| Tong Pak Fu (Chow Sing Chi) is the leading scholar of the infamous "Four Scholars" and excels at poetry, painting, music and, well, just about everything really. Despite having eight wives, he is still unhappy as they gamble all day. Things change when he catches sight of the beautiful Chow Heung (Gong Li) who's smile makes him realise that she is the girl for him. Heung is a servant of a household that hates the work of Tong Pak Fu so Chow must enter disguised as a servant. By using his cunning and displaying his numerous skills, Tong manages to work his way up to head school teacher giving him a better reputation. Trouble begins when the "Four Perverted Heroes" decide to take Chow Heung for themselves and an old enemy of Tong's father is hired to kill the family.
One of Chow's best comedies, "The Flirting Scholar" has it all. For international viewers, like myself, I'm sure a lot of the verbal gags are missed but the slapstick routines and in jokes are incredibly funny. There are numerous spoofs of the period kung fu movie and they round the film off perfectly.
Chow plays the arrogant and sleazy scholar well, making the most of his character to show off his numerous manic facial expressions. Gong Li, however, has a rather bland character as Chow's love interest but she makes the most of it.
The good thing about most Chow Sing Chi films is that he devotes equal screen time to the various characters allowing them to prove their talents and this is prominent within "The Flirting Scholar". There are also some decent displays of kung foolery and mystical powers that please the avid action fan. |
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