Cheng Kang as screenwriter and Ng Wui as director are once again a winning combination in making this bittersweet Cantonese film classic. After seeing that the classmate of his boss’s son replaces his promised promotion through connections, white-collar worker Ng (Cheung Wood-yau) decides to send his country bumpkin son Shrimp (Yuen Siu-fai) to the elite school his boss’s young son goes to. Cheng Kang’s script is realistic (it’s still prevalent in presentday Hong Kong that parents drive their children to succeed), full of telling details, and indicative of the twisted psychology of a frustrated father who wants his son to achieve his dream in his stead. The father’s calculating mind stands in stark contrast with his rustic son’s poignant innocence. There’s a particularly inspired sequence where Shrimp unintentionally breaks into the Grandview Film Studio and asks the Union Film stars and directors to buy his charity flowers. The 8-year-old Yuen Siu-fai displays his child prodigy acting skill along with the mature and moving performance of Cheung Wood-yau.

10/5

(Sat)

3:30pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

Post-screening talk with Shu Kei and Alfred Cheung