they just assassinate these guys?And his answer was,we should never ever become like them.And like the title of his book,we want justice,not vengeance.And how true because this was one man who acknowledged that there were good Germans who helped him,like Oscar Schindler who became the subject of Steven Spielberg's award winning movie of the Jewish plight seen through the eyes of a German.So perhaps then during our plight,there were good Japanese people.
But during those time,the fear of the Japanese people created a sorry past for America.They rounded up al the Japanese Americans and locked them in camps,for fear of everything.They were not tortured I guess but fear itself could create a lot of hurt in the process.It wasn't fair for their treatment of these people who just so happened to come from Japan,since they had nothing got to do with the war or the torture,but the racial slur for them were horrible,as was with us,the Chinese.
And then the A-Bomb ended it all,one on Nagasaki,and one on Hiroshima and to this day,the Japanese will mourn for the dead in these two places.Frankly,and I am not trying to be heartless,I was glad for the A-Bomb,because if not, the war will never end,more Chinese will be dead and the Japanese people will suffer from an even bigger inflated ego.
So in the end,what is left for us CHinese in everywhere else other than China?Frankly,I am a Malaysian.We had our sorry past too,like the racial killings during the 60's.We didn;t understand one another then,but we could tolerate each other now,because for economic success,we have got to create a peaceful nation for people to invest in.I guess greed is a good thing,in this regards.But I love being Malaysian.There was a time our government was afraid that we may still feel something for our motherland,but for generations like me.our motherland is Malaysia.I do not believe in tracing your roots.I was born here,and I guess I'll die here.I love my country,the streets,the food,the people,but sometimes I do feel alienated when we are not considered Bumiputras,meaning people from this land.It hurt,and it still hurts but I have confidence there will be a day,Malaysia will truly be Malaysian's Malaysia,and looking at the current condition,we may be on our way to be just that,and I would have even more confidence in saying that if one day we have a Chinese as Prime Minister but like our PM said in a recent interview,the time is not yet now,so again,I do feel great disappointment of this sorry observation,but you may never know,there might be such a day,maybe not in near future,but at least we are not killing one another.And you know you love your country when your country losses all the games in whatever games there may be and you still cheer for your team.Like I am cheering for my country in the Olympic games,though I know we never really can do it.
So ask youself,who do you owe your allegiance too?I owe it to the place I call home,and my country is my home.So please,do not burn your flags,because really,that's just too shameful.There is a big diference between disliking your government and disliking your country.Everybody loves their country,but they may disagree with the govermental policies.Now that is a different issue altogether.
Special Mention : Maybe you already know this but well,I am still going to say this.the Chinese title,bears two meanings.
Joi Kin Yin Yeung Tin
It could be "Good Bye To The Morning Day/After",which is so negative OR it could be "Encountering/Hello/seeing the Morning Day/After again",which is very optimistic.The Good Old Days,for the English title bears a signifant resemblance to the second more optimistic title.Anyway,don't count on me for translation,I could be wrong.
I HAVE A DATE WITH SPRING [ATV]
Which Is NOT : a story starring a bird,flying back home after winter to greet the spring time.Of ocurse,it is basically about 4 "birds",meaning women and their singing careers,love lives,and more importantly,their utter devotion for one another,seen through the eyes of the main protagonist,the woman in white played by Sharon Teng.I can't remember the character's name.
How Long : I can't remember,should be more than 10 tapes.
Who :
Sharon Teng......girl in white
Sheung Tin Ngor....girl in red
Man Yee Man...girl in blue
Choi Hiu yee...girl in gold
Kong Wah..guy with the saxophone
The rest,I can't remember.
Now this is going to be a fun review huh?For the first time in my review writing history,characters' can be called like the above.So I'll use the actors' names to not confuse you.Funny though,isn't it?
The Plot : Based entirely on the stage play cum movie version with the same title but played by different actresses,and actor,the only difference with this series version and the movie version is the length and the ending,apart from the obvious change in the actors and actresses.The colours were also the same.
Sharon is your really young girl aspiring to be a singer.She works in a night club singing away every night,with her three best buddies,the other three girls listed above.They sang different type of songs.Sharon being the happier and optimistic one,she sang songs that has a certain fun and faster beat to it,Sheung being older and in Red and with a temper,she sang songs in English,Man being in blue and being sad all the time,sang sad Chiense songs whilst the one in Gold being the generally happy go lucky tuype sang songs in,well happy songs if you know what I mean.
