#REVIEW: “ANITA”

Review by Mr. Will Wong

In her short time on this earth, Anita Mui made her presence felt as the Queen of Cantopop throughout the ’80s.  Biopic ANITA, directed and co-written by Longman Leung, serves as a beautiful tribute to her storied rise to fame, but also gives us a look at some of her personal struggles. Fans really get the Film they deserve here as Leung balances honesty with honour.

Mui was only 40-years-old when she passed away after a battle with Cervical Cancer, just over one month after her farewell tour and the Film begins there, before taking us back in time.  We witness her childhood, where she and her sister survived singing in lounges before she gets her big break on a televised singing competition, signing a record deal quickly after. Then came her meteoric success, as Mui became known for delivering heartfelt ballads with her distinct Alto.  But it was after 1985 following a painful breakup that she truly broke the mold, becoming even more daring in her fashion and repertoire. Many branded her “Hong Kong’s Madonna” as she filled arenas around the Chinese-speaking world and won accolades as well for her acting. All this however comes at a cost as we see her suffer in silence and lose some of those who meant the most to her, like her elder sister and her best friend and counterpart, Leslie Cheung.

Leung tells the story craftily, cutting-in actual footage of Mui throughout seamlessly with his scenes and one must appreciate the painstaking amount of effort and detail placed into replicating performances and illustrating for us a nostalgic Hong Kong. My mother sitting beside me felt the ’60s to the ’80s were captured authentically. He understands that while Mui‘s success came to define her, there were voids in her life which were filled ultimately by being on-stage and performing for her adoring fans. This void also led her to find herself towards the end of her life in her philanthropy. Mui‘s success came at a cost and Leung doesn’t shy away from approaching a terrifying period in her life where she had to flee to Thailand to avoid the Triad who were out for blood after she refused to kowtow. Mui certainly takes her share of blows.

Anthony Pun‘s Cinematography is first-rate, whether he is capturing the bustle of night life in Hong Kong, to some of the Film’s more tender moments between Leslie Cheung and Mui, or her love interest Yuki Godo (Ayumu Nakajima) and more exhilaratingly, some of the Film’s performance sequences in Hong Kong Coliseum.  Every moment feelsnit pick like Hong Kong, which is integral in telling a story about Hong Kong’s Daughter.

ANITA belongs completely to newcomer Louise Wong, who plays Mui with a collected coolness, and you’d never believe this was her first Feature. If one were to nitpick, her voice never quite matches the nasal placement we heard when Mui speaks in archived footage from the Film. Nor does she quite nail the bravado and voltage at which Mui operated at. Although Wong certainly gets some of the mannerisms and her resemblance to Mui is uncanny, especially when we see her profile. Louis Koo plays Mui‘s confidante and Stylist Eddie and it’s only late that we realize we actually don’t know a lot about her parents, though none of this matters when their bond on-screen is very much like that of father and daughter.  Fish Liew also delivers a heartfelt performance as Mui‘s elder sister Ann. And while her younger’s sister’s fame drives them apart, the Film explores a deeper undercurrent of sibling rivalry between the two, and also how Ann finding love awakens some unsettling feelings in her younger sister who is told that being in a relationship would destroy her career.

There’s lots to like about ANITA whether or not you know much about her, and fans literally were cheering and clapping after the credits when I saw it. This is an affecting story which hits all the right notes, just like Mui did in being known as one of the greatest vocalists ever in Cantopop.

Edko Films Ltd. release ANITA in select theatres November 12, 2021.