Film Review: La Comédie Humaine

The film La Comédie Humaine is a Hong Kong comedy film, released in 2010 summer. It is produced by Amy Chin and Chan Hing Kai, written and directed by Chan Hing Kai and Janet Chun. It features Chapman To, Wong Cho Lam, Fiona Sit, Kama Lo and Hui Shiu Hung. It premiered at the 34^th Hong Kong International Film Festival and the 12^th Udinese Far East Film Festival.

The story is about a killer Seeto Spring Migration (played by Chapman To), who is on a mission in Hong Kong with his partner Setting Sun (played by Hui Shiu Hung), realising his friendship with a screenwriter Soya (played by Wong Cho Lam), when he is sick and taken care by Soya. They also go to a film company to write a story about killer. On the other hand, Soya has a psychotic girlfriend, called Sky Love (played by Fiona Sit), who always hits Soya when he treats her well. Besides, Spring also meets a 16-year pregnant teenager Maggie Chan (played by Kama Lo), who hires Spring to kill herself, but finally he saved her and her baby’s lives. At the end of the story, Spring and Setting Sun disappear from the film screen in the cinema.

This film is to explore the relationship between film and the real world. The producer, director and screenwriter Chan Hing Kai described film as our best friend, and wanted to demolish the thoughts of local film deceiving audience into watching movies in the cinema.

The emphatic line in the movie is “after all, does the film influence us the killers, or we the killers influence the film, or it is an inter-influence?”. The film uses killers as a metaphor to talk about film industry. For instance, in the beginning scene, the two killers are walking on the beach. Spring’s soliloquy indicates that it is film which makes the image of killer. The name of Setting Sun was Rising Sun, which changed Blazing Sun, and finally Setting Sun in these two years. He also mentions the killer industry has become sunset industry. These all represent the film industry has developed from growth to flourishing age to the decline in these few years. 

 

Moreover, the two scenes of burlesques illustrate two major pressures on Hong Kong film industry. One is the Mainland film, another one is the Hollywood. Mainland film has become one of the main competitors to the local film. It leads many local films to cooperate with the Mainland. Another strain is that many good local directors have gone to Hollywood to continue their career. One of them is the famous John Woo Yu Sen. 

At the end, although the two killers disappear from the movie screen, Spring comes back and join Soya and Maggie Chan to watch the film. This illustrates that film is released to the real world to asks many question as well as answers many problems. Film is not the reality, but the beautified world, our desire. Spring represents the hope brought from film. Although Soya and Maggie Chan do not know each other, through the medium film, they share the laughter, the sadness and all the emotions. 

Reference:

呂, 瑋宗. "人間喜劇 喜樂人間." Wenweipo [Hong Kong] 6 July 2010, 副刊 sec. Paper.wenweipo.com. WENWEIPO.COM LIMITED, 6 July 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://paper.wenweipo.com/2010/07/06/OT1007060001.htm>.

譚, 以諾. "如佬般的殺手：《人間喜劇》帶來的救贖？." Rev. of 人間喜劇. 電影新人類. Hong Kong Film Critics Society. Hong Kong Arts Development Council, 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. <http://www.filmcritics.org.hk/電影評論/電影新人類/如佬般的殺手︰《人間喜劇》帶來的救贖？>.

"La Comedie Humaine: Chinese Detailed Information." Hong Kong Films' Web. Ed. Hong Kong Films' Web. Hong Kong Internet Ventures. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. <http://www.hkfilms.com/Films/2010/ComedieHumaine/ChiDetails.shtml>.

Cheung Sze Wai

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