Cause We're So Young
Reviewed by YTSL
Around the time that I reached the 100 mark in
terms of my post-1980 Hong Kong movie viewing, I shared my worry that I would
soon run out of watchable works to check out with a vastly more experienced
Hong Kong filmophile. This friend’s reaction was to assure me that
this fear of mine was unfounded. Some 500 movies on, I can attest to
his having been oh so right; and this not least since I continue to find
what I think it not overly generous to consider to be veritable -- even if
small -- gems in the midst of the diverse as well as surprisingly large number
selection of cinematic offerings that come from a hardly humongous home territory
of less than 7 million people.
To my mind, this emotionally wide-ranging romantic comedy-drama -- which
looks to be the least successful at the local box office of all of director
(cum scriptwriter plus frequent supporting actor) Vincent Kuk’s worthy works
-- is one such apparently overlooked (minor) jewel. Perhaps this is
on account of CAUSE WE’RE SO YOUNG’s basic set up -- one that places a trio
of single, male buddies and apartment-mates at its center in much the same
way as the likes of “Tom, Dick and Hairy” -- not being all that novel.
Similarly, the casting of youthful members of the Cantopop world -- i.e.,
singers Leo Koo (who turns in a wonderfully sensitive performance here as
well as in “Task Force”) and Edmund So (in what remains one of only two film
appearances by him) plus musician-composer Mark Lui (whose musical compositions
include the enchanting scores of “The Lovers” and “Green Snake”) -- in an
effort whose focus is on the love quests and travails of twenty-something
year olds can make the 1997 Gordon Chan production appear to be just one
more of a crowd of attempts to emulate the likes of Joe Ma’s popular “Feel
100%” offerings.
In fact, the possibility seems very high that those who elect to check out
this cameo filled (including by Andy Lau along with Jan Lamb, Tats Lau, Law
Kar Ying, Lee Lik Chi and Lee Siu Kei) -- plus pop culture reference heavy
-- movie will discover that it arguably offers a less frivolous outlook and
approach to its admittedly familiar general subject matter than those two
more well known works. This is not to say that CAUSE WE’RE SO YOUNG
does not possess the kind of moments, occasions and spectacles that attest
to its protagonists being truly youthful beings (And of these, the most silly
may well be that which had the characters portrayed by Mark Lui (Paul is
the professional deejay who’s the most playboyish of the movie’s three main
males) and Nicola Cheung (Yung Yung is the lively lass who Paul finds himself
uncommonly attracted to) playing a drinking game that involved Hello Kitty,
Keroppi and Snoopy in a ritzy restaurant; though a visit to a night club
-- whose hostesses include those who had been wishfully named after the likes
of Rosamund Kwan and Carina Lau! -- comes close). Seemingly against
the odds however, it is often admirably able to use many of them to make
rather touching, if not mature, points regarding the nature of those who
are not (yet) jaded with life and the alternately bitter plus sweet romantic
experiences it can offer up.
Take one of the key scenes in which CAUSE WE’RE SO YOUNG distinguishes itself
in such a manner for me: Specifically, that which has Leo Koo’s Au Ka Chuen
breaking down and inconsolably weeping in a way that threatened to break
my heart after realizing that the object of his affection did not perceive
him in the way that he had hoped that she would. At that dramatic juncture
in the not always so serious film, this (re)viewer was not apt to forget
that the first, rather superficial seeming, thing that she had learnt about
this surprisingly -- in light of his being blessed with good looks and an
attractively unassuming personality --inexperienced player of the game called
love pertained to his being a Coke can and model car collector. However,
she was apt to be of the opinion that this facet of his character in no way
trivialized the person and being of the graphic designer by trade.
Indeed, the supplied knowledge that this boy-man filled up his spare time
by doing such -- plus was an expert computer gamer -- actually served to
saliently underscore how much he had been counting on the woman he (thought
he) had been courting to change, and add quality to, his life.
Lest it not be readily apparent: Despite his screen time not being significantly
more than that of Mark Lui or Edmund So (whose staid Choi character is the
least interesting of the three principal ones, and ditto re his relationship
with Gigi Lai’s “An Autumn’s Tale”-loving Mimi vis a vis that of the others
in this offering), Leo Koo -- whose lack of film appearances I am having
some difficulty understanding -- easily steals the show from his co-stars.
In much the same way, Kathy Chow (who plays an alluringly mature femme is
known to the movie’s main personalities as Mrs. Chan) gives a performance
in CAUSE WE’RE SO YOUNG that outshines those of the other females (including
Amy Cheung, whose character has the same first name as the actress) who have
significant parts to play in the (love) lives of Chuen, Paul and Choi.
At the very least, she it was who looks to have conclusively demonstrated
what a “real” -- as opposed to merely (still) budding -- woman is, and why
such a being is liable to occupy the substantial amount of a (heterosexual)
man’s time that was alleged to be the case early on in this engaging work.
My rating for the film: 7.5