Jia you xi shi (1992)

Director:

Clifton Ko

Writers:

Roman Cheung (screenplay)
Ting Ting Choi (screenplay)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A romantic Chinese New Year comedy about the three Shang brothers. Eldest brother Shang Moon is a philandering...

Plot Keywords:

Massage | Mistress | Postmodernism | Male Female Relationship | Radio Show Host

Cast

Leslie Cheung	...	Shang So
Stephen Chow	...	Shang Foon
Bak-Ming Wong	...	Shang Moon
Maggie Cheung	...	Ho Yok 'Holiyok'
Teresa Mo	...	Leung Mo-Shang
Sandra Ng Kwan Yue	...	Ching
Sheila Chan	...	Sheila
Heung Kam Lee	...	Grandmother
Hoi-Shan Kwan	...	Grandfather
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clifton Ko	...	Annoyed Karaoke Patron
Vincent Kok	...	Japanese Businessman
Loletta Lee	...	Foon's Girl
James Wong
Kwong Leung Wong	...	Brother Kwong

Also Known As:

All's Well, Ends Well (Hong Kong: English title)
Family Happiness
Ga yau hei si (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Ko Chi Sum Films Company Limited

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

a good time guaranteed

the plot is well put by others, so i'll only add some scattered points.

not as many HK films are parodied here, but one that kicks off the string of maggie cheung-stephen chow hilarity, is spoof of a line (at this moment in time...) from DAYS OF BEING WILD leslie cheung used just the year prior.

sandra ng's dowdy housewife-turned classy matron is underrated while holding the film's emotional center. leslie cheung and maggie cheung are more collaborative, subtle farceur-thespians, while stephen chow launches his newly discovered comic genius like a rocket (or new year's firecrackers in this case) every time he so much as twitches a muscle. even the NG segment at the end attests to his phenomenal bank-ability (and tremendous workload) during 1990-2.

the karaoke song chow does at the end is esp. poignant: he manages to spoof grandiose theatrics of stadium-pop singers, himself spoofing pop stars (with a creative butchering of the taiwanese dialect, an improv so colorful as to offer a glimpse into a bright mind convincing everyone of its silliness), and yet even hinge on the song's emotional center & moving pathos.

overall a well-scripted fusion of screwball hijinx and chekhov-esquire family portraits. certainly one of the most fun looks at "the" Chinese family than most other high-minded, art-house attempts. ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL proves pain, tragedy and realism don't always have the most insights into the roles that bind us.