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Unforgetful Holiday (1992)

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Directed by: Sherman Wong
Producer: Michael Chan
Written by: Sherman Wong & Dang Wing-Luk
Starring: Stuart Ong, Charlie Cho, Chan Wing-Chi, Rena Murakami & Goo Git

Trying to each score a contract for a ginseng product, two companies court a potential Mainland investor (Stuart Ong's character of Yung). Chan's Company gets to him first and led by Charlie (Charlie Cho), Yung gets a make over and taken on a variety of nightly adventures in Hong Kong. Often involving sex but when Charlie crashes a yacht carrying Yung and three girls (Chan Wing-Chi, Rena Murakami & Goo Git), they are forced to live the country life for a while. All while the contract-war continues on land between the companies...

Deceptive and unexpected. You don't get that notion or feeling many times when watching a sex-comedy out of 90s Hong Kong cinema that also stars Charlie Cho. But the key to the fair success of Unforgetful Holiday is having an actual director (Sherman Wong - Queen Of Underworld, Sex And The Emperor) present to control the narrative in an unexpected way to the extent that there's barely any sex pre the two reels on the island.

Because largely it doesn't seem like business out of the ordinary seeing Stuart Ong (admittedly playing against type as he's a very dorky Mainlander) being taken to the exclusive clothing store and essentially an erotic night out at a sushi restaurant where food is rarely eaten off the plate but rather off the women. In its own way a lot of fun as Charlie heads the calendar of events with his usual perverse energy but Wong seemingly is shooting this as as close to a Category IIb movie rather than Category III because the nudity only enters once the island scenario does.

So the primary drive is a little bit of character-bonding setup as Cho and the girls go from being on the job (that includes smoking pot in a rare move for one of those movies) to bonding in the island environment that's sans all the luxuries of urban Hong Kong life. Director Wong decides to gleefully unleash sexuality on us at this time as the girls go crazy seeing their manly host who's taking them in, Cho and his partner get off WATCHING the primal sex happen but one rather delightful thing takes place with the remaining two. The couple of Stuart Ong and Chan Wing-Chi (False Lady).

Opting to actually let the timid Yung actually hang out, bond and be kind to Chan's character, the two may see the sex around them but clearly enjoy each other's company more and Wong go for the filmmaking skills of making two actors go for romantic chemistry on-screen instead. With Ong cast against type and Chan an actress that has shown this skill before together with male co-stars, Unforgetful Holiday transforms into a Category III time where some more honed material is presented before the performers, a more honed frame is created and coupled with the horny shenanigans that the filmmaker absolutely does not forget, the film finds an unexpected pleasant and sweet tone. As well as fun and hot.

 

reviewed by Kenneth Brorsson