LAN KWAI FONG Review

Wilson Chin's LAN KWAI FONG is the kind of film that just makes you hate watching Hong Kong movies. It is a vacuous, tedious exercise crammed with detestable one-note characters played mostly by models of questionable talent, and a "plot" (and we must use this term very loosely) that is dull, repetitive and frankly goes nowhere. It could be argued that this itself is a comment on Hong Kong's nightclubbing scene, which is often criticized as being unadventurous, overpriced and confined to such a small part of town that you repeatedly run into the same people time and again, but that would be to afford the film intelligence it clearly lacks.

As a young, free-spirited Westerner with a healthy appreciation for alcohol and weekend revelry, Lan Kwai Fong has provided the spinal cord to my social life for over the past decade. A small collection of streets packed to the rafters with bars, clubs and eateries, LKF (as it is known) specializes in catering to expatriates, locals and tourists alike, offering up a varied assortment of hedonistic activities well into the early hours, every night of the year. However, recent years have seen rent prices skyrocket, causing an almost perpetual turnover of club names, themes & décor, while the more sensible business owners move further up the hill to Wyndham Street, Hollywood Road and beyond to escape the economic crush.

For these reasons, it is frustrating to see a film like LAN KWAI FONG, which clearly markets itself as having its finger on the pulse of Hong Kong's fun-loving party scene, feel so dated with its narrow and out of step perception of the neighbourhood. Make no mistake, LKF is still a thriving area, but the continual redevelopment, increasingly bizarre door policies and growing pandering to the tourist market has driven many discerning patrons away. Not, however, in Wilson Chin's fairytale clubland.

His film follows two groups of dedicated partygoers. The ladies are represented by flight attendant Jennifer (Shiga Lin), resident maneater Cat (Dada Chan), and a frustrated club madam, played by Emme Wong. Meanwhile, Sean, Stephen and Jacky (Wong Chung Yiu, Zo & Jason Chan Pak Yu) are all independently wealthy young guys, with vaguely sketched out professions we never hear about except when it serves as a convenient plot device, who likewise spend their nights drinking themselves unconscious and hitting on anything in a pair of heels. Apparently everyone they know flocks to Club Billion every night, so the action rarely moves away from this single location. Of course, it also means the relationships very quickly become incestuous as the same boys meet the same girls time and time again. 

Right from the film's opening, these characters are presented as materialistic, fickle, promiscuous and downright unpleasant, and over the enuing 90 minutes they process through a repetitive stream of parties and one night stands without learning anything of particular value. By the time the film ends, our heroes and heroines have paired off in ways that are supposed to make us gooey inside and reflect perhaps, on our own relationship wiles. We can rest assured these young, successful people have finally learnt that happiness comes not from the bottom of a bottle or from the warmth of a stranger's bed, but from trust, respect and companionship with the one you love. Unfortunately, these people are all little more than obnoxious, self-obsessing loud mouths crowded round a back table I would have no interest in sitting at, in a nightclub I have no interest in visiting. Whether they find their special someone, catch a nasty venereal disease or die cold and lonely in a pool of their own vomit would do nothing to pique my interest in a film that was seemingly more interested in securing the filming venue and liquour sponsors, rather than in telling a story of any interest. Frankly, I've had more entertaining hangovers.