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 'm always a little hesitant to assume things about foreign
popular culture that I've never studied in-depth (i.e. college courses). Hong
Kong is one of those places. I bring this up only because the movie "My
Schoolmate the Barbarian" takes place in what I assume is some sort of
inner-city 4-year college, where all the students are vying to take a final exam
called the HKCEE. I assume the school in the picture is a college because it's
called Memorial College in the subtitles, and I assume the HKCEE is some sort of
exit test because the students in the film seem to hinge their future on it. (If
I'm wrong, someone please send a note to correct me.)
All that being said, "My Schoolmate the
Barbarian" is a comedy/action film about a spoiled preppy student (Stephen
Fung) who gets kicked out of his preppy school and ends up in a tough new school
where students regularly duke it out in an upstairs classroom reserved for such
occasions. Think "Fight
Club" meets "My Bodyguard" meets "Dangerous
Minds."
Being that he's not much of a fighter, Edward must recruit the help of local
tough guy Stone (Nicholas Tse) in order to survive. It helps that the adorable
Phoenix (Joey Yung) is hopelessly in love with Edward and is willing to
"back him up" at every opportunity; although she's not much of a
fighter, she sure is a cute bundle of energy. That has to count for something,
right?
No one is more surprised than I that I actually liked
"Barbarian" very much. Why was I so surprised? It's mostly due to the
fact that Hong Kong auteur Jing Wong's name appears in the credit listings not
once, but twice – as sole writer and as co-director. I have often expressed my
exasperation at Jing Wong's brand of Absurdist Hong Kong films ("High
Risk"). I find the man's humor to be just a level above kindergarten
kids picking their noses on the playground. Imagine my shock when I found myself
really enjoying "Barbarian." (I guess that old saying is true. Every
dog does have his day.)
Besides a few moments of Jing Wong-inspired comedy in the
beginning (the scene with the principal), "Barbarian" is mostly an
entertaining teenage/action film. Notwithstanding the fact that none of the
actors are probably teenagers (with the exception of Joey Yung, who might be in
her late teens), the actors all do a fine job with such a limited screenplay.
Even though Nicholas Tse ("Time
and Tide") threatens to skip into Ekin Cheng territory by letting his
hair do much of the acting for him, co-star Stephen Fung (who co-starred with
Tse in the equally spirited "2002")
is believable as the snobbish preppy that learns to appreciate friends who stick
up for you. It helps that actress Joey Yung shows up a lot and that she's just
adorable throughout the film, providing all of the movie's highlights as well as
some funny comedy bits.
Director Billy Chung handles the action scenes well and I
can see him directing more action-oriented films in the future. His handling of
the duels (as the movie calls them) is impressive, in particular a fight between
Stone and Mantis toward the end. Speaking of which, actor Samuel Pang exudes
pure coolness as Mantis. The young actor plays the Mantis character straight,
and his few and all-too brief scenes with Stone has a very dark and brooding
undertone. Mantis, you see, is the current duel king, but he's never fought
Stone, who has given up fighting because of a personal tragedy. It's the bane of
Mantis' school dueling career that Stone has never taken up his offer at a
fight, thus Mantis is unable to claim he defeated the school's only other
champion.
Barbarian" shouldn't be taken seriously. It's a
brisk film with some nice photography and more than a few problems. For
instance, it defies reason that the students at the college would turn their
collegiate career into some game where they dress up like bad extras from
"Mad Max" and cover their school with graffiti. Since they're
obviously paying for the privilege to go to school, why would anyone spend their
time goofing off at every single turn? Also, Edward's friendship with Stone and
Edward's growing prowess as a fighter is both fast-forwarded through. We get a
couple scenes of male bonding and Stone teaching Edward how to fight (and in
turn, Edward teaching Stone how to study), and there you have it. Not very
convincing, but then again, "Barbarian" isn't a serious study of teen
angst, is it?
For what it is, "My Schoolmate the Barbarian" is
an amusing and entertaining film, with a nice introduction to the highly affable
Joey Yung (Phoenix). Stephen Fung is the movie's actual star despite not getting
top billing in the credits (the privilege goes to Tse). Co-star Samuel Pang
shows some impressive martial arts ability in a limited role; his turn here as
the brooding Mantis should earn him work in more movies, which is a very good
thing.
It's hard to say who gets the real credit for the success
of "Barbarian." I'm prone to think director Billy Chung is the main
force keeping one aspect of the film from drowning out the other, resulting in a
well-balance picture. Most of the film is played for humor, and I only felt
slightly embarrassed for the filmmakers once or twice, which is a leap for me
considering Jing Wong has his name all over this piece. One can only hope the
dog will see more good days in the future…
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