| 'Mr. Funny Bone/Lau Fu Zi/Lo Fu Ji' (1976) is a vulgar, offensive, yet fun and cartoonish film based on the characters created by Wong Chak; Kwei Chi-hung ('Big Brother Cheng') directs. 'Mr. Funny Bone' shows how esoteric HK cinema and Cantonese comedies can be in this world. The flatulance jokes would probably make schlockmeister Wong Jing proud. I enjoyed this film, but it felt like a diet of caramel popcorn, soda pop, and cupcakes: it left me full of buzz, lacking in nutrients, with a headache, and stomach cramps. Singaporean comedian Wang Sha is the tall, lanky, clumsy Master Q/Lau Fu Zi/Lo Fu Ji, Ngai Tung-kwa is Master Q's rotound sidekick Potato, Liu Lu-hua is Master Q's handsome friend Chin, and the sweet and lovely Li Ching is Ms. Chen, Master Q's love interest and she's the secretary of Master Q's boss.
This film chronicles the misadventures of Master Q and his pals: trying to board a bus in Hong Kong (Master Q even clings to the side of the bus, light years before Jackie Chan would in the 'Police Story' films), dealing with muggers in the park (a young Yeung Pan Pan makes a cameo in this scene), dealing with a female ghost that wanders around an apartment building, having fun at the beach, asking Ms. Chen for her hand in marriage, and more.
This film is very infantile and cartoonish, but it may have some "verisimilitude/keepin' it real": Master Q's obese, female cousin punches Ms. Chen and she literally flies across the room! Some of the humor is quite vulgar: Chin urinates in the ocean and a bunch of dead fish rise to the top! Some of the humor doesn't work too well: Potato passes gas (complete with powder shooting out of his pants). Some gags had me in stitches: Master Q tries to push a door open...only to realize it had to be pulled open. Master Q buys two ice cream cones...that accidentally smack against a woman's bikini top (light years before sassy pop singer Madonna would don cone-shaped bras). Master Q fans, newbies and veterans, may relish in this film, but some will probably be turned off by it.
Trivia: Tsui Hark made a CGI-driven remake in 'Master Q 2001'. |
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