All's Well, Ends Well

Not to be confused with All's Well That Ends Well.
All's Well, Ends Well
Directed by Clifton Ko
Produced by Clifton Ko
Raymond Wong
Written by Vincent Kok
Choi Ting-Ting
Roman Cheung
Eric Yeung
Starring Stephen Chow
Maggie Cheung
Leslie Cheung
Music by Violet Lam
Cinematography Lee Kin-Keung
Edited by Kam Ma
Distributed by Mandarin Films Ltd.
Release dates
 25 January 1992
Running time
 100 min
Country Hong Kong
Language Cantonese

All's Well, Ends Well (Chinese: 家有囍事; pinyin: Jiā Yǒu Xǐ Shì; Cantonese Yale: Ga Yau Hei Si) is a 1992 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Clifton Ko. The film stars Stephen Chow with Maggie Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Raymond Wong, Sandra Ng, and Teresa Mo.

All's Well, Ends Well was a Lunar New Year film, where a film's release was timed to coincide with the larger movie audience at that time of year. The movie is also one of Stephen Chow's trademark 'mo lei tau' films of little sense but lots of good-natured humor, and is still considered to be a cult classic by most Hong Kong audiences.

The film was followed by six sequels:

Cast and roles

[1] [2]

Plot details

"All's Well, Ends Well" is a comic romance of 3 hapless brothers, who eventually learn through their amorous exploits and misadventures that love is only won through gradual nurturing, and quickly lost through the quick, dishonest, selfish ways which they have always taken for granted.

Moon is eldest brother and head of the family. The film begins with the celebration of his 7th anniversary wedding with Tai Sou, which celebration he deserts, preferring instead the company of his mistress (Sheila Chan). He turns up at home with her later, forcing his wife (whom he calls 'hag') to leave the house in dismay. Although she is very devoted to her husband and tolerates him for all his misbehaviors, her tolerance stops short of accepting his mistress openly in the family home.

So (Leslie Cheung) is an effeminate floral arranger and lecturer at an art school, who is good at cooking and enjoys women's hobbies. His second cousin Mo-Seung comes to his house on that same evening, and entirely devours an elaborate gourmet banquet which So had intended as a gift for Tai-Sou on her otherwise disastrous wedding anniversary. From that day on, So and Mo-Seung are constantly at loggerheads over trivial issues, insulting each other with vulgar metaphors during a mahjong game session, apparently irreconcilable.

Foon is a local radio DJ who flirts shamelessly while on air and is well-known among his legion of female fans for his impressive kissing technique. Holli-yuk (Maggie Cheung) calls him on air one day and arranges a date with him. She is an avid Hollywood movie lover who enjoys re-enacting particular love-scenes from movies. She is convinced that Foon shares her romantic outlook and they soon become lovers. Foon, however, is a notorious playboy not eager to settle down. Predictably, Holli-yuk catches him in an act of infidelity. After a freak accident leaves Foon suffering from a mildly debilitating mental illness, Holli-yuk offers to become a nurse for him. Taking advantage of her role as his nurturer, she gleefully devises methods to punish him for his callous behaviour.

The brothers' dilemmas are later resolved in similarly titled sequel films. Each story concludes on a cheeky and high-spirited note.

References

  1. ↑ All's Well, Ends Well at HKMDB
  2. ↑ All's Well, Ends Well at chinesemov.com

External links