Porky's Meatballs / Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987); teenage romance comedy film review

DVD cover artwork for the teenage romance comedy film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987).

High School Highjinks by Linh

Porky's Meatballs may be considered to be Hong Kong cinema's equivalent to American teenage rom-coms (romantic comedy), similar to those written and directed by the late John Hughes. This film tackles themes of teenage romance, heartbreak, friendships, revenge, and an emphasis on the importance of a higher education.

However, unlike American teen movies like Porky's and its subsequent sequels, Porky's Meatballs does not depict the misogynistic, bawdy and outrageous sexcapades (sexual escapades) of teenage boys seeking to lose their virginity, perving on naked women through peep-holes in walls, and bedding prostitutes. Porky's Meatballs may have issues of sexuality, gender and social class which underpin the film's storylines but this film is quite cutesy in its sex humour and clever in its use of homonyms.

GECKO GAG: Chun (Rachel Lee Lai Chun) comforts Bak Yut Mong (Nnadia Chan Chung Ling) after a lizard revenge prank from their male classmates in the film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987). Image: D and B Films.

Set in 1987 Hong Kong, the film begins with the start of the final high school term at York Chi College, and the college superintendent's son Tse Tin (Stephen Ho Kai Nam) has flunked again and is now in the same class as his younger sister Tse Dai (Sabrina Ho Pui Yee). Twenty seven year old Ng Seng Choi (Yiu Yau Hung), who has been in the same grade for the last five years and deliberately flunks to make money by doing other students' homework for payment, gives his classmate Sung Kar Ming (Timothy Siu Chen Yung) a ride to school in his red convertible, while fellow classmate Bak Yut Mong (Nnadia Chan Chung Ling) waits for the bus. Bak Yut Mong notices a handsome young man staring at her from the balcony of a flat and she develops a crush on him. 

DAY DREAMER: Bak Yut Mong (Nnadia Chan Chung Ling) is a romantic who falls in love with a dummy in the film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987). Image: D and B Films.

Meanwhile, Chun (Rachel Lee Lai Chun), the most popular girl in school, is still on holidays in Hawaii and she meets university student Tai Wan Ho (Chan San Ho) who falls in love with her after one date together. When Chun returns to Hong Kong, he follows her and even enrols in the same class to be with her. Tse Tin grows jealous of Tai Wan Ho and plots with Ng Seng Choi to break up the pair, but he soon realises Chun is interested in her P.E. teacher (Russell Wong Seng Dat). After discovering the handsome man on the balcony is not "real", Bak Yut Mong is devastated and embarrassed, but does not realise Sung Kar Ming has a crush on her. 

AMBIGUOUS AUTHORITY: Principal Wu (Teddy Yip Wing Cho) has ethical discrepancies and questionable morals but he cares about his students and their education in the film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987). Image: D and B Films.

The various crushes and romances are tested as a gender war between the students turn the basketball match between York Chi College and rival San Dong College into a riot. As a result, the college superintendent demotes Principal Wu (Teddy Yip Wing Cho) to student co-ordinator and hires a former army general (Guk Fung) and a team of top educators to discipline the students. The students respond to the conservative regime of their new Principal and teachers by pulling pranks, cheating on exams and plotting to get rid of them to bring back Principal Wu.

DEVIOUS DISGUISE: Ng Seng Choi (Yiu Yau Hung) and Tse Tin (Stephen Ho Kai Nam) at their Star Wars themed high school ball in the film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987). Image: D and B Films.

Porky's Meatballs is a light-hearted and fun teenage comedy romance with many cultural references to Hong Kong and American films, television series and celebrities. However, it is still accessible and comprehensible for non-Asian viewers as the themes are universal. The characters' names in the film are quite funny if using the literal Chinese translations; for example, Tse Tin is "thank heaven" while his younger sister Tse Dai is "thank earth", Ng Seng Choi is "never get rich" yet he makes so much money, and Bak Yut Mong is "day dream" which is what she does most of the time. The songs featured in the film are upbeat, breezy, pop rock numbers sung by upcoming artists at the time, Nnadia Chan Chung Ling and Chan San Ho, who also star in the film.

