Yam yeung choh (1983)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ringo Lam

Writers:

Raymond Fung (writer)
Clifton Ko (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

A young woman has a tragic accident, slipping on a skateboard and falling off the roof of a tall building...

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Philip Chan	...	John Tang
Billy Lau	...	Insurance Agency Worker
Suk Kwan Ni	...	Chang Siu-Yu
Lan Pai
Alan Tam	...	Koo Chi-Ming
Pik-Wan Tang	...	Chi-Ming's Mother
Feng Tien	...	Dr. Han
Bill Tung	...	Chi-Ming's Father
Cecilia Yip	...	Ivy

Also Known As:

Esprit d'amour (Hong Kong: English title)
Yin yang cuo (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Cinema City Film Productions

A moving movie creating a lasting impression!!

I came across this movie at least 12 years ago when a TV station was showing a number of Chinese movies. And to say that I remember this film at least 12 years on is saying something. This film concerns the death of a young woman in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Her young sibling is left behind and an insurance agent is dispatched in order to investigate the death with the brief being that he must report her death as suicide in order for the insurance firm to avoid paying out.

This young lady is now a ghost who is only visible to the insurance agent and they fall in love. What happens next are comic moments but then the film takes a serious turn as the family of the insurance agent recognise that there is a ghost in his life and hire an exorcist (for want of a better word) to get rid of it/her.

The final scenes of the girl spirit battling the exorcist,finally losing and the insurance agents desperate attempts to accompany her to the spirit realm are really quite moving.

The song at the end is sang by the lead actor and this was moving too although I did not know what he was saying. It just goes to prove that music is the language of love.

Every now and then I scan the TV guide to see if this film is coming on again and as I write this I am thinking that I will try ebay to see if I can get a hold of this movie on video or DVD.

This is one of those foreign movies that prove the the US by no means holds a monopoly on good movies. If fact I think Hollywood or the UK would struggle to make an English version of this movie and have it make half the impact of the original. This is a gem of a movie and if it is to be shown on your local TV, record it and watch it. You will not be disappointed.