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Cast:
Miriam
Yeung
Richie
Ren
Kenny
Bee
Eric
Kot
Lam
Suet
Producer:
Doris
Tse
Jin
Zhongqiang
Director:
Riley
Ip
Score:
 
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ELIXIR
OF LOVE
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Perhaps
the Hong Kong film industry is the only place you'd find a big
budget romantic comedy featuring a love interest whose body
odour is so nauseating that people literally faint when they
come into contact with her. Of course, even if other
film-makers have tackled the premise, few would have used one
of their industry's most popular actresses in the said role.
'Elixir Of Love' also creates interest by combining Miriam
Yeung with the highly-prized Riley Ip, director of the superb
'Just One Look', and popular singer Richie Ren.
Although
the Emperor has been blessed with a large family of sons, he
yearns for a daughter to cherish and eventually marry off.
When his wife gives birth to a baby girl, he is naturally
overjoyed and has his royal messenger sent throughout the
kingdom with the good news. Moments later, though, the
midwives discover that the little girl is cursed with a
powerful stench - something that is later diagnosed by the
royal physician (Bee) as a severe body odour disorder.
Although she grows up into a beautiful woman (Yeung), the
princess is sadly quarantined and even her royal aides are
forced to wear masks due to the smell. Distressed by seeing
his daughter's hopes of marriage disappear, the Emperor sends
out a royal decree that anyone who can cure the disorder will
marry into the royal family. Though the invitation is
initially answered by all of the kingdom's greatest medical
minds, it is lowly a botanist (Ren) who manages to pass the
rigorous tests and is now given the chance to cure the
princess. Before he perfects his botanical cure he decides to
try it out on some particularly malodorous fishmongers and
their friend Heung. Everyone is unaware, though, that Heung is
in fact the princess in disguise and she uses the stench of
the fish stall as a cover for her own malady.
There's
only so many times you can derive humour from body odour and
bemused looking bystanders passing out due to the vicious
stench. This line of humour dries up fairly early on during
'Elixir Of Love's duration. However, while lesser directors
may have made this awkward gimmick their centrepiece, Ip tries
to take a slightly more sophisticated approach - well, as
sophisticated as the earthy plot allows. That's not to say
that 'Elixir Of Love' is a success, but it is a softer, more
welcome kind of romantic comedy than some of the recent hits
of Hong Kong.
No
matter what opinions there may be regarding Miriam Yeung,
there's no doubt that her attempts to work with a variety of
intriguing directors is to be commended. Wilson Yip, Derek
Chiu and now Riley Ip are given their big-budget opportunities
and, although all three have produced far better works before,
their respective efforts were all competent. 'Elixir Of Love'
passes the time adequately, but there's little doubt that it
fails to stretch Riley Ip's creative excellence and doesn't
even rank as one of Miriam Yeung's best. The difficulty is
that the general storyline is not sufficient to keep the 100
minute running time entertaining; despite a few sub-plots,
there is still a feeling that the idea would be better suited
to a half-hour show rather than a feature film. Though Miriam
Yeung and Richie Ren are an engaging couple, the route the
story takes is all too predictable - a fact that adds to the
weaknesses in the story. As it meanders on, 'Elixir Of Love'
has the obvious signs of a film being stretched mercilessly
beyond its full potential.
As
was noted earlier, there is a certain humanity in the romance
of the lead couple that does help to neutralise the pedestrian
narrative. Although even the most charismatic stars would
struggle to make this anything more than diverting, it still
helps that Yeung and Ren have their own pleasing charm. Yeung
revels in the 'beautiful yet flawed' characters she always
plays and Heung is undoubtedly a challenging addition to the
canon. Of course, though her obnoxious smell is emphasised for
comic effect, nobody mentions her peculiar Ringo Starr
haircut! Riley Ip is a film-maker who is very important for
the future development of Hong Kong cinema; his own, unique
style and directorial nuances have been expertly displayed in
'Metade Fumaca' and 'Just One Look'. 'Elixir Of Love'
seems to be a production where Ip's heart is not fully in his
work as it lacks that care and attention that his other work
exhibited. Nevertheless, there is a certain subtlety that he
brings to the initially crude narrative that shows the
abilities he obviously has; it's very hard to imagine Vincent
Kok or Raymond Yip moving on from the ludicrous illness that
Heung is afflicted with.
'Elixir
Of Love' is a disappointment for Riley Ip's followers and
Miriam Yeung fans. Neither of the two offer their best work in
this romantic comedy. Where the film does succeed is in its
impressive production design and its periodic concentration on
subtle romance, a feature that means that the love between the
main characters is much more effective than it should be.
While there is only ever going to be a limited amount of
entertainment for non-Cantonese speakers to be derived from
the parochial humour of these period comedies, 'Elixir Of
Love' is fractionally more enjoyable than the premise implies.
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