C'est La Vie, Mon Chéri - 新不了情

C'est La Vie, Mon Chéri (新不了情) is a 1993 film out of Hong Kong. The film stars Anita Yuen and Sean Lau (Ching-Wan).

Sean Lau plays Kit, a sax recording artist and song writer that has grown tired of the industry. Seeking to make music for the sake of making music, Kit abandons his girlfriend and career. Kit moves to a part of town with lots of street hawkers. There, he lives the life to make music. Anita Yuen plays Min, the daughter of a psuedo-famous Chinese opera singer. Min and family lead a life of hawking their talents on a street corner. Min lives upstairs from Kit and takes an interest to his life and eventually him. The two start up get to know each other and have a magical bond linked to music. Min was a former bone cancer survivor in childhood. In remission for many years, its back again and Kit's relationship is put to the test as she deals with the reemergence of a life threatening disease.

Back in my teens and twenties. Rarely did I ever get teary eyed when watching films. But this one brings it out of you. Anita's portrayal of Min was so engaging and authentic that you're instantly drawn into her world. When it comes crashing down around her, you can see the love around her.

I have this in my top ten HK movies of the 1990s. As for the bigger picture of movies, I would have to rank this in the top 50. A must watch for any HK movie buff.

72 Tenants of Prosperity - 七十二家房客

72 Tenants of Prosperity (七十二家房客) is a 2010 Chinese New Years film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars a who's who of HK stardom. The main three stars are Eric Tsang, Jacky Cheung, and Anita Yuen. Bosco Wong, Linda Chung, Stephy Tang, and Wong Cho Lam round the supporting cast.

Movie starts in the past where 3 youths prevent local landlords from taking advantage of the tenants. These three youths grow up to modern day Eric Tsang, Jacky Cheung, and Anita Yuen. Eric Tsang and Anita Yuen, are now married. Eric Tsang and Jacky Cheung have competing cell phone stores and are rivals. Even their children get in on the act. But they become lovers from rivals. Watch out for all the homages to other HK films of recent times.

The movie was a jumbled mess. The main storyline of Eric Tsang, Jacky Cheung, and Anita Yuen was quite weak and than their children fall in love with each other? And than you have a nemesis from the past?

I guess Chinese New Years movies like this really don't have to be good, but just get butts in the seats. Watching this months after Chinese New Years and being in the states, the movie is a pass from me.

Protégé - 門徒

Protégé (門徒) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Daniel Wu and Andy Lau. Supporting cast include Louis Koo, Zhang Jingchu, Anita Yuen, and Hu Mei-Tian.

The movie is about the drug empire run by Andy Lau. Andy Lau plays Quin whos had a long and successful run as the king of drugs in Hong Kong. The police have been trying to bust him for years. Quin is getting up in years and wants to find a successor. Quin takes Nick, played by Daniel Wu, as a protégé. Quin likes Nick so much that he even sets him up with his oldest daughter. And Quin's last step in the process is taking Nick to Thailand to speak directly with his source to do the "hand off". Little does Quin know, Nick is actually a undercover cop. Nick has finally got enough evidence to crack the case. Little by little, Quin's empire starts to crumble. And they find out its Nick in court.

A side story to this is Nick's relationship with Fan, played by the extremely lovely and talented Zhang Jingchu. Fan's husband is played by Louis Koo. Fan has run away from him to start living clean, because of her elementary age child. Nick befriends the child and eventually Fan. Little by little, Nick falls for Fan, but tragedy strikes when the husband finds her again.



I mention that I loved this film back in the day. The film did well at the 27th Hong Kong movie awards as well. It was well deserved recognition for a very well made film.

I watched a China version from back in the day. I need to make time and rent the Dragon Dynasty one.

The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung - 新楚留香

The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung (新楚留香) is 2001 wuxia series. I think its a joint TVB and CTS production, but the majority of the cast is from Hong Kong. The series stars Richie Ren as Chu Liu Xiang. There very few characters that show up in all the story arcs. But among the supporting cast are Ruby Lin, Gigi Lai, Anita Yuen, Kristy Yang, and Dicky Cheung.

The version I watched was 40 episodes long and had 4 main story arcs. Most of the story arcs run 10 episodes and there's a clear change of direction with the 3rd and 4th story arcs.

The first story arc introduces us Chu Liu Xiang as an expert thief. Nothing is untouchable for this guy. Including the hearts of women! When he is taught 小李飛刀 to go along with his expert thief skills. This now makes him a very formidable opponent. It is also during this arc that we are introduced to Ruby Lin, Gigi Lai, and Anita Yuen. However, Chu Liu Xiang and Anita Yuen's character, Xi Hu, have a forbidden love. Xi Hu eventually makes the ultimate sacrafice for Chu Liu Xiang.

The second story arc goes for all out action as Chu Liu Xiang's nemesis is revealed and he must stop him. Chu Liu Xiang and Gigi's character, Rong Rong, get serious. But it is not meant to be as their worlds collide, but is ultimately split apart.

The third story arc goes to the desert and is the strangest by far. Ruby Lin, Sing Er, and Chu Liu Xiang were getting along fine and headed for love. But Sing Er loses her memory and is tricked into loving another person. This splits them up and ends a very strange affair.

The final story arc ends the series and a storyline that's been hinted at since the second story arc. In this arc, almost all the characters are new. The shadow warriors that haunted Chu Liu Xiang in the 2nd and 3rd story arc are revealed. A new love interest played by Kristy Yang is introduced. Can Chu Liu Xiang make it out alive?



This ranks as one of my favorite wuxia series because it had so many characters. Unlike the 2007 version, the characters were only around for 8-10 episodes. The only constant was Richie as Chu Liu Xiang. The fighting was descent and the mythos were right on target. There was love, mystery and everything that made Chu Liu Xiang what he is! I loved Ti Lung as Chu Liu Xiang in the Shaw Bros films of the 70s. Adam Cheng and Michael Miu's Chu Liu Xiang from early TVB are classics. Richie isn't going to go down as a classic, but he was serviceable as Chu Liu Xiang.

If you like wuxia that has a lot of mystery and revolving door of love interest, this is a series for you!