Anita
Director: Longmond Leung
Year: 2021
Rating: 7.5
Anita arrived in Bangkok this week
and I went today to watch it. It was a completely empty theater. The better
I told myself to shed a few tears. Which I did at certain points in the film.
The movie arrived with its share of controversy that has left a bad taste
in the mouth of many. Not so much for what was in the film but for what was
left out. It is a sanitized and de-politicized version of the life of Anita
Mui; actress, singer, fashion setter, philanthropist, good friend to so many,
mentor to others, political activist and the heart of Hong Kong. Her death
at 40 years old from cancer was a body blow to the city on top of a year
of SARS and the suicide of her friend Leslie Cheung who was equally loved.
There is no mention of her famous glorious protest song about Tiananmen Square
or her assistance in the escape of many of the dissidents from that massacre.
If she was alive today we know she would not be kowtowing to the psychopaths
in Beijing as the toadies in Hong Kong like Jackie Chan, Jordan Chan, Big
Tony, Alan Tam and others shamefully do.
Including those aspects of her life would be impossible today in Hong Kong
with the heavy censorship and the watchful eye of the government up North
who even fear every negative tweet no matter where it is made. The film never
even mentions that Leslie Cheung was gay and made little mention of the poverty
that Anita grew up with. This practically makes Anita into a saint. Saint
Anita. Though to me she will always be Wonder Woman from The Heroic Trio.
I adored Anita while she was alive and I still mourn her all these years
later.
But I knew all this going into the theater. And I made up my mind that I
would just not worry about that or let it put me off. I would just focus
on Anita, sanitized or not. Glory in her voice. Her life. Her success. Her
affection for Hong Kong. Perhaps it is a shame that this wasn't made a few
years ago when aspects of her life could have been included but this is what
we have. And for me it was enough really. What it does do and what was not
censored out was her love for the city she grew up in, that loved her as
she loved it. Towards the end of the film as she is nearing her death Hong
Kong becomes central to her life. Earlier around 1997 she is asked if she
will emigrate to Canada as so many were and she replies "Never. I will never
leave Hong Kong".
The actress who plays her - Louise Wong - does a wonderful job. There are
moments and scenes where she looks so much like Anita with those heartbreaking
eyes of hers, the red lipsticked lips and her hair styles that it stung and
made me catch my breath. The film begins in her childhood as she and her
older sister Ann began to perform songs in local events. Ann had a small
career in films and also died of cancer a few years before Anita did. Anita
is discovered in her teens and wins a big talent contest and it is basically
career-wise smooth sailing from there as she won award after award. Her music
and deep voice is terrific. Listen to the theme song of Heroic Trio for a
taste. Her love life did not go as well and she never married, never found
the love of her life - perhaps Leslie was the closest thing.
Her career in film mysteriously gets little mention - Rouge and Justice My
Foot are the only two films picked out. No one would realize that she was
a huge movie star as well making comedies, romances and action films. Most
of us from the West discovered her first in films like Miracles, A Better
Tomorrow III, Shanghai Shanghai, Drunken Master II, Heroic Trio, Rumble in
the Bronx, My Father is a Hero, Magic Crane and Saviour of the Soul. Oddly,
in Rouge they make a big deal of her forcing the director to make Leslie
her co-star. I don't get that as Leslie was already a huge star by then after
A Better Tomorrow and Chinese Ghost Story. The film was a big hit in Hong
Kong and I think the reason why other than their love for the subject is
that even with the censorship and cleaning it up, it still has the spirit
of Hong Kong. They could not diminish that. And it is still Anita and for
a little over two hours we can revel in our affection for her. If you have
no personal emotional investment in Anita, I can't imagine this would have
much resonance for you. It would likely feel like a bloated, very pretty,
very generic bio-pic - which on one level it is. But for those who are emotionally
invested, it gives you a big hug of nostalgia and memories. At a time when
Hong Kong is once again going through bad times, a reminder of Anita's grit,
determination, kindness and resolve is not a bad thing.
