Cheung stars as an aspiring actress who befriends her neighbour, a struggling unlicensed cab driver. Set against the backdrop of the 1967 riots, it is a turbulent yet playful and romantic Breakfast at Tiffany’s-esque caper. This role, which showcases the star’s natural charm, elegance and comic timing, earned Cheung her first Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
bfi.org.uk
Even in the high-style regions of modern Hong Kong cinema, there is nothing quite like Anthony Chan’s A Fishy Story. For a start, its casting goes against expectations: boyish Kenny Bee, more often in yuppie comedy parts, is in a dowdy role as a penniless cabbie treated like a toyboy by rich Josephine Koo (best known to western audiences as the lead in Yim Ho’s Homecoming); and Maggie Cheung, currently among Hong Kong’s best actresses, sends up her earlier bimbo image, playing a gold-digging starlet who can spot a diamond at 50 paces.
Then there is the gorgeous chiaroscuro photography by top cameraman Peter Pau, using Platinum Panaflex equipment with Primo lenses. And the whole ‘retro’ look of mid-1960s Hong Kong, complete with political (Mainland-inspired) demonstrations and taxi-drivers on strike (a variation on a running gag in Hong Kong cinema about the rudeness of local cabbies). Plus the send-up of movie-making that forms the background to Cheung’s character.
There are several parallels with Tsui Hark’s classic Shanghai Blues – the background of social unrest, the romantic-screwball tone of the script, the nail-biting finish – but A Fishy Story is less frenetic and more luxuriant. Its most notable characteristic, as befits a director from a former pop group, is its musical feel. There are very few moments when music is not present, either knitting together sequences (such as the repeated use of Jerome Kern’s ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’), or right upfront (as in the showstopping production number ‘Streetwalker’, a cross between ‘Big Spender’ and Irma La Douce, belted out on the soundtrack by local songstress Rita Carpio). Despite the 1960s setting, the total effect is more like a 1940s Hollywood melodrama. The previous comedies of director Anthony Chan (who also pops up in the film as businessman Paul Chen) were little preparation for the explosion of style shown here. The movie won three categories at the Ninth Hong Kong Film Awards in April 1990 – Best Actress (Maggie Cheung), Best Photography (Peter Pau) and Best Art Direction (William Szeto). The original Chinese title, which refers to the Kenny Bee character, literally means The Person Who Keeps His Socks On.
Derek Elley, BFI London Film Festival 1990
A FISHY STORY (BAT TUET MAAT DIK YAN)
Director: Anthony Chan
Production Companies: Bo Ho Films, Mobile Film Productions
Producer: Leonard Ho
Screenplay: Anthony Chan, Eddie Fong
Director of Photography: Peter Pau
Art Director: William Szeto
Sound Recordist: Chu Yan Chan
Cast
Kenny Bee (Kung)
Maggie Cheung (Huang)
Josephine Koo (Mrs Ku)
Anthony Chan (Paul Chen)
Carrie Ng
Season Ma
Chung Lam
Sin Hung Tam
Hong Kong 1989
100 mins
Digital
MAGGIE CHEUNG: FILMS OF ROMANCE, MELANCHOLY AND MAGIC
As Tears Go By Wong Gok kaa moon
Sun 1 Sep 12:00; Sat 28 Sep 20:30; Sat 5 Oct 12:30
Days of Being Wild Ah Fei ching chuen
Mon 2 Sep 20:50; Fri 27 Sep 18:20; Mon 7 Oct 20:50
In the Mood for Maggie
Tue 3 Sep 18:15
A Fishy Story Bat tuet maat dik yan
Tue 3 Sep 20:35; Sun 22 Sep 18:10
Song of the Exile Haak tou chau han
Sat 7 Sep 20:50; Sun 29 Sep 12:40
Irma Vep
Mon 9 Sep 20:30; Wed 18 Sep 20:50; Sat 5 Oct 20:50
Farewell China Oi joi bit heung dik gwai jit
Wed 11 Sep 20:45; Mon 23 Sep 18:00
Green Snake Ching se
Thu 12 Sep 20:45; Sat 28 Sep 18:20
The Heroic Trio Dung fong saam hap
Sat 14 Sep 18:35; Fri 4 Oct 20:50
The Actress (aka Center Stage) Ruan Ling-Yu
Sun 15 Sep 18:00; Sat 21 Sep 20:10
In the Mood for Love Fa yeung nin wah
Thu 19 Sep 18:10 + intro and discussion; Tue 8 Oct 18:30; Fri 27 Sep 20:45; Sat 5 Oct 18:15
Comrades: Almost a Love Story Tian Mi Mi
Sat 21 Sep 17:30; Mon 30 Sep 20:35
Hero Ying xiong
Mon 23 Sep 20:30; Sun 6 Oct 18:00
Clean
Thu 3 Oct 18:00; Tue 8 Oct 20:45
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
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