Lonely Fifteen
Scr: Manfred Wong
Prod Cos: Pearl City, Johnny Mak Production
Cast: Becky Lam, Irene Wan, Peter Mak, So Pui-fong, Leung Mei-king
1982 / Colour / D Beta / Cantonese / Chi & Eng subtitles / 96min
Lonely Fifteen is one of the most scandalous films of its time. At once headon realistic and down-right exploitative, this is the story of several school girls whose lives are unravelling, spiraling from classroom misfits to petty thieves to junkies and sex workers. Producer Johnny Mak and director David Lai chronicle the girls' downfall with sensational portrayals of sex, drugs and violence, capturing with semi-documentary photography and synchronised sound of their youthful alienation, their swirl of frenzied hormones, the breakdown of their families, their indulgence in consumerism, their rejection by an education system entirely unprepared for the changing times and their unwitting recruitment by the unscrupulous sex industry. All these are tied together by the enthralling performance of Becky Lam, who, in her first and only screen appearance, won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards but didn't bother to show up at the ceremony.
Screening courtesy of Entertaining Power Company Ltd