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Nomination
at the Hong Kong Film Awards 1990:
Best Screenplay (Derek Yee & Wong Chi-Yat)
After
his first two directed efforts, the bleak The Lunatics
and the hostage-thriller People's Hero, Derek Yee turned
to perhaps something more appropriate after all that darkness,
romantic comedy. The Bachelor's Swan Song for the third
time that year also brought together leads Kenny Bee and Maggie
Cheung (one of their other collaborations being on Anthony
Chan's terrific A Fishy Story).
After
saving money for their marriage, Nam (Kenny Bee) and Yuk (Maggie
Cheung) are now ready and slightly forced to get married due
to her pregnancy. Misery strike though as Nam loses almost
all savings in a stock market crash and with their families
gagging for an expensive, traditional wedding, problems definitely
have arrived. What do you favour? An actual romantic small
wedding or stick to tradition where its that over love? The
latter would be true if you had these people as your relatives...
I'll
always applaud Derek Yee's choice to be rather infrequent
as director. Hong Kong filmmakers tend not to plan, develop
or carefully select but working is also a necessity for some
I'm sure. Yee on the other hand have provided one of the most
solid, if not splendid filmographies of any Hong Kong director
but for The Bachelor's Swan Song, he churned out his
first disappointment which still stands as Yee's worst movie
(i.e. still watchable) to date.
The
main element of his and Wong Chi-Yat's script certainly holds
opportunities though as they set out to satire the ever so
overcomplicated planning that precedes a wedding. Even much
more so before a Chinese wedding which seems to consist more
of overly strictly followed forms and traditions rather than
the celebration of true romance. In the midst of this change,
the question of finance comes up, leading to fine comedic
opportunities that Yee utilizes. His energetic cast also respond
during the overly pedantic rituals, especially between the
new relatives. Years and years of tradition have definitely
made its meaning go astray. Where The Bachelor's Swan Song
ultimately disappoints is with its inconsistent pace and tone
where, true to form in pleasing the local audiences, much
of the running time is devoted to whacky comedy but not in
combination with enough heart.
Despite
the break of 2 years between this and People's Hero,
Yee seems devoid of inspiration in making an age old structure
and story work. Some comedic situations sees him admirably
focusing on making an obvious joke hit home, through timing
of props, editing, deadpan expressions and dialogue but sadly,
those moment are few. A Derek Yee on autopilot is necessarily
not the biggest hack but the film doesn't have a stamp on
it of quality usually associated with him. Not that comedy
is a dangerous territory either for him as he proved in Viva
Erotica that he has a grasp on what can be considered
funny, even outside of Hong Kong. By the time of the big finale,
proceedings are clearly also padded to reach 90 minutes with
endless non-funny banter and tangents amongst the supporting
cast that results in the most criminal things Yee and company
could do to the movie. That of separating the two leads who
really remains our only hope to take a true liking to the
movie.
Even
when venturing into the relatively few sections of drama,
no subtlety is served up and frankly, the straining relationship
between Nam and Yuk is not entirely worth caring for either
even though their journey together is obviously a sympathetic
one in its simplicity. It all comes down to the fact that
none of the elements as written are utilized well, making
The Bachelor's Swan Song take on the feeling of a lazy-ass
Lunar New Year comedy (I couldn't find a release date...was
it in fact a New Year's release?).
Since
Yee also never has set out to light up the screen in striking
visuals and rollercoaster rides of excitement, he almost always
pays a huge attention to actors to get the best out of them.
There are many examples of this trademark where he's gotten
good results from both established, new and performers not
usually associated with whatever genre at hand. Kenny Bee
and Maggie Cheung are nice images of a young couple but never
are given much to sink their teeth into. Kenny pouts his way
through his performance and certainly knows how to look uncomfortable
while Maggie merely is cute, not the moviestar she clearly
was already at this point (see A Fishy Story). Lydia
Shum however is a hoot as Yuk's very traditional mother and
makes the whacky comedy on her behalf work wonderfully. It's
probably the best directed performance in terms of Derek Yee's
handling of actors as she also is brought in at a few moments
to be absolutely serious, with good results. Wu Ma, Shing
Fui On, Tai Po, Alfred Cheung and Eric Tsang also appear.
The
Bachelor's Swan Song is certainly on the level of your
everyday romantic comedy of the era but it ranks as disappointing
considering Derek Yee had already showed tremendous amount
of skill as director. Maybe comedy was too early to take on
after all that darkness in the past despite a longer break
preceding this project? Regardless of the answer to that question,
Yee with his cast and crew are on autopilot, showing little
creativity and spark. I hate to say it but Derek Yee made
a lackluster film once.
The
DVD:
Deltamac
presents the film in an aspect ratio of 1.90:1 approximately.
No apparent framing issues are to be found despite the overmatting
though. The transfer boasts solid colours and sharpness with
only light speckling on the print overall. A few scenes register
a bit dark though.
The
Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0 track is a bit muffled at times
but presents solid audio otherwise. A Mandarin 2.0 track is
also included.
The
English subtitles feature the occasional errors but convey
plot and situations well. Traditional and simplified Chinese
subtitles are also included. The theatrical trailer is the
only extra.
reviewed
by Kenneth
Brorsson
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