Hu-Du-Men (1996)



	Hu-Du-Men		Return to Review Archive - H
	\| review \| awards \| availability \|		Josephine Siao in Hu-Du-Men
	Year:	1996
	Director:	Shu Kei
	Producer:	Clifton Ko Chi-Sum
	Writer:	Raymond To Kwok-Wai
	Cast:	Josephine Siao Fong-Fong, Anita Yuen Wing-Yee, Daniel Chan Hiu-Tung, Chung King-Fai, Waise Lee Chi-Hung, Tam Sin-Hung, Siu Chung-Kwan, Michelle Wong Man, David Wu, To On-Yan, Lee See-Kei, Chiu Hung
	The Skinny:	A wonderful human drama that loses a little when it gets preachy. Otherwise, see this movie for its intelligence and for Josephine Siao's performance.
	Review by Kozo:	Quick lesson: in Cantonese opera, the Hu-Du-Men (loosely translated as “stage door”) is the invisible line between stage and reality. Once the Hu-Du-Men is crossed, an actor ceases to be one person and becomes another person entirely. Josephine Siao is Sum, the aging star of an opera troupe, who specializes in playing men. Sum has mixed feelings over her family’s imminent emigration. Not helping things is the fact that some of the troupe are annoyed with the non-traditional vision of their new director (David Wu). Also, Sum’s daughter is hanging out too much with a suspiciously tomboyish female friend, much to dad’s vocal dismay. Sum is solicited for a potential apprentice: Yuk-Sheung (Anita Yuen), a talented but mousy young actress abused by her father, who disapproves of her relationship with a young med student in Singapore (Daniel Chan Hiu-Tung). Finally, Sum’s long-lost female friend turns up with a real big shocker. But, that’s late in the film so I won’t reveal what happens. The loose plot and rather coincidental events are offset by intimate yet economical direction and an engaging, emotional performance by Josephine Siao. She is an amazing actress, and her performance is so good that one should see this film for that alone. Anita Yuen is fine in a controlled supporting performance, and Waise Lee lucks out in a great supporting role. Critically-acclaimed like nobody's business, Hu-Du-Men is unfortunately not without flaws. The script by Raymond To is typical To: intelligent and relevant, but also self-conscious to an almost maddening degree. A lot of verbal exposition weighs down the film's drama, and the political correctness issues discussed seem needless. Hu-Du-Men works best as a human drama—and as a showcase for Josephine Siao's undeniable screen presence. (Kozo 1996)
	Awards:	16th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards • Nomination - Best Picture • Nomination - Best Director (Shu Kei) • Nomination - Best Actress (Josephine Siao Fong-Fong) • Nomination - Best Screenplay (Raymond To Kwok-Wai) • Nomination - Best New Artist (Daniel Chan Hiu-Tung) • Nomination - Best Editing (Kwong Chi-Leung, Shu Kei) 3rd Annual Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards • Recommended Film
		DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society
back to top