To Sir with
Love - Hong Kong style. Which means a lot more machetes and bloodshed. Ah
Wing (Simon Yam) is a killer for the triads. A merciless one. In the opening
scene he takes out a target in a car but that causes a bus full of school
children and the teacher to crash and explode. That image of them helplessly
screaming to get out sticks in his head like a cancerous growth. Later when
his friend is killed by a rival triad gang, he gets revenge on them and goes
to jail. He leaves his friend’s sister, Hung (Anita Yuen) behind who looks
worshipfully upon Wing as a Hero of the Triads. While he is away she becomes
the tough talking punk looking Mamasan of a triad nightclub. When Wing gets
out she is excited about what territory he will take over. I want to be the
wife of Triad Boss. The territory he takes over is as an assistant at a school.
He is done with the triad life. He is tired of killing. Tired of looking
over his shoulder. Tired of chopping and being chopped. Hung says, oh I get
it, you want to recruit the students into a gang. No, I just want to live
a normal life. She is skeptical and keeps wondering what his real purpose
is. She buys him a briefcase and a machete that fits neatly inside.
The school is one of those where they basically
warehouse the students during the day. The teachers have no interest in teaching
and the students have no interest in learning. Symbiosis. They are the trash
class as the principle (Derek Yee) puts it. No one wants to teach them, the
job is yours. They play a few pranks on him and one wannabe triad student
with a chip on his shoulder Kit (John Dang) gets tough on Wing. He turns
the other cheek. Hung doesn't and brings some of her gang to teach them a
lesson. Brother Tiger who runs the neighborhood triad always has his eye
out for talent and he sees potential in Kit. All it takes for Wing to gain
the respect of his class is to save Kit from a gang of machete wielding triads
and taking a few chops for it. Something all teachers are of course willing
to do. Teaching in Hong Kong should get hazard pay.
Now we are
back to To Sir with Love as he inspires them to pass their tests. I expected
one of the girl students to get up and sing. But this being HK, triads still
get involved and there is a need for Simon to go back again to some of his
old skills in a bloody finale. I don't recall Sidney Poitier having to do
that! Solid film with both Simon and Anita giving good performances. John
Ching Tung plays Brother Tiger, Austin Wai is the gunslinger Brother Four,
Lawrence Cheng is the gay manager of the nightclub where Anita works and
Dennis Chan is one of the teachers. It is directed by Joe Cheung (Pom
Pom and Hot Hot) with choreography from Benz Kong and Stephen Tung Wai.