SWEET SEDUCTION: Tse Dai (Sabrina Ho Pui Yee) attempts to seduce a male student from a rival college for a revenge prank in the film Porky's Meatballs/Zany Campus 鬼馬校園 (1987). Image: D and B Films.

Director: Clifton Ko Chi Sum

Writers: Clifton Ko Chi Sum, Joe Ma Wai Ho

Cast: Nnadia Chan Chung Ling, Teddy Yip Wing Cho, Rachel Lee Lai Chun, Stephen Ho Kai Nam, Sabrina Ho Pui Yee, Guk Fung, Chan San Ho,Timothy Siu,Yiu Yau Hung, Lam Chung, Russell Wong Seng Dat, Law Kam Fai, Wong Hung, Cheung Yuen Wah, Chiao Chiao

Producers: Linda Kuk Mei Lai, Dickson Poon Kik Sun

Cinematographers: Ardy Lam Gok Wah, Derek Wan Man Kit


Music Composer: Richard Yuen Cheuk Fan

Film Editor: Cheung Kwok Kuen

Production Designer: Jason Mok Siu Kei

Language: Cantonese with English subtitles

Running Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes

The Cherry On The Cake / La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau (2012); romance drama film review

French poster artwork for the romance drama film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau).

Fleeting Feelings by Linh

The Cherry On The Cake /La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau is actor/writer Laura Morante’s directorial debut and although it is advertised as a rom-com (romantic comedy), it actually seems like a parody of the typical American rom-com. This film has the best elements of a Woody Allen rom-com and similar wit and dialogue seen in Nora Ephron films. Morante has added a darker tone to the narrative in her rom-com that deals with psychoanalysis and gender relations in romantic relationships being central to the storyline. This makes the film appear to have more substance but the style remains typically of the rom-com genre.

CHOICE CHERRY: Amanda (Laura Morante) wants the cherry on the cake but her partner Bertrand (Frédéric Pierrot) is also keen for the cherry in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

Throughout the film, love never runs smoothly or ends happily for protagonist Amanda (Morante), who believes that she suffers from androphobia, which is a type of anxiety disorder and an irrational fear of men. This is not to be confused with misandry, the hatred of men, as Amanda appears to love men and be fond of all her former male lovers. Amanda has a tendency to end relationships whenever things become too comfortable and serious by finding the most inane and tiniest of reasons to dump her lover. She dumps her current partner Bertrand (Frédéric Pierrot) as they are celebrating their anniversary at a restaurant after he eats the only cherry on the cake without first offering it her. 

When her friend Florence (Isabelle Carré) hears of Amanda’s breakup, she suggests they go to a New Year’s Eve party her office colleagues are organising. Florence tells Amanda that all the men from her office are heterosexual except for one. At the office party, Amanda meets Antoine (Pascal Elbé) and is immediately attracted to him. Florence is thrilled until she realises Amanda is only comfortable with Antoine because she mistakenly believes he is gay. Florence and her husband Hubert (Patrice Thibaud), the psychoanalyst, devise a plan to exploit that misperception until Antoine, who has fallen for Amanda, becomes so important to her that he can reveal his love without fearing she’ll end their close friendship.

ANDROPHOBIC ACT: Amanda (Laura Morante) tells Florence (Isabelle Carré) about her break up with long-time partner Bertrand (Frédéric Pierrot) in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

The film’s title is apt as it not only marks the reason for Amanda’s recent breakup, but the concept of a “cherry on top” indicates something wonderful coming after something that is already considered to be good. Antoine is likely to be the best lover Amanda will have in a long time, but her belief of his homosexuality makes him an innocuous “friend” so she feels comfortable being with him. However, Antoine can also feel safe in the fact that he does not have to tell Amanda the truth that he is heterosexual and still be romantically involved with her. This situation raises problems for Antoine as he needs to perform and behave as if he is gay in order to keep Amanda interested in him, until the time comes when she is so in love in with him that he can reveal the truth. Perhaps the truth from Antoine is the “cherry on the cake” for Amanda?

