You are currently displaying English
紅粉情佳人 (1987)
Pretty Girl


Reviewed by: STSH
Date: 07/04/2000
Summary: Deadly Dull

I thought Joey's Lake Sprite left a lot to be desired. But LS is riveting compared with Pretty Girl.
The story rolls along at an easy (and uninvolving) pace for 20 minutes before Joey makes an appearance. Lots of antics about the quirky villagers, which should have been charming and funny, but are not.
The story starts to gel soon after Joey appears, but this doesn't last. The plot wanders all over the place, then jumps suddenly to Taipei, where a minor character becomes involved with gangsters and runs away to the village.
The main character is actually the eldest son of the old father (played by Chan Chung-Yung), and his antics, mainly chasing Joey.
There's a surprising amount of fairly innocent smut. For instance, a vignette (unconnected with any other part of the story) of some young boys using their developing manhoods to catch fish in the creek, watched by the young girls. The sex education lectures are a riot, but still not very funny.
With more capable direction and better scripting, this could have been a charming and gently-paced pastoral romance.
Instead, it's simply a mess.

Reviewer Score: 1