Movie Review: Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人

*Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人 opens with a scene so refreshingly crass and trashy that I thought it was 1994 all over again.*

*A young man is auditioning for a ‘duck club’ in Shenzen.*

*He displays his central qualification to the (female) boss’ discerning eye, and without blinking any of his own, nonchalantly grabs up a tube of lubricant (named after the postal abbreviation for an American state) and shows that he is capable of rising to the situation totally  sans inspiration.*

*He hangs his hopes and dreams on this peg, and its apparently capable of carrying the weight.*

After that, things reallyget sleazy.

Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人 is a story of a group of housewives who decide that what’s good for the gander is good for the goose.

When speaking of geese, gander is the male of the species, goose the female.

This aviary metaphor is necessary (?), since female sex workers are known colloquially as chickens, and male sex workers as ducks.

Men in HK (and China, let’s not lie about it) ‘call chicken’ (i.e. bang hookers) with alarming ease and regularity.

Less common is the gender-reverse. However, progress being what it is, more and more women are availing themselves of the horizontal refreshment industry as clients rather than employees.

*Our story quickly unfolds (undresses?); the women discover that their husbands are unfaithful and decide to ‘f@#$ back,’ as it were.*

*They take a trip to a city-not-named-in-dialogue, a charming concession to self-censorship in a film with virtually no chance of playing ‘up above.’*

*Because if they don’t say it in this movie, no one will know there’s a thriving sex industry in SHENZEN CHINA.*

*There are no prostitutes in the workers paradise. Just ask the Party!*

*All those chickens in HK that speak Mandarin are from Taiwan.*

*Because Taiwan is the whore of the West, even though it belongs to China.*

*Whatever.*

In its own sleazy way, **Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人**** is very refreshing: a film about (and full of) sex, that takes place at least 60% of the time in China proper, and studiously avoids gobbling the China Market Knob.**

Of course, sex isn’t allowed in China-friendly films.

Obviously  sexis allowed in China.

But people aren’t allowed to enjoy it, and certainly must never admit to enjoying it or fail to heap scorn on those who do enjoy it, or simply say they enjoy it.

There’s more to life than sex.

At least, after the start of it.

But never mind.

*The biggest pleasure for me in this film is the screen return of Carrie Ng and Pat Ha, two women who were a part of Hong Kong cinema’s glory years. They are still as captivating as ever, and it is a joy to see them working again.*

*It was even more of a joy to see them take off their clothes and do sex scenes. I’m just easy to please that way.*

*The premise and plot of the film are such that they are required to carry no small amount of cinematic weight, and they do it with ease and grace. They make their characters and the story very believable and, of course, very watchable.*

*The supporting cast also turns in some memorable performances. Some are memorably good, others memorably bad, but I enjoyed myself and was entertained, so I can’t really complain.*

*Don’t get me wrong; *Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人 isn’t going to get Film of the Year in anyone’spolls.****

*But like the recent films of Dennis ‘Dynasty’ Law, it’s just refreshing to see a Hong Kong movie that doesn’t whore itself to China.*

*Part of that appeal is that these films often keep their metaphorical knickers on by being honest, realistic, and truthful, by not sugar-coating people and places and events.*

*Human beings are selfish, crude, lustful, and cruel.*

***Eve* n Chinese people.**

I’ll recommend **Hi, Fidelity/出軌的女人**** .  It’s crass, sleazy, and makes you feel like the people around you are a bunch of untrustworthy scum.**

I feel that way a lot.