Hong Kong Family sold out too quick for them to get one
(but I have managed to watch it during its local theatrical run!)
Hong Kong Family (Hong Kong, 2022)
- Eric Tsang Hing-weng, director
- Starring: Teresa Mo, Tse Kwan-ho, Edan Lui, Hedwig Tam, Angela Yuen, Fung So-bo
Before anything else: I wonder why Hong Kong Family has the English title that it does. I way prefer its Chinese title of 過時·過節, which translates as "obsolete festival", since it alludes to the attitude that a number of this cinematic offering's characters have with regards to the Winter Solstice Festival that figures prominently in the movie: with a Winter Solstice Festival gathering early on in the film causing the family in focus to break apart; and who will be attending another Winter Solstice Festival gathering eight years down the road being the focus of much of the latter part of the ensemble drama.
I feel too that a title like Hong Kong Family puts pressure on its makers to make weighty pronounciations on the state of the Hong Kong family. Also, the (re)viewer gets to questioning what (extra) meaning there is behind such as a number of the family in focus having decided to spend time outside of Hong Kong (be it for further studies or permanently move to). At the same time, the film's title also is so generic enough as to be easily confused with other Hong Kong movies with the word "family" in its title. And it sure doesn't help matters that in the same year that this work by neophyte filmmaker Eric Tsang Hing-weng has been released in cinemas, veteran filmmaker Eric Tsang Chi-wai also has made We Are Family!
At least only Hong Kong Family was a selection of the 2022 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (with We Are Family not making much of an impact locally; and, in fact, I only heard about it thanks to seeing it having been screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival). And for the record: it came away with the Audience Choice Award too! But if truth be told, I found this surprising since I wasn't as bowled over by this film about a, well, Hong Kong family (with relatives who reside in England) who aren't as close as any of its members would like as I would have liked to be; and a discussion of it over on Twitter got me realizing that there are people out there who like it way less than me -- and not just because the film's story is on the sad side nor because its technical qualities are lacking!
In fairness, I do reckon that Hong Kong Family's debutant director should be given lots of credit for doing a professional job. However, I'd fault its scriptwriters (who include its director along with Lou Shiu-wa and Yeung Leung-chuen) for throwing in certain incongruities and inaccuracies that can irritate nitpickers like me and cause certain characters in the film to feel less genuine than they otherwise would be.
For starters, the mother of the family (named Ling and essayed by Teresa Mo) works as a housekeeper for a more well off family. While this scenario allows for nice scenes with a lovable young kid, who Ling treats with more care and love than she does for her actual relations, those of us who reside in Hong Kong know that it is super rare -- and, in fact, pretty improbable -- that a local Hong Konger would be working as a housekeeper these days; with Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers (like those seen in Still Human and Memories to Choke On, Drinks To Wash Them Down) being far more the norm here. Adding to the improbability: Teresa Mo's character's family living in as nice an apartment as they do, given that she's a housekeeper, her husband, Chun (portrayed by Tse Kwan-ho), is a taxi driver who doen't seem to get that many passengers and their daughter, Ki (played by Hedwig Tam), has been unemployed for a time.
I know that many viewers outside of Hong Kong might think the family's apartment is on the small side. But those who live here know that if your apartment has a spare room (that a relative from England can use when she comes over to visit), this is not your typical working class home -- which, given their economic circumstances, one would have thought that the family in focus in the film would inhabit. Also, I'm sorry but Angela Yuen, who plays Joy, the cousin who's come to Hong Kong in time to celebrate Winter Solstice with the family (who also include a grandmother (played by Fung So-bo) and estranged son Yeung (played by Edan Lui)) doesn't have the kind of accent when speaking English that one would expect someone from England to have!
Perhaps the most improbable of Hong Kong Family's characters is a Malaysian freespirit-begpacker who Ki befriends. I found the pair's interactions to be cringey in nature even while realizing they were meant to be heartening, even inspiring -- and unbelievable too. Instead, although they actually were uncomfortably tense, the less happy interactions between various family members came across as thoroughly authentic and actually the most respectable sections of the film; as was a conversation that the character played by Edan Lui had with a man who had lost a loved one to suicide.
Speaking of Edan Lui: I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people here in Hong Kong went to see this movie because of this Mirror member being in it. But the best performances by far in Hong Kong Family come from Teresa Mo and Tse Kwan-ho. Details about her character may seem "off" but Teresa Mo's performance is pitch perfect. And Tse Kwan-ho's multi-layered portrayal of a father who went into his shell after looking to have destroyed his family with one scary emotional outburst one fateful day, only to be a far better man than was realized is so good that it invests the movie with an emotional depth that will touch anyone with a still beating heart.
My rating for this film: 6.5
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