How to Pick Girls Up! (1988) Qiu ai gan si dui (original title)

Director:

Jing Wong

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Ellen Chan	...	Yuki
Maggie Cheung	...	Fanny
Charlie Cho	...	Cao Zhuli
Kathy Chow	...	Didi
Yue Ding
Shui-Fan Fung	...	Fei Changfan
Wilson Lam	...	He Matong
Ching-Ho Law	...	Ah Wah
Elizabeth Lee	...	Li Chuhong
Sandra Ng Kwan Yue	...	Mei Youkong
Eric Tsang	...	Tan Yulun
Jing Wong	...	Xin Jiejing
Chingmy Yau	...	Lum Bebe

Directed by
Jing Wong

Sound Department
Doris Wang	....	dubbing editor: mandarin

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Also Known As:

"Qiu ai gan si dui" - Hong Kong (original title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:91 min (DVD version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Fairly average 1980s Wong Jing relationships comedy

I don't have much to add to ewa-3's excellent review, so I will summarise what I agree with and add what I feel is missing.

Yes, it's rather distasteful (the term "politically incorrect" implies that such negative judgment is prudish or somehow undeserved, whereas this film is often deliberately offensive and unpleasant), and yes, it's of its time, although I can't say that attitudes in Hong Kong towards the mentally disabled, size-ism, racism, sexism, domestic violence or suicide have particularly changed in 25 years.

Yes, the girls are beautiful.

Yes, it's difficult not to think ahead to what these actresses would become, especially Maggie Cheung. If nothing else, she demonstrates quite a range here, from absurd to sentimental.

I think it also needs to be mentioned that this film has a very jerky pace, owing to the fact that it's very episodic and that the four main characters are connected to each other tenuously at best and their stories are told almost in series, rather than in parallel. The film also sometimes suffers from what it needs to do to set up twists for later on in the plot, including what seems to be a complete change in tone (and even genre) for the last reel.

It should also perhaps be mentioned how Eric Tsang shines in this film, somehow being caricature-ish but, unlike the other actors in the film, playing everything straight-faced and without pantomime. His high-pitched voice goes at a machine gun pace (at least, it does in the Cantonese dub) and some of the jokes go by so fast it's hard to get them all first time watching.

Finally, it's worth mentioning how this is a late Shaw Brothers film, comparable with Girl with the Diamond Slippers for its actors, director and overall tone. It is unclear whether it was filmed in Mandarin or Cantonese, or dubbed into both regardless of what was spoken on set, which makes it a little hard to judge or appreciate what the actors are doing, especially in a film where the dialogue is so rich. Still, as with many of these late Shaw Bros / early Maggie Cheung / Wong Jing films, it's worth a watch, if just the one.