Sharon was already a star in the making,being in white and all.It was then she met teh saxophone guy,Kong Wah,an aspiring songwriter who was down on his luck,until he wrote one really good song that made Sharon into an overnight sensation but he,well he was not mentioned at all.But during this tulmutous time of 6o's HK,they fell in love.Despite the differences in fame and wealth,the guy stuck with her and ebcamea regular band member.As she became more famous,their relationship became strained.
At the mean time,Man who had a BF by that time left her singing career and went with the guy to tour in whereelse but Vietnam.Bad choice since we all know what was going on there during that time,and after awhile they got news that she died in a bomb blast with her husband,but shewas pregnant when she left.So what happened to the baby?
And then something happened and Kong Wah left Sharon,for many many years and she waited for him to come back to her,whilst at the mean time,the one in gold married the night club owner and lived very comfortably.
Many years has passed,Sharon has since retired from the singing world but still as famous.She was still intouch with Choi,and when they got news that the old night club was going to be torn down,they all gathered for one last night of performance.Then Sharon met this young saxophone player,who knew a lot about her.Through many questions and answers later,she found out that he was the long lost son of Man's,the one that died in the bomb blast.He was rescued by Kong Wah when he went looking for him in vietnam,took care of him and taught him music.And after almost 20 years of seperation,she finally saw the lover of her lufe again,but the one burning question remains,"Why the hell you didn't call me for 20 years????"Why indeed.
So Why???: Can I have the drum roll please?Ahem.........he was captured by the enmy,and in prison he met this lovely young girl who risked her life by taking a bullet for him,but she survived.She became paralysed and for 20 years,he took care of her,not leaving her until she died and then and only then he came home to Sharon.Because he was gratefula nd he was too nice to leave that poor woman alone.Wanna know Sharon's reaction?
The Ultimate Classic Scene : She screamed at him,calling him selfish and in the end,after longing and hoping and waiting and waiting and waiting and finally the guy of her dreams was in front of her,telling her such a story,SHE LEFT HIM!!Because she was one stubborn lady.I would say,poor guy.What was he to do?Leave that poor girl?
Best Scenes : One scene only.The song scene by Sharton,suppsoedly written by Kong Wah the character,NOT THE ACTOR.The song was really good,same song as was in teh movie version.Something about love that kinda reflected her own love affair with that guy,so I 'll try to translate here,and you go to the URL below and listen to it lar hah;
"You..You..You for love...you are never calm...you...you..you for love,willing to face loneliness....and for love,you're willing to throw everything out of the window.."
Well,something like that.
And also teh flirtation scenes between Kong and Sharon,quite romantic but you knew they were never meant to be.
The Most Sickening Aspect : The ending.I WANT A HAPPY ENDING!!!!!!
Most Compatible Couple(s) as in the serial : Sharon and Kong Wah?I don't think so because the woman looked kinda old.
Best Performances : Everybody was good in here,but some way better.
Man Yee Man was perfect as the suffering girl in blue.Sharon was way too old to play the character she played in the movie,but in the movie the actress was old too,so cannot complain.But Sharon has a tendecy,even now to talk in high pitch voice,especially when she is screaming,and her voice is kinda like her noce is stuck and she is talking.But still she can be quite an effective actress.
I must mention him,Kong Wah.Really young,better looking and well,very very good,though he could at least take some saxophone lessons to make it mroe believable.And my God,his English was so bad.But then,cannot complain,my favourite actor what?!Anyway,this guys is consistently good,so good for him,but like I've always said,the most underused actor of TVB,and a great pity because this guy could reallt act,with his eyes and his body language.Something Charmaine Sheh may want to learn from him,but then he is a natural talent.
If I were the writers I would ....:Switch actresses.Man Yee Man should play the girl in white,because she looked younger,and prettier.And the ending,change it!
If I were you,I would.... : Watch the movie version.Shorter,sweeter,better ending.
Is it worth Renting : Actually,I enjoyed this series tremendously though I thought teh make ups were like 10 inches thicker on Sharon,because you know,she's like old.But that was before she took to physical training,and look at her now,so lean,so slim,and so healthy looking.
Anyway,a good series,but a tad too long compared to the movie version but the movie version lacked a lot of things,like human drama.The movie was on a touch and go basis,so if you want a much more complete one,watch the series,if you do not have the patience,watch the movie.
Interesting Comparisons : With the movie with the same title.
The ending was different.the movie version,ether was no corny story of a paralysed heroic girl,but simply the man reappeared and they danced together and thatw as the ending.Meaning a happy ending I guess.
Much more drama,because the movie being a stage version adn 2 hours long,a lot of things couldn't be told,so in the series version we have much mroe longer storyline for all four women,and a believable romance between Kong and Sharon.
