Golden Chickensss
Matt Chow
The story: Kam (Sandra Ng) has worked her way up from being a prostitute to a mamasan. She now manages a coterie of girls, including the bucktoothed newbie Wu Lu (Ivana Wong). When former mob leader Gordon (Nick Cheung) is released from prison, Kam helps him adjust to the world today. The movie is a sequel to Golden Chicken (2002) and Golden Chicken 2 (2003).

With its irrepressible and bawdy humour and a sparkling line-up of cameos, Golden Chickensss offers laughs and star-gazing for, well, part of the family. Sandra Ng reprises the role that won her the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress in 2003 and is once again a hoot as the plucky Kam.
Having slept her way to management level, Kam now has to deal with a new challenges. Technology has changed the business and she has to line up her clients via telephone calls and text messaging. She also has to manage the girls’ time so they can maximise earnings in one night. Kam adapts and survives.
Among the girls under her care, eager newbie Wu Lu stands out. Singer Ivana Wong gives a hilarious performance in her big-screen debut with a mainland accent, loud clothes and huge chompers.
The glittery cameos are plenty of fun. The opening scenes trace prostitution through history and feature Anthony Wong in period garb haggling over the price and Donnie Yen as martial arts master Ip Man being solicited. Singer-actor Eason Chan appears as a small-time hoodlum, Edison Chen as a sleazy guy running a sex parlour in Tokyo and Shawn Yue as a subway rider with intense body odour.
Among the funniest are feted lyricist Wyman Wong as oral sex king Takuya as he dispenses advice to Hong Kong working girls and Louis Koo as a, um, Louis Koo impersonator.
Though it is a pity that cinemagoers here do not get to listen to the original Cantonese dialogue, some of the humour has survived the translation intact. For example, Koo has a stream of filthy patter about his hometown, Gang Men, also a homonym for anus.
Things get a bit draggy when former mob leader Gordon is released from prison and the focus shifts to him. Writer-director Matt Chow repeats the same point about how times have changed, but to lesser effect.
He should have just kept the focus on Ng.
Only in the anything-goes world of Hong Kong cinema could a prostitute named Kam become an iconic character. She can be loud and crude but she also has a great sense of humour and a heart of gold. And her never-say-die attitude is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the territory itself.
(ST)