PLAUSIBLE PLAN: Florence (Isabelle Carré) and her husband Hubert (Patrice Thibaud) plan to exploit Amanda's misperception of Antoine's sexuality to help her overcome androphobia in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

Amanda’s perspective in the film may support French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s ideas that romantic relationships are extremely hard to sustain and may not even be worth the trouble anyway. However, Sartre’s idea is also opposed because despite Amanda’s unusual phobia that is keeping her single, her friend Florence has been happily married to Hubert for fifteen years with an adopted daughter, Noémie (Loucille Clément), so the effort may be worth it in the long term even though challenges in relationships arise frequently. 

AMOROUS ATTRACTION: Antoine (Pascal Elbé) and Amanda (Laura Morante) arrange to meet again after the New Year's Eve party in the film [The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

 

In the film, the character of Amanda defies many of Hollywood’s typical romantic heroines in relation to her age, being an unbearable androphobic and the subject matter of sexuality is dealt with more consideration than the formulaic Hollywood rom-com would tackle it. This film parodies the sentimentality of rom-coms and pokes fun at Hollywood rom-coms by reproducing particular clichéd romantic scenes but placing them in the arthouse vein, such as couples walking together in the park, couples sitting beside a warm fireplace, cherry blossoms on the trees and the petals being blown around by a cool breeze etc.

ASSESSING ANTOINE: Amanda (Laura Morante) and Florence (Isabelle Carré) discuss Antoine's sexuality in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

Morante (A Farewell To Fools, Romeo and Juliet) gives a strong performance as Amanda, the editor of a book publisher, who is an affable woman despite being annoying, complaining constantly and is overly protective of her emotions and guarding herself from heartbreak; Isabelle Carré (The Day Of the Crows, Looking For Hortense) is wonderful as the warm-hearted and compassionate friend Florence; looking nothing like the typical gay man stereotype he is perceived to be in the film, Pascal Elbé (The Other Son, Piégé) is rugged, conservatively dressed and stoic as Amanda’s love interest, Antoine; Samir Guesmi (Camille Rewinds, Granny’s Funeral) is hilarious in his scenes as Maxime, the only gay man in Florence’s office, while pretending to be Antoine’s gay lover; and Patrice Thibaud as Hubert the psychoanalyst, has the best one-liners as he and his wife Florence analyse the budding romance between Amanda and Antoine, while convinced their plan will help Amanda overcome her androphobia.

DINNER DATE: Antoine (Pascal Elbé) and Amanda (Laura Morante) enjoy their first dinner together in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

The Cherry On The Cake is a good-humoured and warm romantic farce about relationships, romantic illusions and happiness. The plot may be implausible at times, but the character interactions and the clever dialogue make this a fine directorial debut for Morante and she is gorgeous as the leading lady in the film. Hollywood might attempt to remake this film as an American rom-com, but judging by the failures of previous remakes such as Dinner For Schmucks that starred Steve Carell and LOL which starred Miley Cyrus, it would be difficult to improve on the original French version.

GAY GUISE: Maxime (Samir Guesmi) poses as Antoine's (Pascal Elbé) gay partner in the film The Cherry On The Cake (La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau). Image: Nuts and Bolts Production.

Director: Laura Morante

Writers: Laura Morante (screenplay), Daniele Constantini (screenplay)

Cast: Laura Morante, Pascal Elbé, Isabelle Carré, Samir Guesmi, Ennio Fantastichini, Patrice Thibaud, Frédéric Pierrot, Vanessa Larrè, Yves Verhoeven, Loucille Clément, Nadia Fossier, Georges Claisse, Sophie-Charlotte Husson, Emmanuelle Galabru

Producers: Francesco Giammatteo, Bruno Pésery

Cinematographer:  Maurizio Calvesi (Director of Photography)

Original Music Composer: Nicola Piovani

Film Editor: Esmeralda Calabria

Production: Pierre-François Limbosch (Production Designer), Geraldine Laferte (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Agata Cannizzaro

Languages: French with English subtitles, and English

Running Time: 1 hour and 23 minutes

The Field of Enchantment / La clé des champs (2011); family film review

French poster artwork for the family film The Field of Enchantment (La clé des champs).

