Issue #243a        HOME          E-mail: mail@dighkmovies.com        BACK ISSUES         December 20th, 2004

Hong Kong Digital is sponsored by Poker Industries. Please see the Hong Kong Digital home page for a special offer from Poker Industries to Hong Kong Digital readers.

Naked: Take Off High-Heel Shoes
(2000)

Cantonese: Wong Jing-ying: Tuet ha go jang haai
Mandarin: Wang Ching-ying: Tuo xia gao gen xie
English: Wang Ching-ying (Wong Jing-ying) Takes Off High-Heel Shoes

 

RATING: 5/10

REVIEW:

Perhaps best known in this part of the world for her roles in IRON MONKEY, THE EAST IS RED, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV & V, Jean Wang Ching-ying has a second career at which she has attained greater heights: fashion model. This video program succeeds when simply showcasing the remarkably beautiful Taiwan native in a number of exotic and stylized settings. Unfortunately, like many of these productions, it eventually descends into outright silliness. Why do the creators of these things think that anyone really cares about context in a video pictorial, especially one that runs barely a half hour?

  

Chapter 1 is a collection of still images from segments seen later on and are also featured in the program's photobook tie-in. Chapter 2 (the bizarrely named "The Goblin on Stage") shows Jean Wang on the catwalk, behind the scenes of said fashion show, and on the locations that will be coming up. Next is "Looking for the Missing Tarot," which sets up the slender storyline: Wang has decided to "take off her high heel shoes" and venture out into the wilds of Thailand in search of adventure. She encounters a tarot card reader in a small village, which prompts her to achieve the title objective, as she is "wishing to seek absoluteness and positivity in life." The viewer is then presented with a row of five Tarot cards; choosing one determines the next vignette. The best finds Wang (vamping in a blonde wig and short shorts) pursued by police after apparently murdering a guy that tried to force himself upon her. Other segments offer beach frolicking, elephant riding, Wang modeling European period gowns, and then being chosen as a possible sacrificial victim by some torch-bearing lunatics. Finally, the DVD concludes with "Answering Machine of the Moods" (?), which offers a few minutes of Wang talking about the making of the program, with some Greek Chorus comments from her model friends.

The ending of this silly scenario is telegraphed almost at the very beginning and, sorry to report that, in spite of the title, Wang is never genuinely naked at any point. Still, fans probably won’t mind too much as she is on-camera about 98% of the time and looks breathtaking more often than not.

  


PRESENTATION:

The menu can be viewed in Chinese, English or Japanese; the language you choose also determines the voice over narration you receive. On the chapters with dialogue, you can jump between those languages or call up subtitles in them. The audio is sufficiently dynamic (though the English track has some dropouts), while the video (a mix of 16mm and Betacam) features all of the tonal and contrast manipulation one expects from this sort of program. It could probably be a bit sharper but, overall, there is little to complain about. While the disc’s layout is generally good, it certainly could have used a "Play All" option and you must go back to the menu to jump between chapters. The Fejui logo occasionally pops up in the top left corner of the image, but it is usually offscreen before becoming too much of a distraction.

This DVD is available at:

Images in this review courtesy of Fejui Media Corporation. To read captions, hover mouse over image.


Click here for more information about The Hong Kong Filmography

Copyright © John Charles 2000 - 2004. All Rights Reserved.
E-mail: mail@dighkmovies.com

DVD Specifications

  • Taiwan Release
  • NTSC – Region 0
  • Fejui Media Corporation #AVC36303
  • Dolby Digital 2.0
  • Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and English Language
  • Subtitles (Optional): English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese
  • 4 Chapters
  • 4:3 Fullscreen
  • 31 Minutes

Ratings & Consumer Information

  • Not Available
  • Contains mild eroticism

FILM REVIEW RATINGS KEY:

  • 10 A Masterpiece
  • 9 Excellent
  • 8 Highly Recommended
  • 7 Very Good
  • 6 Recommended
  • 5 Marginal Recommendation
  • 4 Not Recommended
  • 3 Poor
  • 2 Definitely Not Recommended
  • 1 Dreadful