Different actresses.The one in white,played by Sharon was played by a well known stage actress that later made it good(not big though) in HK cinema and was once Lui Sei Leong in the Hitman Chronicles by TVB,starring Eddie Chan.
Man Yee Man's girl in blue wa played by HK's other well known stage actress,who is also TVB's own actress,So Yoke Wah,that one in Plain Love II,and also Kindred Spirits,amongst others.
The other two characters were played by stage actresses,name unknown.
As for Kong Wah's saxophone guy,the movie version was played by David Wu,though I am not sure if he acted in the stage version.
The songs were all the same,especially the principal song,you know that "you..you..you" song.
Interesting Observation : Did you know that Sheung Tin Ngor sang all the English songs herself?And sometimes,you can hear Sharon's own voice in the songs sessions.Not bad at all,but certainly being such a star in the making person,I wopuld have hped for a much more nicer voice.The stage one was obviously sung by the actresses themselves.
Special Mention : Old series by ATV,so if you really wanna rent this one,in cantonese it is called:
Ngor Wor Chun Tin Yau Kor Yeuk Wui.
25 March 2005
Secret Battle Of The Majesty [ATV]
"I swear this is his (Kwong Wah) best performance ever."
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
Production
ATV series, 1994
Episodes
2 parts, 30 episodes each
Cast
Kwong Wah as Prince no. 4, Yung Cheng
Erica Choi as Miu Yan (Miu Fei)
Annie man as Princess Kong hui
Yan Chi Keung as Prince no. 14, prince no. 4’s blood brother
Kent Tong as the monk, Man Kit
I don’t know most of ATV actors/actresses’ name so this is the best I can do
The storyline
Set in the Ching dynasty, during Hong Hei’s reign for the first part and Yong Zheng’s reign in the second part.
The first part of the story concentrates on the fight among princes to get the throne. Also, the first part portrays the transition part of prince no. 4 from a good prince to an evil son. The story began with the hunting festival. Prince no.4 refused to give a hunted fox to the crown prince, prince no.2. Because of this, Prince no.2 tricked him to unintentionally rape a Han peasant, Miu Yan. Then prince no. 2sent murderers to kill her and her father (fortunately, Man the monk saved her just in time). The king’s really angry and arrested him for quite sometime under prince no.2’s control. Prince no.4 met Nin Kang Yew, who will be his best friend and most loyal general later on. Nin Kang Yew’s best war strategist and also good at kungfu but Prince no. 2 envied his ability so he didn’t use him properly. So Prince no.4 and Nin became friends at their hard time. Prince no. 2 planned to overthrow Hong Hei but failed desperately as Prince no.4 sent Nin to inform Prince no.14 and prevent this event. Why Prince no. 2 tried to overthrown although he’s the crown prince? Simply because he can’t wait to be the king. Stupid man, isn’t he? Because of this event, prince no.2 is arrested and prince no.14 became Hong hei’s new favorite son, biased father, right? Prince no.4 is only set free. He then tried to look for Miu yan. However, he can find only his son from Miu yan (some villagers tried to kill Miu yan and her son so they separated). He brought his son back to the palace and caused his father really angry (again). Prince no.4 had to leave the palace in exchange with having his son to grow up in the palace. His mother, Tak Fei, suggested him to visit his grandpa, who became the monk after the death of his favorite concubine, at Mt. Ng Tai. He can gain his grandpa’s favorite and got the letter recommending him to get the throne before the death of his grandpa (He used some tricks suggested by his advisor though). Then he went back to the palace and the two monks (Sin and Man) became his followers. (The trip is not smooth though, prince no.8 and co and prince no. 1 tried to assassinate him and steal his letter). However, Hong hei refused to let him be the crown prince but promoted him to the Duke instead. Later, Lung the minister set a dirty plan to blame prince no. 1 that he used the black magic which caused prince no. 2 became crazy and tried to overthrow his father. Hong hei believed this stupid claim so he promoted prince no. 2 to the crown prince again and arrested prince no. 1. Prince no. 4 used Lan Yu Fong to seduce prince no. 2 and poisoned him to become crazy. Hong Hei then decided to give the throne to prince no. 14. Knowing this, Prince no. 4 raped Su Lan (later became the empress) , Lung’s daughter and Prince no. 14 girlfriend to get the assistance from Lung. He also accidentally killed Miu Yan’s father to get his powerful weapon. Prince no. 4 then killed his father and changed the will to get the throne.
