A Respectable Tutor (aka The Departed One’s Return to Pipa Lane)

Four years after Tong Tik-sang wrote this story as a Cantonese opera, Tao Yuen adapted it for the silver screen. Sick of the bullying that the song girls receive on Pipa Lane, scholar Chow Yuk-pui (Yam Kim-fai) seeks the help of Kong Yeuk-mui (Pak Suet-sin), a prime minister’s daughter known for her righteous nature. When Yeuk-mui falls for Yuk-pui, she goes against the objections of her father (Poon Yat On) and embarks on a long, bitter journey for the sake of love.  

An excellent storyteller, director Cheung Wai-kwong deftly translates the original Cantonese opera’s six acts into a film with accomplished camerawork. Known for playing passionate romantics, Pak Suet-sin shines in a character that represents the most extreme of romantics. For the sake of love, Yeuk-pui goes against the entire traditional feudal family system, performing the ‘three claps’ ritual to cut ties off with her father (imitating a similar scene in a famous Peking opera). This rebellious action against the old ways epitomises how forward-thinking Yeuk-mui is. Yam’s transformation in the film from dashing scholar to lowly beggar is multi-layered, while having someone as handsome as Lam Kar-sing give such a playful and vivid performance is one of the film’s bright spots.

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