Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive

1989

Action / Comedy / Crime

1
IMDb Rating 5.9/10 10 402 402

culture clash dark comedy briefcase tastelessness hong kong east asian lead

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Plot summary

A man is hired by a group of people he believes to be gangsters to escort a briefcase from America to Hong Kong. When he arrives, however, his contact is nowhere to be found. With no further instructions, he decides to take in the sights of Hong Kong, which consist of him taking part in a great deal of blood, sex and general weirdness, all while wearing a briefcase handcuffed to his arm.

Director

Wayne Wang Photo
Wayne Wang

Top cast

Victor Wong Photo
Victor Wong as Blind Man
Dennis Dun Photo
Dennis Dun as Narrator
John Chan Photo
John Chan as The Son-in-Law
Spencer Nakasako Photo
Spencer Nakasako as Yat Boon Jai
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
781.15 MB
1280*766
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 2
1.42 GB
1804*1080
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 6
782.66 MB
1280*766
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds ...
1.42 GB
1804*1080
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma_teng

an in-your-face Hong Kong postcard

Memorable mixture of surreal comedy and drama by Wayne Wang, about a stranger from overseas on a mission in Hong Kong - but he's not quite sure what the mission is. During the process he wanders around the city and gets caught up with a variety of dodgy, weird and alluring characters.Semi-documentary material (interviews, animal slaughter) is inserted throughout, giving "Life is Cheap..." an intriguing texture. Memorable for possibly the longest foot chase sequence in the history of movies, ending in the infamous and now demolished Walled City near the former Kai Tak Airport.Not a movie for everyone by any means (especially not the blinkered MPAA ratings board), but those who love Hong Kong and its movies should make the effort and hunt down this strange, near-forgotten little movie. Fans of "Pink Flamingos" will connect with the penultimate scene.
Reviewed by

Reviewed by mjneu59 5 / 10

a failed experiment

Director Wayne Wang's return to modern Hong Kong (the Final Frontier at the edge of China) is a scattershot quest for cultural identity in the Wild Wild East, spiced with casual displays of scatology and copraphogy (illustrating the lengths to which traditional Chinese will go to maintain face). The ersatz plot line, in which a frustrated currier fails to deliver a briefcase to a mysterious crime lord, is little more than incohesive filler interrupting a series of mock-documentary encounters with various local characters, in episodes that might have been more effective if they were genuine. Scripted cinema verité is an oxymoron, and even with directorial assistance (from writer/star Nakasaka) Wang is too polite a filmmaker for this type of narrative deconstruction. Highlights include some striking photography and editing, and an exhilarating (if pointless) chase that finally captures that elusive spark of vitality missing from the rest of the film.

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