Hollywood Hong Kong (2001) - Fruit Chan

Such a strange, infectious film that provokes the audience with moments of barbarism and perversion while managing to still, somehow, feel affectionate towards its characters and their situation - at least, for the most part. Not entirely sure what this film is trying to convey, but Fruit Chan's Hollywood Hong Kong is ripe for such types of subtextual investigations; perhaps it merely wishes to exhibit the conditions of its character in a way that isn't full of mimicry and disdain, providing a platform for its lower-class characters who largely operate in the shadows of contemporary culture with no platform to share their daily struggles. The intersection of a deceitful sex worker, a portly butcher, and a local low-level gangster leads me to think Chan's focus is largely about exhibition, but he does show an interest in capturing the unglamorous conditions of this lifestyle while still viewing these characters largely in an emphatic, humanistic light.   Hollywood Hong Kong is unquestionably a distinct experience that has a twisted charm and affection for its unorthodox characters, while stylistically being deeply sensual in its exhibition of flesh - in the end, whether rich or poor, whether oppressed or the oppressor, we are all just flesh, blood, and bone.