The second part revolves around how princes and ministers try to overthrow Yong Zheng’s reign and their ultimate ending. First, Prince no.14 together with no.13, no.8-10 tried to overthrow him using his army and the Duke Yee sin’s army (Annie man’s father). However, Prince no.14 can’t really believe that his own blood brother killed his father so they left the army to Yee sin’s follower and went back to palace to examine Hong hei’s death body. Prince no. 14 found out that his father is murdered and about to kill Yong zheng but failed. In the meantime, Nin can persuade Yee sin’s follower to cheat his boss so they failed to overthrow. Yong zheng decided to set free all of princes except prince no. 14. He was arrested at Hong hei’s funeral. After that, Prince no. 8,9,10 and 13 tried to overthrow again. Thanks to prince no. 1, Yong zheng knew their plan and they failed miserably. Prince no. 13 can escape but other princes were paraded to the street and people lynched them to their death. Then prince no. 14 pretended that he’s sick so Yong zheng released him to Mt. Lu. Prince no. 14 together with Prince no 13, Lung the minister (the empress’s father), Man the monk and some other generals planned to overthrow Yong zheng. Thanks to Miu Yan’s help, Yong zheng can catch them all. Prince no.13 is killed by Sin the monk, Lung, Prince no. 14 and the empress drank the poisoned wine, offered by Yong zheng. However, before her death, the empress told Miu Yan that Yong zheng raped her and such so Miu Fei tried to seek the truth. To uncover this truth, Tai fu is offered poisoned wine as well but he sent the letter telling everything to Miu Yan before his death. Miu Yan then tried to assassinate Yong Zheng but failed. She’s arrested and later harmed seriously by Nin, thinking that she caused the king to ignore his country.Miu Yan was unconscious for a long time. Nin is then offered poisoned wine. Before his death, Yong Zheng promised that he’ll be a good king. 6 years later, Miu yan regained her conscience, she tried to kill Yong Zheng but can’t. Yong Zheng then put her sword to kill himself. Literally, he committed suicide and the end.
Characters
Prince no. 2
He’s the crown prince simply because he’s the most favorite son, born from Hong hei’s beloved empress. He’s evil, ruthless, scum, too arrogant, etc. He murdered, raped, looked down, tried to overthrow his father even he’s the crown prince, yet his father still loved him so dearly. Blind man huh! When he became crazy, I think all viewers are happy. He deserved this ending the most.
On acting wise, I don’t know this actor’s name but he portrayed the ruthless prince quite well. I saw his arrogance in his eyes. He overacted sometimes but overall is ok. He had very limited screen time though.
Rating :
Prince no. 4
He’s a good guy in the beginning, a bit arrogant and hot-tempered but good. See, he’s so sweet to Miu yan first time they met and he felt really guilty when he did rape her. He nearly can’t lie his grandpa to get the throne. But he faced many events and changed to ruthless, unfilial and evil man.
The turning point of his character : Two points I must say, the first one is when he went back from his father’s room, knowing that he’s promoted to the duke, not crown prince even he had his grandpa’s will. At that time, his beloved stepmom is dying, thinking that he’s already been the crown prince. Therefore, he sweared to get the throne no matter how. The second one is when prince no.2 became the crown prince again, he forced prince no. 4 to drink his piss. After that, he became the man who can do everything to get the throne.
Is he evil? Yes, but he is a good king, isn’t he? (at least in this series). Is he the most evil guy in this series? I beg to differ. He might used many dirty plans but other princes used dirty plans (or worse than that) as well. Prince no. 1 and 8 tried to kill him several times. Prince no. 14 pretended to be sick, knowing that his brother will set him free (meaning that prince no.4’s still kind-hearted, right). He might kill many many people but almost all of them tried to kill him first. You don’t expect him to sit and do nothing when others tried to threaten and kill him, right. The hate factor comes from killing his two loyal followers, Tai Fu and Nin Kang Yew though. These two didn’t deserve to die. Is he unfilial? Yes but his parent is really biased. No matter how good he did, compliment and rewards always belongs to other princes. Anyway, his love is real. He really loved Miu yan and his son. This is the positive side and all viewers forgive him in the end.
Kwong Wah as Prince no. 4 aka. Yong Zheng : One word, Excellent!! I swear this is his best performance ever. He can portray good-turn-evil prince really well. His eyes, body language, the way he talked, walked just suit his role really well. One scene where he heard his mother told his blood brother the way to overthrow him. He just stood and his eyes can tell you how sad and angry he is. I think Kwong wah is very good at portraying grey character like this. Unfortunately, he’s never gotten this type of role again from TVB. So this is the peak of his career, I assure.
