Cantonese: Tau kwai mo jeu
Mandarin: Tou kui wu zui
English: Watching Is Not a Crime

The scandal involving Taiwanese politician Melody Chu Mei-feng (whose sexual encounter with a married man was secretly taped and then widely circulated on VCD, leading to her resignation) was a natural for HK exploitation cinema but, amazingly, Wong Jing had nothing to do with this low-budget production. A specialist in divorce cases, private eye Calvin (Daniel Wu Yan-zu) is offered HK$1 million by Siu-wong (Grace Lam Nga-sze) who wants him to undertake an investigation in Taiwan. The target is comely, bisexual legislative councillor Kwai Fung-ming (Teresa Mak Kar-kei), who enjoys an affluent life filled with decadent parties. Siu-wong brings Calvin to one of these soirees, giving him the chance to hide several tiny video cameras throughout Fung-ming's home. Later that evening, he gets footage of his client and Fung-ming making love. The former is satisfied with the footage but wants him to continue shooting for another two weeks. Calvin finds himself becoming protective of Fung-ming, and his girlfriend, Cindy (Jenny Yam Kong-sau), soon begins to question the future of their relationship. Shortly thereafter, Calvin breaks his professional code of ethics and becomes involved with Fung-ming himself, leading to predictable complications.

The coyest Category III movie since TEMPTATION OF AN ANGEL (the target audience will be distressed to learn that the only visible nipples here belong to Daniel Wu), THE PEEPING is routinely made and features a screenplay by the infamous "Not a Woman" that incorporates all of the expected cliches. As a result, the movie falls short of another recent item, Billy Tang Hin-sing's engagingly campy DEVIL TOUCH (reviewed in issue #101a). While no more explicit, that picture is a much more stylish outing that works in some clever twists and turns to hold one's attention between the fleshy interludes. The performances here are also not particularly inspired; it doesn't help that Teresa Mak and Grace Lam had to be dubbed by other actresses because of their lack of fluency in Mandarin and Daniel Wu seems sedate (or maybe just sedated) throughout. Aside from one amusing zoom shot, director Marco Mak Chi-sin (THE BLOOD RULES, COP ON A MISSION) seems interested only in finding ways to conceal the actresses' "naughty bits," and most viewers will feel that he did all-too-good of a job at it. Samuel Leung Cheuk-moon (playing a normal, even honorable guy!) also appears.

Universe #6095 (Hong Kong label) Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese and Dubbed Mandarin Language Tracks Optional Subtitles In English and Chinese (Traditional or Simplified) 8 Chapters Illustrated In the Menu With Clips Letterboxed (1.79:1) Coded for ALL Regions 89 Minutes Contains moderate sexual content, moderate sexual violence, moderate violence, brief nudity, coarse language, and drug use

DVD menu courtesy Universe.

THE PEEPING is available at Poker Industries.