Ah Kam - Stuntwoman
 
Director: Ann Hui
Year: 1996
Rating: 6.0
Being a huge Michelle Yeoh fan, I had been greatly looking forward to seeing this film. A non-action film that would showcase her acting skills, but I must confess that it turned out to be a disappointment. The movie starts off with great promise as Michelle shows up on a HK movie set and gets a job as a stuntwoman. At this point I thought the movie would be an interesting, fascinating, insightful and funny look at the way movies are made in Hong Kong. Certainly a subject that would be a pleasure to explore. And maybe have a happy ending with Michelle becoming a big star. It was a joy ... for about 20 minutes . . . as we see how stunts are done and enjoy the camaraderie of the film crew (Sammo Hung being one of them) , but then unfortunately the director Ann Hui switches gears and goes down some very dreary plot lines.



There was a love interest (Jimmy Wong) provided for Michelle, but there was zero chemistry between the two of them and no point to the romance that I could gather. Then later a gang starts beating up on the movie crew for reasons I could never quite comprehend but I expect they wanted “tip money”. At the time the triads had become involved in the film business as a source of money or else.  There is a child that is as irritating as acid being poured down your throat that Michelle looks after. And it goes downhill from there to a pretty inconclusive, downbeat ending.



The pacing of the movie was, also, terribly slow with numerous lingering incidental shots that added nothing to the story or the characters. Michelle does a good job but her character is so passive at times, such a victim that it was annoying to watch her. This isn't the Michelle that we all love. Basically it seems to have had no focus and no idea what kind of movie it wanted to be. Sammo as the tough but kind action director, is a bright spot as he gives a very personable performance.



It was difficult watching the stunt off the bridge knowing that Michelle was really badly hurt doing it and during the credits they, unfortunately I feel, showed her in the aftermath writhing in pain.  It felt like sick voyeurism, as I certainly have no desire to see Michelle in terrible pain. Ann Hui is a great director but she seems to have been in a down point with a few of her less interesting and now nearly forgotten films – My American Grandson,  Boy and His Hero, Summer Snow, Eighteen Springs and As Time Goes By. She bounced back in 1999 with Ordinary People and then Visible Secret and July Rhapsody. A topnotch cast here with Sammo, Michelle, Ken Lo, Lawrence Lau, Mang Hoi, Nick Cheung, Kent Cheng, Rain Lau, Crystal Kwok, Richard Ng and Damian Lau.