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Reviews
Guai xia yi zhi mei (1994)
Plum crazy
From all appearances, the General should have a great life-- complete control of a village, lots of money, and a young, beautiful wife. But, when reality does not measure up to his expectations, he decides to see how the other half lives. Disguising himself as the mysterious Hero Plum, the General soon discovers there's more to life than meets the eye and quickly learns just how much his true persona is hated.
Episodes of kungfu, acrobatics, singing, animals and orphans. Lightweight at times, and yet a little better than one might expect. Not the greatest comedy out of Hong Kong with its periodically and goofy convoluted plot, but there are certainly far worse ways to kill time.
Ermo (1994)
Keeping up with Jones's Chinese style
Appealing to one of the most basic themes of human nature-- the grass is always greener.... Ermo struggles to regain her family's lost prestige in a remote mountain village and win back her son's straying attention and allegiance(?) by winning the battle of keeping up (and beating) the Jones's-- Chinese style.
What could have been a very heavy handed commentary on the perils of capitalist greed turns out of be a extremely charming comic satire instead. Clearly, one of the most overlooked and underrated Chinese films of its time! There's still a morality tale here but it's a genuinely delightful one replete with an endearing heroine, a whiny husband, and the delightfully wicked neighbor-lady-next door. There aren't many films that can serve up a palatable cautionary tale with a side of noodles to boot-- but this one certainly does. This film is definitely a must for Chinese film fans.