The screen persona of Pak Yin in this thriller is unprecedented: callous, savage, bitchy, she murders her husband, fires a hunting rifle, and seduces the lover of her own younger sister. Young widow Koo Hung-ying (Pak Yin) pretends to be pregnant with the child of her younger sister’s fiancé Wong Yeung (Ng Cho-fan) whom she keeps in captivity. In the desolate mansion, Koo tells her story bit by bit. Scripted by Cheng Kang, the film opens with a murder mystery involving a deceased husband and a treacherous wife. Her true inner self is then revealed in numerous flashbacks, unfolding a gradual transformation of a femme fatale. The plot is full of intensity and the complexity of the motivations of each character defies audience anticipation. The film takes on a noir quality intertwined with the excesses of the female libido. Despite minor shortcomings in the plot, the film offers (guilty) pleasures and excitements rarely seen in Cantonese cinema.

21/6

(Sat)

2:30pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

Post-screening talk with David Chan and Dunet Chan