Maggie Cheung at Metrograph: The Heroic Trio

Granted, Anita Mui was playing a completely different Wonder Woman, but Gal Gadot still has a tough act to follow. The Cantonese superheroine also had her own super-team, but they will not realize it until come together at the eleventh hour. Frankly, Warner Brothers might as well scrap their upcoming reboot, because who is going to care after the Metrograph reminds us of the spectacle that is Johnnie To’s The Heroic Trio (trailer here), which screens as part of their retrospective series Maggie Cheung: Center Stage.

Wonder Woman fights crime, as well she should, as the alter ego of Tung, the wife of incorruptible Inspector Lau. Ching Ching, a.k.a. Sam, a.k.a., a.k.a. Third Chan, a.k.a. Invisible Girl is a reluctant criminal, bound to serve a supernatural eunuch determined to revive China’s imperial governance through infernal means. That leaves Chat or Thief Catcher or Mercy, a bounty hunter somewhere in between. She is played by Maggie Cheung, who rocks the wardrobe and flashes plenty of action chops.

There is a crime wave sweeping Hong Kong and not even the police chief’s family is safe. At the behest of Evil Master (the name tells you all you need to know), Sam (let’s use her shortest name) has abducted eighteen newborn infants, with one more to go. One of those so-called “princes” will become the new emperor, while the rest will be mutated into ogre-like killing machines, like the finger-eating Ninth Chan.

Wonder Woman is out to stop the abductions, using inside information gleaned from her husband. Upon learning his infant son is the next target, the chief hires Thief Catcher to capture Sam, but this turns out to be a costly decision when the mercenary makes a small tactical mistake. It very nearly costs her life as well, but both Wonder Woman and Sam intercede to save her. Eventually, Sam is going to join them in the fight for justice, once Ninth Chan gives her that extra bit of heart-breaking motivation.

As a film, Heroic Trio is pretty darned nuts. To basically calls and raises John Woo, cranking the fog machine up to eleven and including at least one scene with birds. If you are the pedantic sort, this film just might make your head explode, but it has massive guts. Kids die in this movie—like, a lot of them. Yet, it is still great fun, in large measure thanks to Cheung. She plays the prima donna bounty hunter to the hilt, preening for the press and laying down ultra-stylish beat-downs.

All three heroines definitely got the memo and they came to play. Michelle Yeoh gets to be the most tragic, whereas Mui develops some pleasing chemistry with Damian Lau as the clueless Inspector husband, but they all kick butt and exude a dangerous Irma Vep-like allure. Lau is indeed solid in support while Anthony Wong radiates evil as Ninth Chan. It is always strange to see him in these early thuggish roles, knowing he would evolve into an actor of tremendous gravitas and an outspoken activist.

The term “over the top” does not do justice to the lunacy of The Heroic Trio, but it is tough to beat the combination of Cheung, Yeoh, and Mui. They just don’t make superhero movies like this anymore. Highly recommended for fans of any and all involved, The Heroic Trio screens this Thursday (12/15) at Metrograph, as part of Maggie Cheung: Center Stage, along with other unforgettable Cheung films, including Ashes of Time Redux, Irma Vep, and fittingly Center Stage.

HK Cinema at SFFS ‘16: Rouge

Evidently, in 1987 you could call everyone in Hong Kong with a pager account in a single evening. You probably still do that today. Life moves quickly in Hong Kong, especially for a lovelorn ghost. After fifty years, the spectral courtesan-prostitute finally hopes to reunite with her long lost love in Stanley Kwan’s absolutely classic Rouge (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Hong Kong Cinema at the San Francisco Film Society.

Refined prostitutes like Fleur could mix with high society in 1930s Hong Kong, but they couldn’t marry into their ranks. However, Chan Chen-pang (a.k.a. “12^th Young Master”) the wastrel heir to a dry goods store fortune has different ideas. He is not content to be Fleur’s paramour. He also wants to marry her. That would be alarming enough for his staid family, but his plan to forgo the dry goods business to pursue a career in opera is just too much for them.

Rather than endure life separated from each other, the lovers resolved to commit suicide together so they could start their next lives as a couple. At least that was the plan. When Fleur woke up wherever it is that one does, she was by herself. Having martialed her strength, she has re-entered the human world to find him. Somewhat logically, she thinks to place a classified ad in a long-running tabloid. There she has the good fortune of encountering Yuen, a schlubby ad/sales rep ambiguously dating ambitious reporter Chu. After coming to terms with the ghost business, they both agree to help her find her beloved (including calling all those pager customers at one point).

Rouge is a sentimental favorite of many HK movie fans, for reasons that are immediately apparent. It is lushly romantic and touchingly bittersweet in all the right ways. The scenes set during the 1930s have the elegance of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Flowers of Shanghai (which it predates by eleven years), while the contemporary narrative thread treats its supernatural themes with down-to-earth understatement. In both time frames, Anita Mui is arrestingly luminous as Fleur. Sadly, knowing she would succumb to cancer at the terribly premature age of forty adds further poignancy to her performance in retrospect.

Yet, despite its lyric romanticism, Tai An-ping Chiu & Lillian Lee’s adaptation of Lee’s novel acts as a corrective and rebuke to the unrestrained ardor that drove Fleur and Chan to seal their suicide pact. In a significant moment, the 12^th Young Master gives Fleur a rouge box pendant. In contrast, Yuen gives Chu the gift of a sensible pair of shoes when the audience first meets them. Its not such a blingy gift, but they are what she really needs. Even though the modern couple admits they would never commit suicide for each other, that also means they will always be there for their partner. In fact, as great as Mui is, Alex Man and Emily Chu arguably forge the more potent and endearing chemistry. Even though he also met with a tragically early demise, Leslie Cheung is a bit of a cold fish as Chan, but it would be hard for anyone to outshine Mui.

In addition to all the aching romance and gently eerie supernatural goings on, Rouge also has the distinction of being produced by Jackie Chan. It is a remarkably assured and accomplished work from Kwan that captured Mui in peak form. It is just a hard film not to love. Very highly recommended, Rouge screens this Saturday (9/24) as part of the SFFS’s annual Hong Kong Cinema series.