The Umbrella Story		Return to Review Archive - U
	Year:	1995
	Director:	Clifton Ko Chi-Sum
	Writer:	Raymond To Kwok-Wai
	Cast:	Alice Lau Ar-Lai, Law Koon-Lan, Louisa So Yuk-Wah, Fung Wai-Hung, Tse Kwan-Ho, Poon Chan-Leung
	The Skinny:	Iffy CGI effects aside, this is an enjoyable, engaging trip through history.
	Review by Kozo:	Clifton Ko and Raymond To reunite the same cast from One of the Lucky Ones and I Have a Date with Spring for this family drama spanning nearly a century. It’s a fictionalized history of the Leung So Kee Umbrella Factory, which really existed until closing down in 1986 after nearly 100 years of  business.       Basically a historical log of China with the factory’s drama in the foreground, this is a well-thought and sometimes touching drama with Raymond To’s signature touches. We get to see how the Leung So Kee factory grew in the midst of wars and revolutions, and how their loyalty to family always sees them through. The cast is uniformly good, from Alice Lau to Law Koon-Lan to Mad Phoenix Tse Kwan-Ho. A bit cursory and even fluffy, the film provides a decent history lesson and good entertainment.       The film’s big selling point during its release was the use of Forrest Gump effects to blend old stock footage with new footage of the modern stars. As a result, the actors trod on actual footage of sixties HK streets, as well as appearing in shots with Bruce Lee and Chiang Kai-Shek, to name a couple of the surprise cameos. It’s a nice gimmick, but the drama stands on its own without all the visual historical happenstance. Besides, ILM didn’t do the effects and they end up looking cheap. The digital effects aren’t necessary; they’re just padding for an already enjoyable story. (Kozo 1997)
back to top