Jiao zi (2004)

In Hong Kong, Aunt Mei is a cook famous for her home-made rejuvenation dumplings, based on a millenarian recipe prepared with a mysterious ingredient that she brings directly from China. ... See full summary »

Director:

Fruit Chan

Writer:

Pik Wah Lee (as Lillian Lee)

Stars:

Pauline Lau, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Bai Ling

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Pauline Lau	...	Masseuse
Tony Ka Fai Leung	...	Mr. Li (as Tony Ka-Fai Leung)
Bai Ling	...	Mei, The Cook
Meme Tian	...	Connie (as Meme)
So-Foon Wong	...	Kate's mother
Miki Yeung	...	Kate
Miriam Chin Wah Yeung	...	Mrs. Li

Storyline

In Hong Kong, Aunt Mei is a cook famous for her home-made rejuvenation dumplings, based on a millenarian recipe prepared with a mysterious ingredient that she brings directly from China. The former TV star Mrs. Li visits Mei aiming her dumplings to recover her youth and become attractive again to her wolf husband Mr. Li. Along the sessions, Mei tells Mrs. Li that she was a gynecologist in China with more than 30,000 abortions along ten years. When Mrs. Li requests an acceleration of the process, the opportunity comes when a fifteen years old teenager with a five months incestuous pregnancy comes with her mother and asks Mei to make an abortion.

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Plot Keywords:

dumpling | hotel | looking at oneself in a mirror | rejuvenation | abortion | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

19 August 2004 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Dumplings

Company Credits

Production Co:

Applaus Pictures Limited, Applause Pictures, Fortissimo Film Sales

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spawned from the short Dumplings from the Asian cross-cultural trilogy Three... Extremes (2004). Includes the same director and star.

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Quotes

Mei, the cook: [first lines]
Mei, the cook: Mrs. Li? You're so beautiful.
Mrs. Li: They say your dumplings are the most expensive.
Mei, the cook: Of course! Please come in.

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Connections

Edited from Saam gaang yi (2004)

User Reviews

An exquisite exercise in bad taste

Not exactly a horror film, but definitely not for the squeamish. Dumplings follows the tale of a Hong Kong dumpling maker and a TV actress who feels past her prime (her husband is having an affair with a younger woman). Dumpling maker Aunt Mei has a secret formula that can restore youth and extend life. The audience is gradually let in on the secret ingredient and the details grow more and more gruesomely explicit as Aunt Mei maintains her cheerfully glamorous housewife demeanour. When you know this is a really sick movie, the director piles it on thicker and thicker, casually filtering in lurid details amid a beautiful montage. OK, you've been warned. The description above should tell you whether you want to stay away or make a beeline for the next showing.

The exquisite cinematography (and much of the resulting elegant and sophisticated look of the film) can be attributed to Christopher Doyle, whose work includes such visually stunning gems as 2046, Infernal Affairs, The Quiet American, and In the Mood for Love. Dumplings might be in poor taste, but it is served up with delicacy and finesse, and with much of its 'horror' deriving from the believability of the basic plot.

As you come out of the cinema, other members of the audience may look at you as if you are the most depraved person in the world for sitting through 90 minutes of such stuff, so just remember they did too . . .