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Hong Kong Film Archive's (HKFA) "Morning Matinee" next month will screen four "city comedies" by renowned comedy director Mok Hong-si, starring popular 1960s actress Ting Ying.
The four films: "Queen of Tea House", "Three Love Affairs", "Happy Couples" and "Woman's Affairs" will be shown at 11am on March 4, 11, 18 and 25 respectively at the Cinema of the HKFA. The screenings are in Cantonese without English subtitles.
Ting Ying assumes the queen's title in the kingdoms of her reign - a tea house and a factory. "Queen of Tea House" (1965) is a romantic comedy with a Hong Kong touch, in which the young lovers' pursuit of their dream is impeded by the rich, the deceitful and the oppressive, the latter in the form of a greedy mother.
With a Chinese title that translates as "Queen of the Factory", "Three Love Affairs" (1963) is a celebration of the women who constituted a new work force in the Hong Kong of the 1960s. The film features workers who pose as rich folk in order to land a spouse of higher social standing - a situation comedy full of real life's touches.
"Happy Couples" (1962) is a story of marriage, jealousy and trust. The newlyweds, Ting Ying and Woo Fung, are neighbours to Cheung Yee and his wife of seven years. To land a job as the manager's secretary in Cheung's office, Ting must keep her marital status under wraps. But she is not the only liar. Cheung has been keeping a mistress and a son behind his wife's back long before he got the seven-year itch. Needless to say, secrets are discovered under the most unlikely of circumstances.
"Woman's Affairs" (1961) is another romantic comedy set in the familiar confines of a cramped tenement apartment where friendship and love, fate and hate collide. Factory worker Ting Ying reunites with ex-coworker Man Oi-lan, who becomes the manager's mistress in lieu of debts owed by her mother. Endlessly bickering over trivial matters, Ting and neighbour Lam Kar-sing have no idea they are in fact pen friends and soulmates who have never met. Odd coincidences and neurotic events bring out plenty of harsh reality but also humour and wit for redemption.
Tickets priced at $20 for the films are available now at URBTIX outlets. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Credit card bookings can be made at 2111 5999, or on the Internet at www.urbtix.hk .
For enquiries, please call 2739 2139/2734 2900 or browse the website: www.filmarchive.gov.hk or www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp .
Ends/Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Issued at HKT 19:01
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