Microscopic Marvels by Linh

The Field of Enchantment - La clé des champs is the third film for French directors/producers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou, whose other films Microcosmos and Genesis were delightful, illuminating and amazing documentary films. This film shares similarities regarding the beautifully filmed images captured with special photographic techniques. However, for this film, there seems to be an attempt made on creating a simple storyline to accompany the magnificent visuals of flora and fauna around a small pond in the countryside.

CHILDLIKE CHARM: The boy (Simon Delagnes) and the girl (Lindsey Hénocque) frolick in the field in the family film The Field of Enchantment (La clé des champs). Image: Thelma Films.

A young unnamed boy (Simon Delagnes) is staying with his adult cousins in the French countryside during the holidays but he soon gets bored and finds enjoyment at a nearby pond. He becomes fascinated with the creatures that inhabit the pond, even beginning to imagine the animals as having human traits and behaving in ways similar to humans. Shortly, he notices footsteps in the mud near the pond, and irises plucked from the side of the pond. The next day, he discovers some poppies fashioned into dolls with red dresses and hats. He is curious about the person who has intervened with things he thinks should be left alone. When he returns to the pond a few days later, he sees a girl (Lindsey Hénocque) wearing a red dress with red berries in her hand and he chases her. The two lonely children become friends and share in the enchantment of the pond.

LIVELY LIZARDS: A pair of lizards slow dance together in the family film The Field of Enchantment (La clé des champs). Image: Thelma Films.

This film is part nature documentary and part fiction. Although the animals and their habitat are real, the editing makes them appear slightly human, with their eyes looking into the camera in closeup shots, and their bodies glistening in the sunlight or shimmering under moonlight. Interestingly, the film is narrated by actor Denis Podalydès and seems to suggest he may be looking back at his youth, and invites the viewers to see the pond-life through the eyes of a child. His narration is whimsical and playful as he describes the daily antics of the ants, frogs, dragonflies, lizards and other creatures that inhabit the pond.

FRIVOLOUS FROGS: Two frogs share a pond reed in the family film The Field of Enchantment (La clé des champs). Image: Thelma Films. 

The specially-created microscopic camera lens zoom in to capture the features of the animals and using modern film-making technology, the animals appear to move in sync to the glorious soundscapes courtesy of composer Bruno Coulias. Viewers see the animals dancing, playing soccer or challenging each other to sword fights, depending on the child’s imagination. There are no animated special effects as all the visuals onscreen are a combination of excellent editing and carefully filmed images of the creatures going about their daily routines.

The Field of Enchantment barely has any dialogue and mostly consists of Podalydès’s narration. There are some silent moments in this film, perhaps to suggest that silences in everyday life sound as equally beautiful as natural sounds from the pond-life. Some viewers may feel restless during these silent moments and long for the return of the animals and their antics as imagined by the children. This film is definitely for lovers of nature documentaries who don’t mind the addition of a story and good performances from the two young actors. The cinematography is visually stunning and is an enjoyable departure from Nuridsany’s and Pérennou’s previous two films that had no direct storyline to complement the visuals.

FLOWER FROG: A frog seeks shelter from the rain under a flower in the family film The Field of Enchantment (La clé des champs). Image: Thelma Films.

Directors: Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou

Writers: Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou

Cast: Simon Delagnes, Lindsey Hénocque, Jean-Claude Ayrinhac, Denis Podalydès (voice-over narrator)

Producers: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou, Christine Gozlan, Catherine Bozorgan, David Poirot

Cinematographers: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou, Laurent Desmet, Laurent Charbonnier

Original Music Composer: Bruno Coulais

Film Editor: Joële Van Effenterre

Language: French with English subtitles

Running Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

West Of Memphis (2012); true crime documentary film review

Poster artwork for the true crime documentary film West Of Memphis.

Fighting For Freedom by Linh

Director/writer/producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, The Lovely Bones) has always been ready to work on projects that are interesting, meaningful or important to him, so when he and his partner Fran Walsh heard about the 1993 murders of three little boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in America, they wanted to help seek justice for the deceased boys and freedom for the three teenage boys whom they believed were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the murders. Director Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil, This Is America) came onboard shortly after, and she collaborated with Jackson and Walsh, along with one of the wrongly accused killers, Damien Wayne Echols, and his partner Lorri Davis on this documentary.

