Magic Kitchen (US Version) VCD

The cast of Lee Chi-ngai's 2004 production "Magic Kitchen" is really worth waiting for it offers you Sammi Cheng, Jerry Yan and Andy Lau. From the outside this movie may just be one romantic comedy providing viewers with some entertainment in the Chinese Lunar New Year. Inside, however, it is actually about sex and the city.

A Human Jungle

The interplay between sex and love forms the theme of "Magic Kitchen". There are countless excuses for human beings to make a clear distinction between sex and love. Some may refer to their wife at home as the only true love, while fooling around with different sex partners whenever they are somewhere else. Some may say active sexual availability is just another piece of evidence of one's capability. Such a list of excuses can go on and on but the demand-and-supply economy rule tells you that there must be a lot of buyers for those excuses. It is just like the concept of the food chain in biology. In the jungle, animals hunt to satisfy their most basic need but at the same time they are preys hunted by others. A similar jungle can be found in "Magic Kitchen" (probably in real life as well) but this time the most basic need is no longer food but sex. Qiu Mu (Michael Wong) is in love with Zi Wei (Nicola Cheung), while Chuan You (Andy Lau) forms a couple with Fu Wei (Maggie Q). When a one night stand between Qiu Mu and Fu Wei is exposed, Chuan You and Zi Wei take their revenge together in bed.

All You Need is Love

The only relationship that works in this movie is between Xiao Ke (Jerry Yan) and Mu Rong-you (Sammi Cheng). As an employee of Mu the top chef, Xiao Ke breaks down the convention of age and class and embraces his love for his boss. Mu at first hesitates but only to later find herself irresistibly attracted to the true love standing right in front of her. Under the law of the human jungle, their fruitful relation seems to be a pillar of hope the director has for Hong Kong in the 21st century.

Lee Chi-ngai's World of Puzzles

Lee Chi-ngai's movies are like puzzles in which you can only see the whole picture when the puzzle is done. The leading storyline in his movies may not be the most attractive one but the combination of the side stories make the day. For example in another Lee Chi-ngai production "Dr. Mack", Dr. Mack (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) spreads love to people from all walks of life in his shabby neighborhood. Or in "Lost and Found" Ya Chong (Kaneshiro Takeshi) searches for the warmth in the cold city by meeting dreams of nobodies in Tai Kok Tsui. This time in "Magic Kitchen" Lee Chi-ngai does this again and looks at the true colors of humans in terms of love and sex.

The Hidden Message

The unique qualities of made-in-Hong-Kong movies are mostly embodied by the presence of hidden messages. This is also true for "Magic Kitchen" where Lee Chi-ngai invests the characters with simple dialogues worthy of further deep thinking.

Tony, the character played by Anthony Wong Chau-sang, takes part in the movie as the author of the story. Making use of the Verfremdung's (alienation) effect, the director brings Tony in to let both of the characters and the audience read the story objectively.

There is however one shortcoming, namely the sound dubbing of Jerry Yan and Maggie Q. Jerry's original Putonghua cannot be exactly dubbed into Cantonese but the overall effect is still acceptable. But Maggie Q's voice in the movie is far too distant to capture the real emotions of Maggie on the screen, which makes it difficult for the audience to get in touch with her role of Fu Wei.

A blossomy love only comes when 100% of love is given by both parties. That is how magic is made not only in the kitchen but also in real life.

Reviewed by: garden (Hong Kong) Translated by Holly (Hong Kong)