The Temptation of Office
Ladies
Director: Ricky Lau
Year: 2000
Rating: 5.5
Even though this title has a slightly pornographic
ring to it- it instead falls within the tradition of many HK films that deal
with the lives of single women living in the big city. Like some earlier films
(Why Wild Girls, Modern Love, Modern Romance) it follows in the footsteps
of three women who are concerned primarily with two troublesome issues –
money and men. They have too little of the former and too much of the latter.
It’s particularly an odd title though when you consider that there are no
office ladies in the film and very little temptation – unless it was to fast
forward at times!
It’s basically a frivolous little low budget film, but it also attempts occasionally
to interject some serious subject matters – the death of a child and gang
rape – but does so in such a clumsy and ill conceived manner that it really
hurts what little charm the film had going for it. For example, at one point
a boyfriend of one of the girls has uninvited sex with another of the girls
who has passed out from drinking. Later through her foggy memory she asks
him ”Did you touch me” to which he giggles. End of issue. What does make
the film enjoyable at times is simply the comradery of the characters and
solid performances from the three women.
The three young women – Jo Jo (Lam Hung-Yi), Ida (Claire Yiu) and Mon (Pinky
Cheung) live together in a small Hello Kitty festooned apartment and try
to get through life as well as they can. Jo Jo works at a bar where she has
to play “fist games” all night long leading to her usually being drunk by
evenings end. Ida has a good for nothing boyfriend who wants only to laze
about and live off her meager earnings. Mon doesn’t seem to do much of anything
except live off the favors of sympathetic men. At one point, she pouts enough
to get one man to buy her an expensive watch, but as soon as he is out of
the room she is on the phone calling another male friend. She tells him that
she was forced to buy this expensive watch because he wouldn’t do so. He
immediately agrees to compensate her to which she gives a rousing victory
cheer! Apparently these manipulative skills are enough to qualify as the
stockbroker that she later becomes!
For the most part, the male species comes in for a ten round thrashing in
this film. Liars, boors, rapists, cheats are only a few of the bad characteristics
that the men in this film have. The message here seems to be – if you see
a man, squash it!
Perhaps the only reason to see this film is for the performance of the actress
who plays Jo Jo. Lam Hung-Yi, a Taiwanese model, whether in long hair
or short - absolutely sizzles in this film like bacon on a burning grill.
When she walks into a room she exudes sexual heat like a leaking radioactive
plant ready to explode. This also turned out to be her last Hong Kong film
it seems.
Veteran character actor Billy Lau shows up for a while as an extremely
dislikable fellow and Ben Lam makes a short cameo as well.