Rosa
directed by Tung Cho ‘Joe’ Cheung
starring Biao Yuen, Lowell Lo, Hsiao-Fen Lu
88 Films
Like its titular character, Rosa (1986) is a barely contained blast of pure energy. It is a romantic-action-comedy, a description that does little to convey the madness of the film and the way it routinely subverts expectations while also delivering the goods for fans of madcap mid-‘80s Hong Kong cinema.
Two misfit police detectives, “Mustache” Lei Kung (Lowell Lo) and “Little Monster” Hsia (Yuen Biao), both coming off colossal disasters in the field, get teamed up to investigate a drug smuggling operation that someone has captured on film — or is it to protect a witness? That’s the thing with this movie, it has a bunch of plot threads but not plot, and the threads are just there to sort of connect a series of skits involving the detectives, Lei Kung’s sister (Kara Hui), and Rosa (Hsiao-Fen Lu). Lei Kung becomes hopelessly smitten with the vivacious Rosa, while “Little Monster” pines for Lei Kung’s sister, much to her brother’s dismay. The film follows the detectives and the girls through a series of misadventures culminating in a no-joke final battle with the bad guys in a warehouse, where everyone gets a chance to shine, but the battle truly belongs to Yuen Biao.
The film is actually funny, which can’t always be said for Hong Kong action comedies, aided in no small part by sticking with screwball comedy tropes, with less reliance on cultural references and wordplay, so the humor translates better to an international audience. Ultimately, the film is held together by the charisma of the cast, especially Hsiao-Fen Lu, a Taiwanese softcore star who seemingly wanted a break from taking her clothes off in every film. Her manic energy fuels the film, and she projects such confidence that Lei Kung’s bumbling (and by today’s standards, problematic) efforts to seduce her become funnier, because we all know she is several steps ahead and reveling in his desperation.
88 Films brings Rosa to American audiences in a boffo new slipcover Blu-ray complete with a new 2K scan of the original camera negative, two audio commentaries by David West and Frank Djeng & F.J. DeSanto, and a nifty booklet featuring essays by Fraser Elliott and Paul Bramhall. Struggling to stand out in a glut of Hong Kong action comedies from the era, Rosa emerges as a quirky minor gem, distinguished by its gleeful oddness and the sheer, unforced likability of its talented cast.
