The two leads and director of Far Far Away at one of its
Hong Kong Asian Film Festival post-screening Q&As
Far Far Away (Hong Kong, 2021)
- Amos Why, director and scriptwriter
- Starring: Kaki Sham, Jennifer Yu, Hanna Chan, Rachel Leung, Cecilia So, Crystal Cheung
Back in 2014, Amos Why (the nom de guerre of Amos Wong Ho-yin) directed -- and produced and wrote the script for -- my favorite Hong Kong film of that year: Dot 2 Dot; a romantic drama that also was very much a love letter to Hong Kong. Four years later, I went to see his sophomore directorial effort, a crime mystery with political undertones, with high expectations but found Napping Kid to be disappointingly sophomoric as well as overly ambitious.
So when I saw that he had come up with a third directorial attempt (and that it was playing at this year's Hong Kong Asian Film Festival), I hesitated a bit before deciding to go and check it out. But now that I've done so, I can tell you that I'm so very glad I did -- because Far Far Away really is a lovely film that speaks to those of us who f**king love Hong Kong. (Also, it's actually not scheduled to officially begin its theatrical run in local cinemas until February 14th, 2022 -- though there are sneak previews of the film scheduled from time to time already!)
Actually, if I had thought about it, I should have realized that Far Far Away would be a really good Amos Why film because it plays to the director-scriptwriter's strengths. For one thing, it's a straightforward romantic drama rather than convoluted genre movie. For another, it makes use of, and highlights, Amos Why's considerable knowledge of interesting Hong Kong locales. For a third, it features characters who are simultaneously idiosyncratic in some ways but also very "normal" -- average even? -- and relatable in others, with the icing on that particular cake being the casting of a number of the most talented of Hong Kong's crop of actors and actresses (who may not be household names but often have more acting chops than many of the older generation) to portray them.
Charismatic character actor Kaki Sham gets to be the lead actor for the first time in a feature film and makes the most of his opportunity. In Far Far Away, he plays an IT geek who's initially not that experienced with women but ends up getting romantically involved over a fairly short space of time, and to varying extents, with five different women -- it should be stated, not all at the same time!
Something that all the women have in common though is that they all live in far flung parts of Hong Kong! More specifically: there's the colleague who lives in Shau Tau Kok (played by Cecilia So); the old university mate who lives with her parents over at Sea Ranch (portrayed by Jennifer Yu); the woman with a car of the same make and color as his who lives in Tai O (essayed by Rachel Leung); the Yuen Long resident who's one year older than him and desperate to find a husband (played by Crystal Cheung); and the woman who he and his secondary classmates had idolized, and now lives in the rural Hakka enclave of Mui Tsz Lam (essayed by Hanna Chan).
Local culture geeks will thoroughly enjoy that Far Far Away features a number of visually pleasing Hong Kong locales on a big screen that seldom showcased in Hong Kong films (or, for that matter, foreign films shot in Hong Kong), and I wouldn't be surprised if (even) those who don't know Hong Kong well will be charmed by them too. At the same time, the characters who inhabit these landscapes also need to be appealing and contribute to the story -- and the ones in this movie definitely do. And, actually, more than one of the women featured in the film are attractive (in terms of their personality as well as physically), making it so that it might come as a surprise which of them actually ends up winning the heart of Far Far Away's lead male character!
Something else that local culture geeks will appreciate about Far Far Away is that its dialogue is peppered with topical remarks and others that give a good sense of how, and how much, its makers really love Hong Kong. One last thing: keep an eye out for fun cameos! In summary: there's much to enjoy about this very Hong Kong movie visually but also far beyond.
My rating for this film: 8.0
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