All About Ah Long
Yeung Ah Long: Chow Yun-Fat (Hong Kong Film Award, Best Actor 1989)
Sylvia Poon/PorPor: Sylvia Chang
Porky: Wong Kwan Yuen
Director: Johnny To
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098694
Version reviewed: DVD
Ratings:
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DVD Audio: 7 of 10
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DVD Video: 7 of 10
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Subtitles: 7 of 10
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Story: 10 of 10
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Performances: 9 of 10
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CYF: 10 of 10
A brilliant portrayal by Chow Yun-Fat makes a good script into a
truly great film, a heart-rending story of love and redemption.
Chow Yun-Fat is cast as Yeung Ah Long, a former motorcycle racer who
is reduced to working in a quarry, driving a truck. Ten years
earlier he had lived the life of a wastrel, womanizing, drinking and
beating his pregnant girlfriend. As if in repayment of his heinous
actions Ah Long was involved in a terrible motorcycle accident while
gleefully trying to outrun the police and he is injured to the point
that he can no longer ride competitively.
While in jail for this escapade, Ah Long learns that his girlfriend
PorPor has borne him a son, but the child has been placed in an orphanage
and she has emigrated to the United States. After his release, he
finds the child and goes about trying to put a life together for
himself and his son in the ghastly slums of 1980s Hong Kong.
A chance encounter brings PorPor back into the life of Ah Long and
to the son whom she was told had died at birth. Living a somewhat
sterile existence, PorPor seems at first to be reluctant to let any
part of her past intrude upon her new, orderly life but the pull of
the past is strong though she fights it all the way.
Chow Yun-Fat's portrayal of Ah Long is an amazing piece of work.
Though this is a deeply flawed man, his basic humanity shines
through.
The relationship of Ah Long and his son is the one thing
in Ah Long's life in which he will not allow compromise; for each
sin he has committed in the past he seems to be willing to pay a
thousandfold in his love and sacrifice for his son. In return he is
adored, even for all his faults, and it is clear that the love of
the boy is the one thing which has given Ah Long continued reason to
live after he has lost everything else.
Sylvia Chang's performance is very good; while both her part and
her performance are eclipsed by that of Chow Yun-Fat, she is
believable as the frozen PorPor who suffers as much in her own way
as Ah Long. There has been some criticism of PorPor as being too
Westernized but I think perhaps this criticism overlooks the fact
that the character left not only Hong Kong behind, but her entire
previous existence; as such the thoroughly Westernized, successful
but unhappy businesswoman PorPor has become seems natural. It is as
far from her passionate, painful days with Ah Long as she could run.
The setting of this film is unrelentingly realistic. The squalor in
which Ah Long and his son live is presented without apology; the
only thing which prevents the surroundings from becoming
overwhelming is the relationship between Ah Long and his son, which
transcend their environment. The humor is crude, the emotion raw.
This is a film about human lives without the candied veil of
Hollywood drawn across the camera lens. There is no sterile
emptiness here of the typical American ghetto stereotype, but a
teeming rancor which is unsettling.
The score for the film is minimal but beautiful; the "Ah Long Love
Song", which is played during an upbeat portion of the film, adds a
soft glow to the scene; it was nominated as Best Song at the Hong
Kong Film Awards. The cinematography is fresh and original;
difficult interior scenes are skillfully handled and the outdoor
scenes, especially of the Macau Grand Prix motorcycle race, are
exciting with an appropriate haze over them which communicates mood.
This is a fine film for anyone, excepting perhaps small children; there
are disturbing scenes of domestic violence and dire poverty which
might not be suitable. A beautiful and sensitive look at how hard
it can sometimes be just to be human, All About Ah Long will leave
all but the most jaded in tears.
All About Ah Long was written by Sylvia Chang and Chow Yun-Fat. This
is the first of his major writing credits, the other being on Peace Hotel.
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