Rating :
Prince no. 8
The scheming prince who thought that can be the crown prince. He got assistance from prince no. 9 and 10 and some ministers. However, he lost to king’s beloved son, prince no. 2.
On acting wise, this actor portrayed his character quite well. He looked calm, yet cunning which suited his character perfectly huh!.
Rating :
Prince no. 14
Prince no.4’s blood brother. He’s the most kind-hearted prince. He’s a man of dignity but he’s too kind-hearted to be the king. That’s why he lost his girlfriend, throne, and eventually his life to his brother. Some might feel that he didn’t deserve his tragic end but I beg to differ. He should know that his brother is a good king and he should stop when his first attempt to overthrow was unsuccessful. Second attempt is kinda stupid in my opinion, and he didn’t even think about his people. Just want to overthrow and revenge for his father and mom, that’s it. How about his people? They want to live peacefully, right?
Yan Chi Keung as Prince no. 14 : I saw him in Who Is The Winner III before and I think he overacted at that time. Again, in this series I still felt that he overacted sometimes, especially his crying scene.
Rating :
Nin Kang Yew
The most loyal follower of Prince no. 4. Why? Because prince no. 4 gave him a chance to show his ability and then used all of his savings to buy a position for him. After that, he vowed to be loyal to prince no. 4, no matter what. He even killed his own sister to protect Yong Zheng. He always pointed out Yong Zheng’s mistakes and Yong Zheng always listened to his suggestion until Nin harmed his beloved Miu Yan. Nin should know that harming Miu Yan is something more than the King can accept. However, he’s loyal to the king and willing to accept his death.
On acting wise, again I don’t know his name but his righteous look suits his role quite well. His friendship with Kwong wah is the most touching moment in this series, in my opinion. They fought together in their hard time, they encouraged each other. It is so sad when Yong Zheng offered poisoned wine for Nin.
Rating :
Man Kit, the monk
He is the monk but he is not really the monk, confused huh? Well, basically he’s forced to be the monk to protect Hong Hei’s father only. So when he met Miu yan, he had fell in love with her. I think Miu Yan’s never loved him but she wanted to thank him, that’s why she accepted him for some periods of time and finally found out that she only loved Prince no. 4. He is a man with principle and dignity that’s why he helped Prince no. 4 at first and left him when he found out that prince no. 4 became scheming and evil. But you might think that he, in fact, envied prince no. 4 since he had his beloved Miu Yan ha!
At last, he tried to assassinate Yong Zheng but failed and died.
Kent Tong as the monk : This is the second time I saw Kent played a good guy (the first time is DGSD 1982). He is very talented actor. Sadly, he always portrayed evil guys again and again. He looked so compatible with this righteous monk. Unfortunately, he has no chemistry with both Erica Choi and Annie man. Kinda too old for both. Also, I think he gained some weights, right?
Rating :
Miu Yan
She’s only a Han peasant at first. I think she developed some feeling at the first time she met Prince no. 4 but, because he raped her and she misunderstood that he killed her father, she vowed to kill him. Then she knew the truth and accepted him, only to know that this man became evil. Quite sad huh. But she should know that regardless of how he treated others, he really loved her.
Erica Choi as Miu Yan : She overacted a bit at first when she portrayed naïve Miu Yan but she looked much more comfortable as a girl full of vengeance. She is good at crying scene as usual. Overall, I think her acting is good.
Rating :
Princess Gong Hui
I think that her role is quite irrelevant to the series. She loves Man the monk but he never loved her back. Even he accepted her at the end but that’s because he thanked her for many sacrifice she made for him.
Annie Man : She looked compatible with this energetic role as usual. She always gets this kind of role because of her look, I think.
Rating :
My Verdict
The most touching scene
- The death of Nin Kang Yew
- The ending
- When prince no. 2 forced prince no. 4 to drink his piss
- When Tak Fei told prince no. 14 how to win prince no. 4, look at prince no. 4’s face , so touching
My favorite characters
- Prince no. 4, this is his story anyway huh!
- Nin Kang Yew
- Tai Fu, he’s clever till his end!
My least favorite characters
- Evil prince no. 2
- Biased Hong Hei
-
My favorite actors/actresses
Kwong Wah, of course
Best chemistry
Yong Zheng and Miu Yan. I think Kwong Wah and Erica are compatible since I watched return to the truth. This series proves my opinion!
My final opinion
This is must-watch series!
Where to buy this series
Part I - Cantonese [VCD]
Part II - Cantonese [VCD]
