Josephine Siao Fong-fong Movies
Corey Yuen Kwai and David Lai Tai-wai team up once again to direct this yarn about Fan Sau-tin (Josephine Siao Fong-fong), a middle-aged cop and mahjong fanatic who flees Hong Kong for mainland China when her gambling debts grow too huge and the mob comes to collect. There she realizes that she needs to get married and quick to stay in the country. Gambling ace Quick-hands (Zhao Wenzhou), who is looking to move to Hong Kong to make pots of money there as a card sharp and to avoid the mainland mob, offers his hand in marriage. Unfortunately, not only can neither stand the other's company but Fan and Quick's own personal entanglements are making their marriage of convenience a whole lot more complicated than either reckoned: Fan's suitor / debt collector Blackie (Blackie Ko Shou-liang) is starting to poke around while Quick's love -- a beautiful young lass named Kwan (Desiree Lam Kee-wan) -- is hoping to see Paris before she dies tragically of brain cancer and he doesn't have the money to buy it. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josephine Siao Fong-fong, Zhao Wenzhuo, (more)
- 1996
The title phrase refers to the crossing of lines. In Cantonese opera, an actor who literally becomes his or her character, leaving all sense of the original self behind is said to have crossed the imaginary hu-du-men. This comedy drama centers on Lang Kim-sum (portrayed by one of Hong Kong's finest actresses, Josephine Siao Fong-fong), a much-loved opera star and owner of a distinguished theatrical troupe who finds herself faced with many lines to cross as she prepares to retire and move to Australia with her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
In this Hong Kong comedy drama a father's illness brings him closer to his daughter-in-law. May is married with a teenage son. She works as an executive in a trading company. After her mother-in-law drops dead from a stroke, she and her husband, Sun Bing, reluctantly take in Old Sun, a former air force lieutenant (none of his other children will take him). The family is immediately thrown into turmoil as they try to deal with Sun's strange behavior. He frequently wanders away, acts strangely, and suffers from rapid personality changes alternating between a child-like and extremely irritable state. They finally get medical help after they catch him eating a soap sandwich. The old man is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. May must now balance her career, her family and Sun's needs. She tries hard, but eventually the strain is too much for her. They must place Old Sun in a nursing home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Starring the fabulous Jet Li, this incredible historical epic with its deft blend of high drama, slapstick, and more subtle forms of comedy coupled with breathtaking martial-arts action represents Hong Kong -- filmmaking at its very best. The story contains many serpentine twists and a complex mixture of plots and subplots. The story is set during the Manchu dynasty in Canton. Li plays Sai Yuk, a courageous young martial-arts expert who is the very best around, as can be seen in the opening kung-fu matches. Those he beats swear vengeance, and a chaotic fight breaks out. All involved, including Sai Yuk, end up in jail. Sai Yuk's father is most displeased. Later Tiger Lei, a local official, decrees that whoever can beat his wife, Siu Huan, in a match will win his daughter Ting Ting's hand in marriage. Lei then builds an enormous scaffold on which the combatants will fight; the first fighter to touch the ground loses. Sai Yuk gladly takes on the feisty mother. Unfortunately, after seeing the homely woman he takes to be Ting Ting, Sai Yuk decides to lose the fight. His own wild and crazy mother is mortified by the potential loss of face. To save the family honor, she masquerades as Sai Yuk's brother, Tai Yuk, and beats the tar out of Siu Huan. Unfortunately, Lei insists that the victor honor the marriage contract, something complicated by the fact that Siu Huan finds Tai Yuk irresistibly handsome. While that mess gets untangled, another brews when the family learns that patriarch Fong is a member of the notorious rebel Red Lotus Society, a group the governor has vowed to destroy with the help of Tiger Lei. Back again to the romantic travails, after much confusion, Sai Yuk and Ting Ting agree to marry and begin preparing for their wedding. They hold a pre-nuptial feast, one that the governor attends. Chop-socky chaos ensues resulting in the accidental shooting of Siu Huan and the capture of the elder Fong. This leaves the son to figure out how to save his father from losing his head to the vengeful official. The story's climax involves a major confrontation between the governor, Sai-Yuk, his lady, his crazy mother, and a town full of irate citizens. A sequel, Fong Sai-Yuk 2, followed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jet Li, Josephine Siao Fong-fong, (more)
- 1993
- R
Following up on his award-winning look at blue-collar life in Hong Kong in Cageman, Jacob Cheung directs this well-crafted comedy-drama featuring comedian Michael Hui. With his eccentric wife growing ever more lonely and his kids growing ever more resentful, workaholic television newscaster Chang Yau-wai (Hui) is already burning the candle at both ends. One day while on the air, he suffers from abdomen pains so severe that he needs to be helped off camera. The doctor confirms his fears -- intestinal cancer. Predicted to have only three or so months to live, Chang hatches a scheme to leave his family well off after he dies while keeping the seriousness of his condition from them. Back on air, he becomes a super-reporter -- nabbing a robbery suspect single-handedly on camera. With his ratings through the roof, Chang gets his salary doubled and carte blanche to do whatever he wants on-air. As the money, acclaim, and celebrity endorsement offers come pouring in, Chang learns that there is an experimental operation that might, might, save his life. Does he die quietly giving his family more money than they could possible even need or does he try to save his life? ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Hui
- 1987
In this comedy, when he returns from a prolonged ocean voyage, a sailor discovers that his wife has left and has rented their apartment to another woman. This new tenant is an "old maid" by local standards and is somewhat set in her ways. He has also been left with the care of his daughter. Despite his desire to strike out on his own, he must stay in his old apartment in order to take care of his daughter. The next blow comes when, in the divorce proceedings, it looks like he will lose custody of his daughter. Meanwhile, the old maid and the sailor have discovered a real tenderness for one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ng, Josephine Siao Fong-fong, (more)
- 1982
John Woo directed this third film in a series about the bumbling, working-class, tomboy heroine Lam Ah-chun, or in this instance, Plain Jane (Josephine Siao, aka Siao Fong Fong), a role Siao first played in a television series. Lam is hired as an assistant to the aging owner of the Zanda Corporation, an expanding conglomerate that is on the verge of swallowing up most of Hong Kong. Before this fateful job, she had unsuccessfully tried to hold down a few other positions: a road painter and a stunt woman among them, but had fumbled her way out of employment. Now the son of the Zanda conglomerate's owner has a plan to kidnap his father, take over the company, and then move on to the rest of the world. The heroine's devoted and love-struck sidekick (Ricky Hui) joins her in going after the evil son. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josephine Siao Fong-fong, Ricky Hui, (more)
- 1980
Originally titled Zhuang Dao Zheng, the mildly satiric The Spooky Bunch takes place in the Chinese city of Cheung Chau. A Cantonese opera company arrives to present a show for the benefit of a wealthy and influentual patriarch. Both the actors and their benefactor are plagued by pesky theatrical ghosts, led by a female spirit whose name cannot be repeated in polite company (it has something to do with feline feces). One of the actresses, Josephine Siao, discovers that the ghosts are seeking vengeance for crimes committed by the patriarch's ancestors. Written with tongue comfortably in cheek by Joyce Chan, The Spooky Bunch received its first non-Chinese showing at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
