chow yun-fat ©P¼íµo
The Missed Date
also known as: [no alternate English titles]
year of release: 1986
Principal cast.
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Peter:
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Chow Yun-Fat
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May:
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Olivia Cheng
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Ling:
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Pauline Wong
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Lawyer Li:
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Melvin Wong
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Directed by: Teresa Woo
Additional info.
version reviewed: LD
Ratings.
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audio:
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7 of 10
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video:
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5 of 10
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subtitles:
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8 of 10
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story:
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7 of 10
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performances:
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8 of 10
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CYF:
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8 of 10
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May (Olivia Cheng) is the wife of Philip Chen, a successful advertising executive. He
doesn't approve of his wife
working outside the home, taking the traditional stance that the man should rule the household.
Unfortunately
he has another time-honored traditional trait: he cheats on his wife at every opportunity. Though
May refuses to admit that she is aware, her unease is palpable as she waits until the wee hours of the
morning on her husband, lying forlornly on the couch. Keeping herself busy with endless rounds of
aerobics and cooking elaborate meals for her husband who rarely makes it home for dinner, May
lives a comfortable, miserable life.
In contrast to May and her husband is another couple (played by Pauline Wong and Melvin Wong), Li and his wife Ling.
A professional, "modern" couple, they both work - she as an advertising executive in the same firm as
Philip Chen, and he as a lawyer with a successful practice - and have also worked out a their
own definition of monogamy. On the first and the fifteenth day of every month (hence the Chinese
title "The First and Fifteenth") they are free from their marriage bonds and can do as they please, both
sexually and otherwise. The only problem with this arrangement is that they take it one step
further: not only do they feel free of the strictures of traditional marriage, they also
seem to have laid aside basic kindness, courtesy and thoughtfulness.
May and Ling are casual friends, belonging to the same country club and go out together when their
husbands are otherwise occupied. During one of their poolside discussions May admits to Ling that
she feels there is trouble in her marriage, and May tells her of her own "First and Fifteenth" rule.
Take up that style of marriage, May counsels Ling, and you'll either be happy or at least get an
opportunity to show your husband that you too are still attractive to others.
After a particularly bitter argument, May taunts her husband with the idea; she is sure that
he will be aghast at the idea that she might be free of him for two days each month but he
surprises her by his laughing agreement to her proposal. Not only does it give him the perfect
opportunity to wage a full-scale seduction of a beautiful client, but his attitude clearly
conveys that no one could possibly be interested in his wife. Devastated by both of these
revelations, May finds herself losing even the last tenuous hold she had over her husband.
At first her 'free' days are trivial - shoe shopping, having lunch by herself, going to
movies alone, and it begins
to appear that her husband's dismissal of her attraction to others may be reality. That
is until she meets the club tennis pro, Peter (Chow Yun-Fat) who takes an immediate shine to
her.
Peter looks like the typical country club Casanova, and in many ways he is: a bit wily in his
ways with women, a long string of conquests to his hame, he is also a philosopher and something
of an intellectual. Gentle, funny and a bit quirky, he and May find themselves falling in love
with one another even though neither is particularly keen on the idea, as both of them see the
turmoil ahead.
This is a very dated film, mainly because many of the issues explored deal with the Yuppie
Angst underlayment of the 1980s. Even so, there is a sincere attempt to look at how people
deal with the ages-old dilemmas of living an ethical life while still trying to maintain
a certain level of personal happiness and fulfillment. This is not a particularly understated
film - Olivia Cheng's performance as May isn't a delicately crafted one, and some of the
characters at times slip over the line into safe stereotypes to help along the plot. There
is some wry humor (the pot party is particularly funny) and some disturbing moments as well.
Perhaps the best scenes have their effect reduced by playing the Good Spouse, Bad Spouse game
a little too handily, but even with the obvious flaws in both presentation and portrayal
this movie gives the viewer a lot to think about if he or she chooses to do so. If not,
it's always fun to see CYF doing his heart-of-gold characters (as Peter is). The movie
does reach an interesting conclusion as it shows the resolution the four principal
characters find for their lives, and it might not be an ending you expect (or like).
This film has been out of print for quite a while; it still resides on some dusty rental
shelves here and there. If you see a copy, pick it up and give it a watch. It's worth
the time spent just to see that not all of the HK of the '80s was about driving a Rolls
and doing bad karaoke versions of "Stayin' Alive".
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