In an apparent attempt to ape the success of Bollywood, Golden
Harvest top gun Jingle Ma has given us Para Para Sakura,
which unofficially translates as Wacky Dance Craze Cherry
Blossom. Amazingly that could be the best description for
this gratefully cheesy but still strained genre experiment.
Aaron Kwok stars as Philip Wong,
a dance fitness instructor who is totally color-blind. It
isn’t until he meets free spirit Yuri (Cecilia Cheung) that
color begins to appear to him, and only when she’s dead center
in his sights. Sadly wooing Yuri isn’t that easy. First he
must contend with Yuri’s upcoming wedding to an old childhood
friend. Second, Philip is saddled with all sorts of screwy
hang-ups that could only exist in the movies. He believes
he’s under a curse from one of his dad’s old girlfriends to
be rendered alone whenever he utters the words, “I Love You.”
Furthermore, Philip has a penchant for acting like a complete
idiot and shooting off at the mouth. That’s fine by Yuri because
she also has a penchant for acting like a complete idiot and
shooting off at the mouth.
Eventually, the new couple must find
trust and hope among the multitudes of plot devices that threaten
to destroy their blessed union. And they have to pause for
the occasional cathartic dance number that either alienates
or enchants you with its Cantopop rhythms and eclectic dance
styles. We get a lot of wacky dancing in this movie, from
the eponymous Para Para to breakdancing to (No!) Celtic dance.
Midway through the film, there’s a car crash and Kwok decides
to start Riverdancing on the cars much to the joy of passerbys
and even the attending traffic cops, who start hoofing it
instead of handing out tickets.
Once Kwok begins acting like Michael
Flatley the natural urge may be to destroy your television,
but I actually managed to keep watching. Ultimately Para
Para Sakura has a few things going for it. One, it has
impressive production design and lovely cinematography. Two,
it’s utterly watchable in that train wreck/rubbernecking sort
of way. From the opening minutes where Kwok has a dance duel
with a rival to the closing music video, the whole thing is
so insanely bizarre that it begs finishing – just to say that
you finished watching Para Para Sakura.
Besides, what
other film in 2001 can boast the two most annoying performances
of the year? In further proof that Jingle Ma cannot direct
actors, he lets Kwok and Cheung overact like madmen, the result
of which may be a shattered television tube. Cheung in particular
is grating as all hell, which is sad because it appears her
acting chops have atrophied since her promising debut in King
of Comedy. She seems to be suffering from the Anita Yuen
syndrome, which is a rapid ascent to stardom thanks to an
appealing uniqueness, followed soon by a career stall as said
uniqueness becomes a one-note handicap. A more mature role
with some poise would be just the thing to expand Cheung’s
range.
By film’s end, the depth of the production
hits us: Philip Wong’s colorblind handicap is actually a metaphor
for his entire character. This Karate Kid-like pearl
of wisdom is the key that frees his heart and soul, and allows
for the characters to express their ultimate joy and freedom
with…a Para Para dance number! Aside from the fact that Para
Para is like the Japanese Macarena, any film that celebrates
its completion with an ultra-current dance craze is destined
for the pop-culture trash heap. To say that this movie is
awful would be one way to go, but that wouldn’t be doing justice
to Jingle Ma’s creation. Someday I expect this film to be
stacked beside Lambada: The Forbidden Dance as an example
of hideously embarrassing fads of our youth. (Kozo 2001) |
