Merry-Go-Round
- -In a summer holiday, a father (Mr. Kuk) with his children (Ku Fung and Little Kuk-Ku) has decided to open a noodle bar on a 2-month lease. He has great expectations for his noodle business. Kuk Fung quickly falls in love with Carlily (Kuk Fung's friend). Meanwhile, Little Kuk-ku has met a new friend, Wo who is working at the noodle bar. As the vacation is going, the nodle bar has to be closed. Mr Kuk's business performance didn't come up to his expectations, but it ends up with two puppy loves.
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Based on a successful radio play by scriptwriter GC Goo-bi, MERRY-GO-ROUND narrates a tale of first love among Hong Kong’s youth without looking down on the kids.
Where shock excesses and moral messages appeared in previous attempts at translating teen love adventures to the big screen, director Thomas Chow’s drama instead plays it clean for a heartening and utterly streetwise movie experience. Old Kuk kicks off the story when he opens a noodle shop in the summer school break to stop his son Kuk Fung from loitering on the streets. The move is only partly successful: soon the daughter of the shop’s previous owner, Carlily walks in and the boy is instantly smitten. Romance picks up in a whirlwind until Lawrence’s hormones get the better of him as he gets eyes for her sister Heman. Adolescent love tangles ensue… Shot almost completely on the streets of the adjoining Morrison Hill and Happy Valley districts, with brief departures to Japan shot on digital video, a video arcade style boxing showdown and a raucous King of the Street pop culture quiz, Chow’s film manages to craft an endearing universe of fresh love that straddles class distinctions without question and ignores genre staples of sex and drugs. Kuk-fung’s romance even runs parallel to that of younger sister Little Cocoa who finds childhood love with fellow primary school student Locust, a mysterious orphan character with a single set of clothes. Production work offers the polish viewers have come to expect from Hong Kong’s United Film Organization, albeit in a brighter and more spirited guise. Leads Chou and Yang head up a superb young cast, with Zeny Kwok also proving herself a name to look out for in the future. Eric Tsang and veteran actress Helena Law, playing Locust’s grandmother, round out the cast in roles that root the children in reality yet never take time out to preach the wisdom of elders.
Tim Youngs
Thanks to Far East Film Festival