The Hong Kong comedy Vulgaria—which screened recently at River East 21 and returns to town this week for two shows at the Gene Siskel Film Center—might strike some as a collection of dirty jokes. But in fact it’s more a celebration of the dirty joke as a narrative form: the movie’s structure and much of its detail evoke those lewd shaggy-dog stories we all heard in middle school but share less often as we get older. The plot hinges on several disgusting—and highly improbable—sex acts, but there’s no on-screen sex or even nudity; instead director and cowriter Pang Ho-cheung emphasizes the ridiculous complications leading up to the dirty parts. Like a good storyteller playing off the enthusiasm of his listeners, he gets more inventive as he goes along, spinning out funny narrative digressions and plot twists that keep us on our toes.
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One of Hong Kong’s most popular comic writers, Pang made his name in 1998 with a best-selling novel about hit men that Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai made into a successful film called Fulltime Killer. Yet as a filmmaker, Pang has proved himself skilled at finding humor in banal situations. His most characteristic film may be Trivial Matters (2007), a series of short sketches about commonplace sexual and romantic anxieties. Few of the stories in that film build to a big climax; instead they center on low-key character observations and odd jokes, demonstrating an enjoyment of storytelling for its own sake. Love in a Puff (2010), one of his biggest hits to date, took inspiration from Hong Kong’s then-recent ban on smoking in office buildings; its two lovers first meet in a “hot pot pack,” referring to those groups of smokers who bond during cigarettes breaks outside their workplaces.
In a lesser movie Candy would become the butt of sexist jokes, but in Vulgaria the women are as knowingly crass as any of the men. (Candy has a hilarious monologue about her dream project: a video game for the Wii in which players give hand jobs.) Speaking to the Singapore-baseed Web site InSing.com, Pang explained the reasoning behind his inclusive vibe: “Vulgarities are part of our daily lives. In Cantonese . . . vulgarities are part of the way we express ourselves, our feelings . . . Sometimes in incorporating vulgarities in our conversation with friends, it forms the closeness between us.”
Directed by Pang Ho-cheung
