This week’s foreign addition takes us to Hong Kong, a land of both eastern and western cultures. There was a time when Hong Kong’s cinema industry was once booming. The special administrative region is home and birth to many an Asian film star that we see in the mainstream today. Jackie Chan perhaps being the most well-known presently, but most would argue that Bruce Lee put the district’s style and identity on the map with the many classics he brought to the screen as a child, and of course later as an adult when he rose to global prominence. However, though the film industry in Hong Kong saw a bit of a decline in the 1990’s it has slowly but surely picked up back up, and A Home with a View is certainly proof that it has yet to completely lose its steam.
A Home with a View is a fairly new comedy penned by Hong Kong’s acclaimed writer/actor Tat-Ming Cheung who also plays the role of the grandfather in this picture.
A Home with a View is a fairly new comedy penned by Hong Kong’s acclaimed writer/actor Tat-Ming Cheung who also plays the role of the grandfather in this picture. The plot is simple enough for audiences across the world to navigate, and for people in Hong Kong, it is a film that hits very close to home. It centres round a family in the city, all of whom live together in a tiny flat. This is more than unheard of in Hong Kong being that the city itself is small in comparison to most metropolitan cities, yet has a population size that can make things quite crowded. As such, the city harbours the most expensive real estate in the world, regardless of size or location. This being the case, families in Hong Kong can find it very difficult to be crammed into one space together for extended periods of time. For this family in particular, their one saving grace – Their ocean view; which helps the family of five keep their sanity as well as their tolerance for living with one another in such close quarters. All is well, and by their standards, normal. This is until the neighbour across from them decides it would be best suited to his interests to hang a massive ad banner on top of his flat, thus impeding the ocean view of our family. Driven insane by the fresh feeling of being trapped together, the family led by their working class father/husband Lu, the family sets out on an initiative to drive away the new and irritating neighbour in an attempt to reclaim the view that once gave them peace, hope, and happiness. Remember though, this is a comedy. So as this may seem trivial to most people, the Chinese residents of Hong Kong know this feeling all too well. Tat-Ming Cheung would know this better than anyone, and his comedic spin on the topic is one of fascinating observation, and more importantly, intelligent analysis. Audience members who inhabit the rest of the world may not relate to this at all, but if you find yourself living the city life, this will all make perfect sense.
The rest of the cast all seem to have a knowledgeable command on the context of this script, but that should only make sense as all of them were raised in Hong Kong. Jocelyn Choi certainly stands out in her performance as the hormonal teenage daughter of the group. A Home with a View is her film debut, and her first go-around will not go unnoticed. Anita Yuen, the once upon a time Miss Hong Kong still displays she knows her way around the set, portraying the mother. Perhaps the most notable of the bunch would be that of the constantly working Louis Koo, who plays the bad guy we all just love to hate.
This film is currently up for purchase, and just because it may require the need for subtitles that should not mean it should go unwatched. The comedic telling has certainly had local audiences gasping for air with each laugh, and should you fancy yourself the film connoisseur, then give it a buy and let us know your opinion.
