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Eight Taels of Gold (1989)

Director: Cheung Yeun Ting Mabel Cheung

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1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Mabel Cheung's previous movie was a bitter-sweet romance set in New York: stuffy middle class Chinese girl meets working class Chinese layabout. This one reverses the formula: working class achiever from New York's Chinatown visits China and falls for a glamorous peasant girl who is already engaged to someone else. Conspicuously lacking in depth, and all too ready to go for easy laughs and pathos, this is partially redeemed by the strength of its two lead performances. Sylvia Chang and Sammo Hung, both cast somewhat against type, relish the chance to play off each other, and both are highly watchable. Hard to forgive the endlessly dragged-out unhappy ending, though.

Author: TR

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

DM said...

Posted on Jun 08 2009 14:53 I just finished watching this film and am of the opinion that it is much better than the Time Out reviewer has portrayed. The cinematography is beautiful, and is mostly set in a well portrayed rural China during the late 80's. Some understanding of Chinese history would help but not essential as the story and the humour itself is fairly universal. A touching, bitter-sweet and classy film without being pompous and arty. For those unfamiliar with rural China it is an accessible film that I think can cross cultural boundaries. Check it out if you can find a copy, this film deserves to be seen by a wider western audience.

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