Wa wa fu ren

So it turns out that Shaw Brothers also made some romantic comedies amid the usual blood and guts kung fu and historical romps. Guess which ones I prefer? As such I found this film a bit tedious, although there's nothing particularly wrong with it. It's an achingly superficial production in which the pretty Li Ching plays a student who falls in love with and marries her teacher. Ethics aside, the rest sees her fending off the attentions of male students while her husband fends off the attentions of female students. The only fun I got from this was from spotting a few faces from Shaw's other movies in supporting roles.

This is a farce with a really silly premise: Under false pretenses, Zhenzhen marries Mr. Lin, who happens to be her teacher. She wants to still study and wants to enroll in his school in Hong Kong. The head of the school agrees to this under the condition that they conceal the fact that they are married. Zhenzhen finds out right away that her husband is fawned over by the girls, they all have a crush on him, as also does the spinster librarian. However, Mr. Lin finds that that the boys in the school (they are late teens, 17 or so) really like Zhenzhen. This leads to hurt feelings, questions about fidelity and even, in Zhenzhen's case, innocuous dates with one of the boys who rides a motorcycle. Before you dismiss this as an elaborate sitcom episode (like Three's Company set in Hong Kong), you have to consider that Li Cheng plays Zhenzhen. She is absolutely adorable, a very pretty actress who was a fairly big star in Hong Kong in the 70's. This film could have been a vehicle for Grace Chang in the late 50's. Li Cheng has a flair for comedy and is right at home here. She alone is a reason to watch this. The film is nonsense, but fun nonsense. Really just a cute comedy from the Shaw Brothers, its not essential but its a fun date movie. I think if you like this kind of film, you'll enjoy it.