This is a harmless piece of fluff from the Shaw
Brothers. Harmless by societal standards in 1972 in Hong Kong. Today it would
be burnt at the stake. It is directed by Korean, Kim Soo-yong, who only made
one other Shaw film, Flower in the Rain. I expect he was much more successful
in Korea with over one hundred director credits. This is easy watching and
looks nice and glossy with a few scenes of Hong Kong that are great but it
is very silly. It stars Ling Yun who went ably back and forth between martial
arts films and other genres and the perky and a little too plump, Li Ching.
She is quite adorable here playing a high school girl (though in real life
she was 23) with her engaging smile and short hair all swirled up. She was
very popular at the time. She died tragically a few years back.
Granny pulls that old tried and true trick
- pretend you are on death's door and ask your granddaughter, Zhenzhen (Li
Ching) and her boyfriend to get married. They do. He is a teacher in Hong
Kong, she is a high school student. Age is never mentioned so let us be kind
and assume she started late. They move to his apartment on his teacher's
salary. It is huge. A living room the size of a basketball court, a study,
a kitchen, a bedroom with two separate beds (did they have the same code
we did?) and a terrace overlooking the harbor. I can't even imagine what
that would cost today. They pretend to be brother and sister - because she
looks fifteen. I had no idea the custom in Hong Kong was for everyone just
to walk into your unlocked apartment without knocking - but everybody does.
At nookie time the door is locked. When Zhenzhen sees the two beds, she blushes.
She decides to enroll in his high school.
Complications arise. Every girl student wants a piece of the studly Lin (Ling
Yung) as does the librarian (Ou-yang Sha-fei). The male students want Zhenzhen
as does one of the teachers (Chang Pei-shan) who professes his love for her.
This is some high school. It would have made a great Shaw Erotic film. Except
it isn't. All squeaky clean as a newly washed whistle. Jealousies arise,
secrets exposed and basically nothing happens. I would say for Li Ching
fans only.
