Rich And Famous - Godfather Envy

Apr

18

Rich And Famous - Godfather Envy

≡ Category: Bullet Ballet, Drama, Essential, Hong Kong, Movie Reviews By Country |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Drama/Bullet Ballet
Director: Taylor Wong
Year: 1987

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

Rich and Famous has pretensions to be the Hong Kong version of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather — if you didn’t somehow didn’t get the point, the filmmakers even include one of Nino Rota’s musical themes. But let’s face it — in terms of subtlety and depth, and yes, even visceral impact, The Godfather set an untouchable standard for crime films, one that Rich and Famous can’t hope to reach. Still, Rich and Famous is quite wonderful in it’s own melodramatic way.

Rich And Famous’s prologue starts in 1953, the year that Hong Kong and China agreed to a blockade to stem the tide of refugees from the Mainland to Hong Kong. The refugees, due to harsh living conditions, are dropping like flies. Mr. Tang’s (Peter Yang) best friend dies, leaving an orphan, Ting (Andy Lau). Mr. Tang adopts Ting, and raises him, along with his own children, Yung (Alex Man) and Wai (Pauline Wong).

Ten years pass. Unfortunately, Yung grows up to be a bad seed and gambles incessantly, forcing Ting to bail him out. Ting’s bravery gets him noticed by triad Boss Chai (Chow Yun-Fat), who hires the two brothers as muscle, and sister Wai as a housekeeper. Trying to ingratiate himself with Chai, Yung drives his friend Po Yee (Carina Lau) into Chai’s arms, all the while doing business with Chai’s business rival Boss Chu (O Chun-Hung).

Things come to a head at Boss Chai’s wedding, in an outrageously over the top climax.

You may think I’ve told you a lot about the plot, but believe me, that’s nothing. I’ve left out a good half dozen story lines.

Rich and Famous is crammed with gifted character actors from the Golden Age of Hong Kong (1985-1995), like Alan Tam, Ng Hoi-Tin, Wong Chi-Keung, James Ha, Shing Fui-On, Wai Ching, Lam Chung, and Gan Tat-Wa.

But the leads really shine. Alex Man is absolutely loathsome as the duplicitous Yung. Andy Lau exemplifies decency and naivete without being boring. O Chun-Hung is smug and hateful as Boss Chu. Chow Yun-Fat oozes charisma as an essentially decent triad leader (who deals drugs — yeah, right). But really, every role down to the bit parts is beautifully played.

Although the emphasis in Rich And Famous is on intrigue and character rather than action per se, what action there is typically hard hitting for the period, ably choreographed by Bruce Leung, with car stunts by Blacky Ko. Director Taylor Wong juggles all the different plot elements without confusing the viewer, and keeps the action moving along. Rich and Famous is smartly, tightly paced.

The cinematography by Johnny Koo is pretty terrific, too. The producers of Rich and Famous spent some money on this one, and it all shows up onscreen.

Rich and Famous is a prime example of the sort of awesome triad dramas Hong Kong was effortlessly churning out during the Golden Age, and which the modern Hong Kong film industry couldn’t make now to save their lives. By the way, if you enjoy Rich and Famous, the story continues in Tragic Hero, which I also heartily recommend.