In May 1993, the naked and mutilated bodies of three boys, all aged eight, were found in a creek, each were hog-tied (left wrist tied to left ankle with shoelaces and right wrist tied to right ankle with shoelaces). The three boys were local residents of West Memphis and were named Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. According to the West Memphis Police Department, all three boys were killed as a result of a Satanic ritual and they arrested three suspects – 18 year-old Damien Echols, 17 year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., and 16 year-old (Charles) Jason Baldwin. All three teenagers were interviewed but it was Misskelley Jr.’s so-called confession, some dodgy testimonies and Medical Examiner Frank Peretti’s dubious claims about Christopher Byers genital mutilation, that swayed the judge’s verdict to find the three teenagers guilty.

TEENAGE TRIO: Police mug shots of the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin. Image: West Memphis Police Department.

West Of Memphis is a true crime documentary film inspired by the television documentaries screened on the HBO channel in the USA called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. All three of the television documentaries presented compelling evidence that the three teenagers were framed and are innocent. Jackson appears in West Of Memphis as a supporter of the three imprisoned teenagers, who have become known as the West Memphis Three, and speaks of his horror and disgust at the crime committed and the serious miscarriage of justice against the three teenagers. The film also features Lorri Davis, who married Damien Echols while he was in prison, and her efforts to free him and find the real killer or killers who murdered the three children.

This documentary is mostly in chronological order, with some archival images and interviews from the past that are shown in the present. It chronicles the people affected by the murders, the evidence presented in the murder trial and the aftermath of the wrongful convictions of the West Memphis Three. Following the three tele-documentaries screened on HBO in the US, many grew suspicious and doubtful that the three teenagers were the real killers, as the evidence against them was highly disputable and none of the three teenagers had any motives for the murders. People-power and support from high profile entertainers like Eddie Vedder from rock group Pearl Jam, singer Patti Smith, singer Natalie Maines from the alternative country group The Dixie Chicks, actor Johnny Depp and entertainer Henry Rollins, joined forces to create a campaign to free the West Memphis Three and raised money for the legal funds.

CHILD CASUALTIES: Justice is still being sought for the three murdered boys, Chris Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch. Image: Sony Pictures.

West Of Memphis attempts to show a balanced and even-handed approach in its presentation of the evidence, interviews with the friends and family of the murdered children and interviews with the defense and prosecutors for the West Memphis Three. The aim of the documentary is to provide enough evidence to prove the West Memphis Three were wrongly accused and wrongly convicted of the murders and to release them from prison. However, part of the evidence to free the three men includes finding the real killer. This was the difficult part of the film-makers’ task because the identity of the alleged real killer is shown in the documentary film but the defense team for the West Memphis Three have no power to bring any charges against that person. That job is for the prosecution team, who decided to no longer investigate the case following the release of the West Memphis Three.

PASSIONATE PLEA: Defense lawyer Dennis Riordan, Eddie Vedder, Lorri Davis and Natalie Maines present their argument to free the West Memphis Three in an interview with CNN. Image: CNN.

This documentary is disturbing due to the themes of child abuse, miscarriage of justice and it shows actual crime scene footage and photographs of the murder victims when police found them. New information, more forensic tests, new DNA evidence and recent interviews of those who gave false testaments against the West Memphis Three were also shown.  Although the film-makers have succeeded in gaining freedom for the West Memphis Three who spent eighteen years in prison, they are yet to seek justice for the three little boys, whose real killer still walks free. After the end credits roll, the billboard sign featuring the West Memphis Three is shown, accompanied by the words “information is freedom”. A few seconds later, their photos morph into the images of the three dead boys with the words “information is justice”. This summarises the efforts of the film-makers in producing and screening this documentary and suggests the fight is not over.

Director: Amy Berg

Writers: Amy Berg, Billy McMillin

Producers: Amy Berg, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Damien Wayne Echols, Lorri Davis, Ken Kamins, Matthew Dravitzki, Katelyn Howes, Alejandra Riguero, Tina Elmo, Dan Kaplow

Original Music Composers: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Cinematographers:  Maryse Alberti, Ronan Killeen

Film Editor: Billy McMillin

Running Time: 2 hours and 25 minutes