Paper Marriage (1988)
Director: Alfred Cheung
Cast:
Plot: Bo Chin (Sammo Hung) is a Chinese ex boxer living in Canada and down on his luck. His gambling debts are always getting him into trouble and his only regular income comes from selling himself as a human guinea pig to a medical lab. His opinion of women has been marred by his divorce from his wife (Joyce Godenzi), but desperate for cash he agrees to marry a Chinese immigrant named Jade Lee (Maggie Cheung in an early performance) to get her into Canada. Things don’t go to plan when Jade’s boyfriend Peter (Alfred Cheung) runs away with all the money leaving Bo and Jade penniless to try and get by. The relationship doesn’t start too well, and they both have to take desperate measures to try and get their lives in order. Bo goes back to prize fighting and Jade gets involved in a different kind of fighting. Then one day a bag of money literally falls into their hands. They must work together if they want to keep it, but some local hoodlums want their cash back.
Review: This late eighties low budget film from Golden Harvest pairs Sammo Hung and Maggie Cheung in what I can only describe as an unromantic comedy. As two strangers thrown unceremoniously together they both give amiable performances that make this another worthwhile comedy that manages to amuse effortlessly with plenty of laugh out loud moments. We do of course get the odd piece of infantile humour thrown in, but it wouldn’t be a Hong Kong comedy without it. Written and directed by Alfred Cheung, who also plays a supporting role, this was filmed entirely in Vancouver. Sammo once again gives great value for money as he gives a solid comic performance, choreographs the fights with assistance from Lam Ching Ying and Yuen Wah, plus he does some incredible stunts throughout the film. Maggie Cheung, on the other hand, was just about to break the big time and this film showed her gameness to pretty much do anything for her art. Not only does she get thrown into the thick of some of the action, but at one point she takes part in a mud wrestling fight that some male viewers may watch expecting to get some cheep girlie thrills, but instead what we get is a wonderfully emotional scene that leaves the viewer feeling nothing but pity for Jade’s desperate situation. Showing her versatility the same year Maggie also made “Police Story 2” with Jackie Chan, and the brilliant “As Tears Go By” with Andy Lau.
The interplay between Sammo and Maggie’s characters make this film so enjoyable, the continuous accidents and embarrassing situations between them are almost cringe inducing at times, but we also have a wonderful support cast. Joyce Godenzi plays Bo’s ex wife, and her strong performance is almost all with her eyes. In the sequence when Bo goes back into the ring to fight her new fiance, it is plain that she still cares very much for Bo and doesn’t want him to be hurt in any way. The fiance is played by Thai kickboxing legend Billy Chow in one of his rare good guy roles. Apart from his fight in the ring he also turns up for the action finale where he fights along side Bo. For our main fighting villain we once again have Dick Wei who really excels in his kicking. In his first face off with Bo he overpowers him with a succession of brilliant moves. One of the support fighters during the all action finale is Chin Kar Lok and quite early in the film Bo has a traditional boxing match against Phillip Ko. Meg Lam adds to the comedy as the immigration officer who is getting the run around from Bo and Jade. Giving the impression she knows something is wrong with the couple’s relationship, but not being able to prove anything.
For action fans this is pretty slow for the first two thirds with the only real action firstly coming in the boxing ring and then during the Thai Boxing bout, but when the bag of money comes into play the action really kicks in with a sequence that takes place at a huge shopping mall that is filled with some incredible fights, especially the one between Sammo and the always great to watch Dick Wei. There are some equally incredible stunts in this sequence too. One stunt in particulars has Sammo crashing through a window, falling about ten feet on to a canopy where he bounces off to fall another ten feet or so until he lands rather unceremoniously on the ground. I personally like the slow build up to the action as it gives plenty of time to get to know the characters. Also it shows that we are dealing with average people and not your regulars action hero types. In fact, Sammo’s character Bo is no hero at all when you examine the film closely, and the only reason he fights at all is because he has developed feelings for Jade and he believes keeping the money will make her stay with him.
