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Sunday 23 December 2012

REVIEW/THOUGHTS [MOVIE] -- Merry Christmas

Format Watched [Specific Edition, if any]: DVD [The "Spadina Special" version, as some would call it]
Approx. Runtime: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
Language Watched: Cantonese with English Subtitles
Other Language(s) Available: Mandarin
DVD Extra Content? None
Type of Movie: Romantic Comedy
Overall Impression: This is a childhood favourite. I love it.




SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!
This review will contain some spoilers -- or rather, there will be a "Spoilers" section at the end of the review to go into further detail about certain things. There may still be slight spoilers throughout the review, but I've tried my best to keep them at a minimum.


PERSONAL STANDING (Pre-exposures, thoughts, etc.)
First off, I gotta say that Merry Christmas is an old movie. It came out around 1984.

The first time I watched Merry Christmas was when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. I watched it on Christmas day. Since then, I have tried to watched Merry Christmas every year on Christmas. There were some years where I didn't get to watch it, if it was lent out to relatives. But it's been a tradition for me -- and it's a tradition I enjoy.


STORY
The widowed father Karl is secretly in love with his neighbour Paula. When Paula tells Karl that she'll be moving to the US to get married (to a cousin she's only met once), Karl's children encourage him to express his feelings to her. When Paula's cousin suddenly arrives in Hong Kong to meet Paula and accompany her to the US, craziness ensues.

Plot-wise, the story is pretty generic. Situation-wise, I find that almost everything that happens in Merry Christmas is unique -- often funny, but sometimes touching.

Karl's family. Karl is the bald one reading the newspaper.

Paula telling Karl that she's getting married.

Paula's cousin introducing himself to Karl.

HUMOUR
The humour here tends to involve misunderstandings, accidental situations, plans / pranks that often go awry, and a bit of slapstick. It also pokes fun at Karl's bald head. Some of the humour is a little dated (this came out in the '80s) -- what used to be funny back then may be a bit offensive or politically incorrect these days.

Here's one example of dated humour:

 A prank that's being played on Paula's cousin.

I'll mention some of my favourite funny moments in the "Spoilers" section.

ACTING/CHARACTERS
I like the acting in Merry Christmas. But this is a childhood favourite, so I'm probably very biased. Some of the acting is a little over the top. Some of it is very sincere and honest. Merry Christmas stars some very popular Asian actors like Danny Chan (rest his soul), Leslie Cheung (rest his soul as well), Karl Maka, Loletta Lee, and Paula Tsui.

CHARACTERS
I find it pretty funny that almost all the characters have the same name as the actors. In terms of characterization, there's not too much. The character personalities are pretty much set from the beginning.

Despite that, many of the characters are likeable and amusing to watch. My favourite is Karl's youngest son, Junior. He's so cute and such a delinquent.

MUSIC
The music fits with the movie. It's generally upbeat -- and pretty dated (very '80s). Danny Chan's song "Waiting" (等 in Chinese) is featured here, and it is a beautiful, beautiful piano ballad.

Here, take a listen:


This is a duet version with Sally Yeh.
Merry Christmas features the solo version of the song.

When I first heard this song so many years ago, I thought it was a bright, happy, positive song. And I thought it was a sad juxtaposition to the current scene (a happy song being played during a sad time). Imagine my surprise when I actually read the English subtitles / lyrics and realized it was a very sad, melancholic piece -- further enhancing that scene.

Here are the English subtitles / lyrics from Merry Christmas:

Waiting, alone till night
The night is getting colder
The night is getting darker
Don't say you're choosing
You're being chosen, too
Justice, it was fair

Bitterness, seeping slowly towards the heart
Why complain,
Of the one who has touched your heart?
Kissing your beloved goodbye
This foolishness, causing a life of tears
Why, when there is such pain...

One must pretend to be happy
You, tonight, are pitiful,
Watching her go away
Her footsteps
Leave a permanent mark in your heart
You will regret forever
All your life, your heart will be full of sorrow

*music stuff*

Bitterness, seeping slowly towards the heart
Why complain,
Of the One who has touched your heart?
Kissing your beloved goodbye
This foolishness, causing a life of tears
Why, when there is such pain...

One must pretend to be happy
You, tonight, are pitiful,
Watching her go away
Her footsteps
Leave a permanent mark in your heart
You will regret forever
All your life, your heart will be full of sorrow



CLOSING THOUGHTS
If Merry Christmas was widely available, I'd say to get yourself a copy and watch it. The only version that I see commercially available online is the VCD (you might be wondering, what's a VCD?). Thankfully, the whole movie is posted on Youtube in 15-minute parts. Here's the first part with English subtitles (just to give you some exposure if you want):

I love the office prank done here.
 
Even after so many years, I still laugh, cry, and enjoy Merry Christmas. Sweet, heartwarming, and very funny.

Thanks for reading! And Merry early Christmas!

I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoilers" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoilers" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.

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SPOILERS

Some favourite funny moments

- The office prank where Karl's co-worker pretends to be the hand statue in Karl's office.

- When Karl is at Paula's place to pick up Junior, Karl is trying out his birthday cake, mentioning that he should do something different for his birthday. With her back to him, Paula asks what he wants to do. Then Junior comes up behind Paula and touches her butt. It's a little perverted, but the conversation that ensues is pretty funny.

- When Danny's gal friend shows up and Karl mistakes her as his masseuse.

- The pranks that Karl, his co-workers, and his children play on Paula's cousin to paint Paula's cousin in a bad light (to try to convince Paula not to leave with him). Here are a couple of the pranks:

Prank #1. So this is how it really is.

 The "incriminating" photo.

Prank #2. The girl is standing about a foot in front of Paula's cousin.

 The "incriminating" photo.

If you read my spoilers, thank for reading them! Now to finish with more scrolly things. Feel free to comment :D

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