Intimates

Dir: Jacob Cheung
Scr: Siu Tong
Prod Co: Golden Harvest
Cast: Carina Lau Ka-ling, Charlie Yeung, Kwei Ya-lei, Theresa Lee, Winston Chao
1997 | Colour | 35mm | Cantonese | Chi & Eng Subtitles | 162min

After leaving United Filmmakers Organization (UFO), Cheung returned to making a female-centred film, this time set in a traditional community of ‘self-comb women’ in Shunde who have forsworn marriage. The story spans half a century, focusing on two women, their lives of hardship and their unwavering bond, while contrasting the attitudes of two generations of women towards the concepts of love and autonomy.

Architect Wai (Theresa Lee) has a successful career but has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Heartbroken, she accompanies her father’s nanny Foon (Kwei Ya-lei) back to her hometown of Shunde to search for a relative. Along the way, Foon recalls her past: as a girl, she (Charlie Yeung) decided to forswear marriage altogether after refusing her arranged match. By coincidence, she met Yuk-wan (Carina Lau Ka-ling), a former courtesan, and the two women form an unassailable bond in spite of their misfortunes. Cross-cutting between the past and the present and drawing comparisons with Foon and Wai’s journeys, the film asks what love is, and explores how women of different generations search for autonomy in their lives.

Cheung spent five years developing this screenplay, filming on location in Foshan and Shunde to capture the authentic atmosphere of the houses inhabited by self-comb women. The film depicts women’s predicament and courage in the face of oppression from feudal society, romantic setbacks, and even wartime chaos. Carina Lau Ka-ling plays the brave and righteous Yuk-wan, very much setting the tone of the film through her sheer unwavering strength of character. Charlie Yeung’s character, on the other hand, is full of contradictions and inner struggles, complex and detailed. Intimates’ bold portrayal of lesbian love has made it an important milestone in Hong Kong’s women-centered cinema.

Courtesy of Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Group

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