La Brassiere (2001) |
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Directed
by: Patrick Leung & Chan Hing-Kar Buy
the DVD at: |
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Awards
at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2002: In an attempt to boost their sales and inject some originality into the market, an international bra company hires two men to design the 'Ultimate Bra'. The men are Johnny (Lau Ching Wan from Running Out of Time) and Wayne (Louis Koo from Bullets Over Summer) and over the next 3 months they're going to find out many things they didn't know about women or themselves for that matter. It's kind of hard to believe that the directors of this charming movie have both previously worked with John Woo. Patrick Leung co-wrote the script to Bullet In The Head and Chan Hing-Kar co-wrote A Better Tomorrow. As soon as our male and female characters start to interact, it's pretty clear where this story is going. But what makes La Brassiere different from most romantic comedies is it's positive energy and heart. Furthermore the humour is top notch and the script (penned by Chan Hing-Kar and Amy Chin) is filled with snappy dialogue and funny situations, mainly concerning the bras. The absolute highlight comes when Johnny and Wayne themselves are attempting to wear bras in order to understand what women go through. It was probably very hard to get the actors to keep a straight face during the filming of this scene, so the directors used a take where the actors do break out into laughter. This makes it feel very real and it's an absolute joy to watch! When
you got a script that is quite predictable you need good actors
to elevate it above the other movies in the same genre. As
one of the male leads we find a well established action- and
thriller actor; Lau Ching Wan. When I first saw that he was
in this I got a bit worried since I only knew him from his
serious roles. I could quickly let go of all that worry though. All the
sets and costumes are really well made and also really reflect
the positive energy and heart of this movie. The man in charge
of photographing all this is Fletcher Poon, whose previous
credits include the disaster known as Gen-Y Cops, among
others. Here he shows that he's a terrific DP and I hope to
see him getting more good films to work on in the future. You would
think that a movie like this would only appeal to men but
the directors and screenwriters manage to make a great point
about the understanding between men and women. I think La
Brassiere is definitely one of the most charming and joyful
comedies to come out of Hong Kong lately! reviewed by Kenneth Brorsson
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