There are few movies that was made in the silver age of Hong Kong Cinema that no one noticed when it was released but turns out to be a gem. This is one of them. There are five women, and four stories going on at the same time. Jenny (Maggie Chuen) is a movie star, but she sidelines as a prostitute only outside Hong Kong. Ling-Yu (Elsie Chan), and Shan-Shan (Carrie Ng) are room mates. They work at a night club as a hostess, and also prostitutes. Fei Fei (Siu Chin Ha) is a teen ager who has a step father who's a pervert. She runs away from home after he tries to rape her, and shacks up with a pimp named Bobby. He of course makes her "work". Mei Feng (Bo Bo Feng) is a house wife with a husband who need's kidney dialysis. She prostitutes under the name Tsui Tsui to get extra money to help his medical situation. The streets of Hong Kong makes a perfect back drop for each of the stories.
What makes this movie so great are the people. They all work so they can support them self and someone in their family. In the orient there's a code in human relation called "yan chin", that people basically care for each other to give support. This movie's plot is filled with it and then some (!) You have to see it to appreciate how well the stories are written. Ling-Yu is looking out for her room mate Shan-Shan who's depressed from time to time. Shan Shan needs to look after her aging mother. Fei Fei need's to look after her preteen sister who've also been seduced by her step father. Mei need's to support her husband and her little son.
Things don't always turn out well in the end, but for sure each tried to love their loved ones as well as they can, and for some, there're glimmers of hope for the future. Here, it's not the two great Hong Kong actors Maggie Chueng and Carrie Ng, but Siu Chin Ha and Elsie Chan who steals the show with their acting. Music by Tsai Han is also well written and perfectly matches the story. Great human drama, and a great Hong Kong movie classic.
