How do you make a beautiful, life-affirming film about death that appeals to general audiences almost everywhere? Up-and-coming Hong Kong director Anselm Chan has the answer in “The Last Dance,” in which a cash-strapped former wedding planner and a stern old Taoist priest become unlikely partners in the funeral business. Featuring an all-star cast headed up by Cantonese comedy icons Dayo Wong (“Table for Six”) and Michael Hui (“Security Unlimited,” “Where the Wind Blows”), playing mostly straight, the film is the third film created by Chan Brilliantly moving drama. About finding meaning in life through the death of loved ones and the rituals of final farewell.
This respectable, high-profile journey into Hong Kong’s unique and fascinating funeral traditions opens domestically on 9 November and in the UK and Ireland on 15 November – just the beginning of what is sure to be a wide-ranging international theatrical run.
After making a mark with his raucous 2021 romance Ready or Knot and its superior sequel Ready or Rot (2023), Anselm Chan steps up a mature drama about the Taoist funeral tradition known as breaking the gates of hell. As the opening text tells us, this involves a Taoist priest rushing into hell with a fiery sword to break down the gates of hell, thus freeing the souls of the dead and helping them to reincarnate. The “breaking the gates of hell” ritual is a common ritual at Hong Kong funerals, and has been included in Hong Kong’s first intangible cultural heritage inventory.
This valuable information gives viewers an immediate basic understanding of the movie scene. For those who instantly associate Taoist movie priests with jumping vampires and hungry ghosts in Hong Kong goeng-sin At the height of ’80s horror comedies (such as “Mr. Vampire” and “Kung Fu Zombie”), “The Last Dance” offers an engaging and insightful look at the daily lives and work of these religious and community leaders.
Saddled with massive debt after the pandemic destroys his wedding planning business, 50-year-old Dominic Ngai (Wong) is offered a half share in the funeral business by Ming (Paul Chun-pei), the retired uncle of his girlfriend Jade (Catherine). Ciao). The only obstacle is obtaining the approval of Ming’s business partner, Master Man Kwok (Hui), a Taoist priest with an unparalleled reputation for performing funeral rituals equaled only by his strict observance of tradition.
As expected, things get off to a rocky start when Dominic and his team of smart young men begin marketing flashy celebrations and stylish merchandise that attract customers and greatly displease Mann. “We feed on the dead. At least have respect,” Mann told a funeral planner who recently attended.
Dominic may have a hard time adjusting to dealing with the dead for a living, but as the screenplay expands its scope and brings a host of interesting clients and Mann family members into the frame, we slowly begin to see his effect on the living.
Although he is highly respected by everyone, the widower has problems at home. His married son Ben (Tommy Chu) is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps but lacks the required faith and passion. Single daughter Yuet (Michelle Way), a forty-something paramedic, is involved in a dead-end relationship with a married doctor. Due to her father’s belief that a woman’s menstruation breaks the all-important power of the ancestors, Yuet has never felt true and unconditional love from a man, although she admires him and studies his ritual displays.
Here and elsewhere, Chan shows a thoughtful willingness to raise questions about how some aspects of Daoism, such as gender roles, relate to modern society, and whether some reappraisals are worthwhile. Neither didactic nor gratuitous, these questions are carefully posed in the screenplay and will enhance the film’s appeal for many viewers.
As he gradually comes to an understanding with Mann and begins to appreciate his responsibility to the bereaved families, Dominic plays vital roles in helping Ben and Wiet deal with their issues. There is a warmth and naturalness to Wong’s performance that makes these scenes compelling and rewarding.
The same applies to Dominic’s handling of many of the delicate arrangements with the dead. The most memorable is when the distressed mother Mrs. Yan (Rosa María Velasco) asks Dominique to take care of her young son who has been in the morgue for six months and whom she wants to preserve in case a medical miracle occurs, as people do with cryogenics. Because she was crazy, she was refused service anywhere else. Going against Mann’s instructions, Dominic takes on a task that may be difficult for some to watch at first. But as his work continues and humans arrive to help, this sequence becomes something else. Their tender care of the body and Lady Yan’s reaction when her wishes are finally respected are both beautiful and heartbreaking to witness. As Dominic tells the man in response to the Master’s role in transcending the souls of the dead, “The agent transcends the soul of the living.”
It’s fun to watch Hui and Wong in their first film together since 1992’s “Magic Touch.” Granted, most of this is played as straight as it should be, but there are still some nice little scenes when Dominic and a more relaxed guy step back and chew the fat about this life And the next life. The rest of the cast is excellent, with Wai particularly impressive as the troubled daughter whose frustrations and disappointments drive the story to a thrilling conclusion that is bound to make lists of memorable cinematic funeral scenes. Anthony Poon’s polished cinematography set in Hong Kong’s Hung Hom funeral district, gorgeous production design by Yu Hun Man and Lee Peck-kwan’s excellent costumes complete this attractively packaged product.