Toh sik (2004)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Yonfan

Writer:

Yonfan (writer)

Release Date:

28 October 2004 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

S&M | Gay Interest | Lesbian Interest

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Teresa Cheung	...	Mei li
Ri-su Ha	...	Riko Umeki (as Harisu)
Feng Ku
Keiko Matsuzaka	...	Madam Umeki
Carl Ng	...	4708
Sho	...	Kim
Kenneth Tsang

Also Known As:

Color Blossoms (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:106 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:R21 | Japan:R-15

For Ones who Love Both Asian Underground S&M and French New Wave

If you are both a fan of the Asian underground S&M and a film nerd who loves the French New Wave, Color Blossoms is a film for you; otherwise, just not. Without questioning if it is suitable for the subject or not, the over stylization, directly borrowed from Last Year at Marienbad (Four mirrors reflect Madam Umeki simultaneously in the story that mixes the past and the present) and Godard (jump-cut, lettering, and a cameo appearance of a film snob), leads to a stretched S&M scene at the climax.

Some unnecessary settings seem to be added just to be exotic or eccentric. Madam Umeki (Keiko Matsuzaka and Harisu when young) has to be neither Japanese nor M-to-F transgender. Besides, her being a transgender is not believable with the appearances of Matsuzaka and Harisu. The lesbian intimacy between Madam Umeki and Mei Li (Teresa Cheung) is halfway; it must have been either intense or nothing.