VULGARIA

"Your attention please. This film has been classified as vulgar comedy. It contains high amounts of coarse language, adult themes, political incorrectness, discrimination and sexual situations."

Okay, the opening spoken introduction is tongue-in-cheek. As is the I STAND ALONE-esque 10-second notice that follows, affording viewers the opportunity to desist from watching any further. It's only when the narrator then tells us that, if we've continued to watch, that's "our fucking problem" that we get an indication as to just how ‘out-there’ this one's going to be.

To (Chapman To) attends a University lecture held by an old school chum to speak to students there about his career as a film producer. Much to the professor's horror, mischievous To insists on continually likening his role on sets to a bush of pubic hair: he's there to ease the friction between people.

The film then propels itself into flashback mode to further elaborate on To's unique, enthused approach to his job. An approach which, through bungled presentations with potential investors and wrangles over alimony payments to his ex-wife Lai-fun (Kristal Tin), doesn't appear to have bestowed much success on the feckless chap. At the very least, his chirpy daughter Jacqueline (Jacqueline Chan) has unwavering faith in him.

Motivated by this and his latest failure at a board meeting with a group of money men who he manages to inadvertently accuse of terrorism, To follows his friend Liu’s (Simon Loui) advice and gets together with sinister grinner Tyrannosaurus (Ronald Cheng). Tyrannosaurus is introduced as a businessman who’s looking to invest in a new movie.

This initially promising proposal soon leads to all manner of bawdy shenanigans though, as we learn through more flashbacks. To soon discovers that his investor is a gangster with odd sexual fetishes, who wants the producer to make a sequel to his favourite Category III film CONFESSIONS OF A CONCUBINE. It’s title? CONFESSIONS OF TWO CONCUBINES …

There are two immediate stumbling blocks for To to consider: he’s tasked with getting the original film’s star Siu Yam Yam (Susan Shaw) to headline this new venture; he’s required to have sex with an animal (no, really!) to make this happen. Thankfully a gimmicky ‘damaged film reel’ moment prevents us from learning whether To went through with this trial.

But we can assume he did SOMETHING that gets Siu onside, albeit in face only. Fearing modern-day Cat III lovers would balk at her naked body now it’s into its 60s, To comes up with the idea of using CG to superimpose Shaw’s face onto the nubile figure of co-star Popping Candy (Dada Chen). If you’re wondering why she’s so named, to tell you here would be ruining the film’s most memorable gag (pun intended).

So, in more flashbacks, the filming progresses and characters get wackier, situations becoming more dementedly silly. Look out for Hiro Hayama lampooning his own SEX AND ZEN 3D character in a cameo role, and enough profane dialogue to make even the most jaded squaddie blush.

Reputedly the biggest grossing comedy in the history of Hong Kong cinema, VULGARIA is a gleefully irreverent romp through the crude and the lewd. More than this though, it is at heart both an endearing human drama about perseverance and a satire on the state of the politics behind modern filmmaking.

To, best-known to UK audiences for the INFERNAL AFFAIRS films, is an amiable lead. Replete with a winningly cheeky smile and bubbling yet bumbling enthusiasm, it’s easy to warm to him from an early stage. In fact, all of the characters are likeable – even those who, perhaps, are not meant to be. This is partly down to the deliberately exaggerated performances and partly due to a script that revels in caricature situations and dialogue.

That To has a valid reason for his drive is what helps the film from succumbing to its own daftness. The juvenile kicks do become a tad grating at times, especially when considering director Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung’s non-stop slapstick-style pace.

Still, the amount of energy from its players suits VULGARIA’s equally lively soundtrack and colourful compositions well. While the rudeness - much of which is suggested (there is no sex or nudity, despite the subject matter) – is often funny and definitely caters for those with a yen for Kevin Smith at his most lowbrow, the real fun comes from the aforementioned swipes at Hong Kong’s troubled film industry. To’s ‘anything goes’ attitude towards getting funding is clearly the stuff of pantomime, but you can well imagine that it’s not much of an exaggeration of the truth. And the suggestion that gangsters finance films? Again, it’s not inconceivable …

By nature of the country it’s been made in and the people who’ve made it, VULGARIA is perhaps a little too polite to truly push the parameters of taste in the manner it wants to. There is a vague sense of underwhelming gentleness to the humour as a result. But it’s still a brisk, animated, often witty film regardless.

Third Window Films bring VULGARIA to UK DVD in its full uncut variant, proffering the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is 16x9 enhanced and, if we're to be honest, doesn't look too hot. In what is something of a trend for Hong Kong films on UK DVD, the display exhibits a cool colour palette throughout and blacks are never as solid as you'd hope them to be. For a 2012 production, it's also quite remarkable how soft some of the film is - and this is without the employment of a fish-eye lens.

Cantonese audio comes in an enjoyably robust 5.1 mix. Evenly balanced, clean and clear, it's fair to say the film is better served by its audio than its video quality. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read at most junctures.

The disc opens to an animated main menu page. From there, an animated scene-selection menu provides access to VULGARIA via 12 chapters.

Extra features are limited, the best of which is a 10-minute Making Of featurette. Thanks to its insanely quick editing technique, this short offering provides more behind-the-scenes footage than most half-hour-long documentaries. The shoot seems to have been a relaxed yet focused one.

We also get the film's original 2-minute trailer. This does its best to cram as much crude dialogue in as it can, as well as staking the claim that VULGARIA is "the most outrageous comedy in Hong Kong cinema" ...

Third Window Films are also kind enough to serve up a plethora of trailers for other titles in their canon: HIMIZU, LOVE EXPOSURE, TETSUO 1 & 2, SAWAKO DECIDES, FOR LOVE'S SAKE, MITSUKO DELIVERS, THE WOODSMAN AND THE RAIN, KOTOKO, ISN'T ANYONE ALIVE, THE FOREIGN DUCK THE NATIVE DUCK AND GOD IN A COIN LOCKER, MEMORIES OF MATSUKO, COLD FISH, CONFESSIONS, VILLAIN, UNDERWATER LOVE, CONFESSIONS OF A DOG, ADRIFT IN TOKYO and CRIME OR PUNISHMENT.

VULGARIA doesn't quite live up to its opening boasts but perhaps this is a blessing, as you imagine the same content in the hands of, say, a British film team would be crass beyond belief. As this stands, it's a curiously innocuous but entertaining film regardless. Performances are likeable, even when the machine-gun dialogue delivery starts to grate.

The disc from Third Window Films is fair. Also available on blu-ray.

Review by Stuart Willis