Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and the truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.
Leslie Cheung
Yuddy
Andy Lau
Tide
Maggie Cheung
Su Li-zhen
Carina Lau
Leung Fung-ying
Jacky Cheung
Zeb
Rebecca Pan
Rebecca
Tony Leung
Chow Mo-wan
Maritoni Fernandez
Hotel Maid
Alicia Alonzo
Housekeeper
Tita Muñoz
Yuddy's Mother
Hung Ling-Ling
Nurse
Angela Ponos
Prostitute
Danilo Antunes
Rebecca's Lover
Elena Lim So
Hotel Manageress
Mei-Mei Hung
Amah
Nonong Talbo
Train Conductor
Mama Hung
Director, Writer
Wong Kar-wai
Writer
Jeffrey Lau
February 12, 2023
7
I suppose you might call the dashingly handsome "Yuddy" (Leslie Cheung) a bit of a Lothario. He has good looks and charm, and he sails through life thinking only of himself. His ideal existence comes to a bit of an abrupt halt, though, when his alcoholic courtesan of a mother "Rebecca" (Rebecca Pan) reveals to him in a drunken stupor that she isn't actually his mother at all. The rug has now been pulled from under his cocky feet and he now embarks on a rather self destructive journey to find out just who the real woman is. After an initial relationship with "Su Li-zhen" (Maggie Cheung) he finds himself hooked up with dancer "Mimi" (Carina Lau) but no nearer his ultimate goal. It's only when "Rebecca" decides to set off with her newest beau for a new life that she dispatches "Yuddy" to the Philippines where his answer lies. Meantime, "Su Li-zhen" has again found herself alone after her boyfriend decides to leave his police job and become a sailor. Is it all possible that the two might reconcile? Now, there is definitely something of the episodic - even soap opera - about this film. An unlikable and frankly selfish character seeking his own truth for his own reasons, but to be fair to the director and the writers, they manage to elevate it from the more tabloid and gradually develop the characters into creatures with whom we can, to an extent, empathise. There are façades all over the place, truth and honesty and trust are near, but in shadows - and the use of the dark, rainy, Hong Kong scenarios provides ample locations for all of those to hide - and from which to be discovered. Not my favourite of Wong Kar-wai's films - it is just a little predicable - but still, he packs lots into ninety minutes and the cast deliver well - especially Maggie Cheung - and I did enjoy it.