Ji lian gou xian nai (1981)

Ji lian gou xian nai: Directed by Rachel Zen. With Eddie Chan, Yen-Yen Li, Deannie Ip, Lap Ban Chan. Ling’s parents were separated when she was young and she went abroad with her mother. Her brother Ding spends time in the youth detention centers and prisons of Hong Kong.

“I had the chance to sit down and watch the 1981 Hong Kong drama titled u0026quot;Cream Soda and Milku0026quot; (aka u0026quot;Ji lian gou xian naiu0026quot;) here in 2021, 40 years after the movie was initially released. And oddly enough, with my fascination with the Hong Kong cinema, I had never even heard about the movie. I suppose because of the movieu0026#39;s age and the fact that it had no familiar faces on the cast list for me, that is why I hadnu0026#39;t noticed this movie before now, when I was presented with the chance to sit down to watch it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd while u0026quot;Cream Soda and Milku0026quot; is a watchable movie, it wasnu0026#39;t exactly an overly entertaining movie. To me it felt like the storyline was just missing a coherent red thread that the audience could latch onto. It felt like the storyline, as written by Fong Chen, was mostly just ragtag bits and pieces tied together to form a story and a movie. Sure, there was an overall plot to the movie, but everything in between just didnu0026#39;t feel particularly connected.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting in the movie wasnu0026#39;t exactly something noteworthy, and for the most parts it felt like it was a bit over-acted to the point where it was risking becoming laughable. And I suppose a lot of that was because of the poorly written dialogue and superficial characters that milled about in the movie. I didnu0026#39;t really form any bond or relationship to any of the characters in the movie, as they felt like rigid dolls on display.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile I managed to sit through the entire movie, I am sitting here – as the movie ended – with a big sensation of u0026#39;was that really it?u0026#39;, because director Rachel Zen didnu0026#39;t really deliver a movie that properly entertained me. Sure, it could be watched a single time, but that was about it, because the movie doesnu0026#39;t have enough proper contents to support more than a single viewing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy rating of this 1981 drama settles on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. There are far better Hong Kong movies from the early 1980s readily available.”