Another fine example of the action comedy genre, I personally rate this very highly amongst the films that Sammo made during the eighties. Maggie Cheung has always been one of my favourite actresses, and this early charismatic performance from her shows why she became so popular. This is well acted for an action comedy and a film that improves with repeat viewings. Some of the comedy is typically daft rather than laugh out loud funny, but underneath everything this film has warmth. This may not rank up there with some of Sammo’s old school classics for some genre fans, but I would be very surprised if you watched this for the first time and didn’t end up with a smile on your face. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.5/5
Cast:
Plot: Bo Chin (Sammo Hung) is a Chinese ex boxer living in Canada and down on his luck. His gambling debts are always getting him into trouble and his only regular income comes from selling himself as a human guinea pig to a medical lab. His opinion of women has been marred by his divorce from his wife (Joyce Godenzi), but desperate for cash he agrees to marry a Chinese immigrant named Jade Lee (Maggie Cheung in an early performance) to get her into Canada. Things don’t go to plan when Jade’s boyfriend Peter (Alfred Cheung) runs away with all the money leaving Bo and Jade penniless to try and get by. The relationship doesn’t start too well, and they both have to take desperate measures to try and get their lives in order. Bo goes back to prize fighting and Jade gets involved in a different kind of fighting. Then one day a bag of money literally falls into their hands. They must work together if they want to keep it, but some local hoodlums want their cash back.
Review: This late eighties low budget film from Golden Harvest pairs Sammo Hung and Maggie Cheung in what I can only describe as an unromantic comedy. As two strangers thrown unceremoniously together they both give amiable performances that make this another worthwhile comedy that manages to amuse effortlessly with plenty of laugh out loud moments. We do of course get the odd piece of infantile humour thrown in, but it wouldn’t be a Hong Kong comedy without it. Written and directed by Alfred Cheung, who also plays a supporting role, this was filmed entirely in Vancouver. Sammo once again gives great value for money as he gives a solid comic performance, choreographs the fights with assistance from Lam Ching Ying and Yuen Wah, plus he does some incredible stunts throughout the film. Maggie Cheung, on the other hand, was just about to break the big time and this film showed her gameness to pretty much do anything for her art. Not only does she get thrown into the thick of some of the action, but at one point she takes part in a mud wrestling fight that some male viewers may watch expecting to get some cheep girlie thrills, but instead what we get is a wonderfully emotional scene that leaves the viewer feeling nothing but pity for Jade’s desperate situation. Showing her versatility the same year Maggie also made “Police Story 2” with Jackie Chan, and the brilliant “As Tears Go By” with Andy Lau.
The interplay between Sammo and Maggie’s characters make this film so enjoyable, the continuous accidents and embarrassing situations between them are almost cringe inducing at times, but we also have a wonderful support cast. Joyce Godenzi plays Bo’s ex wife, and her strong performance is almost all with her eyes. In the sequence when Bo goes back into the ring to fight her new fiance, it is plain that she still cares very much for Bo and doesn’t want him to be hurt in any way. The fiance is played by Thai kickboxing legend Billy Chow in one of his rare good guy roles. Apart from his fight in the ring he also turns up for the action finale where he fights along side Bo. For our main fighting villain we once again have Dick Wei who really excels in his kicking. In his first face off with Bo he overpowers him with a succession of brilliant moves. One of the support fighters during the all action finale is Chin Kar Lok and quite early in the film Bo has a traditional boxing match against Phillip Ko. Meg Lam adds to the comedy as the immigration officer who is getting the run around from Bo and Jade. Giving the impression she knows something is wrong with the couple’s relationship, but not being able to prove anything.
For action fans this is pretty slow for the first two thirds with the only real action firstly coming in the boxing ring and then during the Thai Boxing bout, but when the bag of money comes into play the action really kicks in with a sequence that takes place at a huge shopping mall that is filled with some incredible fights, especially the one between Sammo and the always great to watch Dick Wei. There are some equally incredible stunts in this sequence too. One stunt in particulars has Sammo crashing through a window, falling about ten feet on to a canopy where he bounces off to fall another ten feet or so until he lands rather unceremoniously on the ground. I personally like the slow build up to the action as it gives plenty of time to get to know the characters. Also it shows that we are dealing with average people and not your regulars action hero types. In fact, Sammo’s character Bo is no hero at all when you examine the film closely, and the only reason he fights at all is because he has developed feelings for Jade and he believes keeping the money will make her stay with him.
Another fine example of the action comedy genre, I personally rate this very highly amongst the films that Sammo made during the eighties. Maggie Cheung has always been one of my favourite actresses, and this early charismatic performance from her shows why she became so popular. This is well acted for an action comedy and a film that improves with repeat viewings. Some of the comedy is typically daft rather than laugh out loud funny, but underneath everything this film has warmth. This may not rank up there with some of Sammo’s old school classics for some genre fans, but I would be very surprised if you watched this for the first time and didn’t end up with a smile on your face. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.5/5
Review by D. M.
Photos by Klara
Photos by Klara
For bigger photos please click on thumbnails
For more pictures visit the Paper Marriage Photo Album