SYNOPSIS:
In 1970s Hong Kong, landlords try to evict 72 tenants but sworn brothers Ha Kung and Shek Kin help the group of 72 defeat the landlord and landlady and coincidentally rescue Pinky from a forced marriage. When both sworn brothers fall for Pinky and propose to her, she chose Ha. The sworn brothers become sworn enemies nd Shek's hatred fuels intense rivalry against Ha in business in Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mongkok. Amidst this strife and struggle the street is hit by acid-attacks and in high spirits the 72 tenants unite and pledge to safeguard their home. Against a background of fear and turmoil, with the old love triangle between Ha and Pinky and Shek still festering, the next generation of the Ha and Shek families embarks on their own heroic love affairs.
MOVIE REVIEW:
First
and foremost, Thank Goodness that Scorpio East had decided
to release the dvd print of 72 Tenants of Prosperity with
dual language. This Hong Kong made He Sui Pian (Asian movie
made specially for the Chinese New Year period) was mainly
filled with the unique humour that exist in the witty Cantonese
dialogues and any dubbing would dilute the oomph in watching
this movie.
72 Tenants of Prosperity pays homage to the
classic 1973 "The House of 72 Tenants" and weave
a story from it. Suffering under the tyrannical landlords
who are trying to evict their tenants and force their step
daughter to a marriage, sworn brothers Shek Kin and Ha Kung
helped the tenants to defeat the landlords and rescue Pinky.
However their friendship started to strain when both Shek
Kin and Ha Kung proposed to Pinky. They eventually became
feuding families selling handphones at opposite sides of Sai
Yeung Choi Street, Mongkok.
Boosting of Who'who in the Hong Kong television
business and entertainment field, 72 Tenants of Prosperity
was almost an endless parade of Hong Kong celebrities appearing
to lend their star power to usher in the Lunar New Year. In
the tradition of He Sui Pian, popular recent Hong Kong movies
and current events were parodied in skillful manner. There's
a simple straightforward story about hardworking Hong Kong
citizen struggling for survival while being bullied by ruthless
landlords and mall developers. Intermixing it with Romeo and
Juliet feuding families angle, this story is largely about
Hong Kong and the citizens that made Hong Kong so unique.
That's
why it's so important to watch this movie in it's original
soundtrack. There's a certain flair in the witty Cantonese
dialogues that just don't translate that well into other language.
Just one example of the superiority of having Cantonese dialogue
instead of Mandarin dialogue in this movie. In a short scene
after the ugly school girls finished with their pitch of waterproof
handphones, Jacky Cheung told his son to 'throw (stuff)' at
them in Cantonese. But in Mandarin, it's been dubbed as Jacky
Cheung telling his son to 'Go (ahead)' and the attitude just
felt vastly different altogether.
Fret not if you do not understand Cantonese
because there are still quite a number of memorable gags in
this movie that worked well in Mandarin too. Such as the over
age school girls selling waterproof handphones and Linda Chung's
character suffering a terrible ordeal in a lift with Wong
Cho Lam's character. Jacky Chung and Anita Yuen glamoring
up in a noodle shop was another unexpected gem in this movie
that's funny even after repeated viewing.
The
Chinese New Year period might have been over for quite some
time but the comedic elements in this movie (coupled with
the fact that it's presented in it's original language) make
this movie worthwhile to pick up and give it a spin in the
dvd player. It's one of the better He Sui Pian in years and
personally, it's as memorable as the first installment of
All's Well, Ends Well. Come next Chinese New Year, I will
be using this movie to entertain folks who are coming over
to Bai Nian (pay a Chinese New Year Greeting).
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Behind the Scenes - This segment is literally what
the title indicate; we get to see what's happening behind
the scenes of this movie and nothing more. It basically filmed
bits of the show at a different angle from the main camera.
This B roll of what happen on set showed some NG (No Good)
scenes and scenes that were cut away from the finished product.
Music
Video (Cantonese Version & Mandarin Version) - It
has been a trend for artists both local and overseas to record
Chinese New Year songs to help usher in the New Year and to
constantly bombard us with Chinese New Year songs (on TV &
Radio) until it become sickening. Not surprisingly, this He
Sui Pian also had their artists singing a Chinese New Year
song which was surprisingly enjoyable and catchy (for the
couple time that I heard it, reaction might change if I hear
it for the 1001 times).
Knowing
that there's a market beyond the Hong Kong citizen, they also
provide a Chinese music video for the non-Cantonese speaking
crowd. The Cantonese version felt more like a polish music
video that intermix with scenes from the movie while the Mandarin
version looked a little less polish and intermix it with footage
of artists recording this song.
Cast
Interview (Cantonese Version & Mandarin Version) - Likewise
this segment also comes in dual language option. Instead of
simply dubbing them over, some of the artists actually redo
their Chinese New Year greetings and explanation of their
respective character in Mandarin. Strangely the Cantonese
greetings are mostly made out to the Malaysian audience and
not their local viewers.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
72 Tenants of Prosperity features the old and new
Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mongkok (Hong Kong) and the different
'era' are differentiate by the rich production set. This dvd
was able to create a believable visual of those two era. There
were also scenes of Jacky Cheung breaking out in a song and
the rest of the cast performing Chinese New Year song. Once
again the dvd was able to adequately bring out 'richness'
of those songs on a normal tv set and computer speaker.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
Posted on 05 May 2010
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