Vulgaria 低俗喜劇

Vulgaria is super fun for fans of Hong Kong Cinema and filmmaking in general, though it may remain esoteric to some. Pang Ho-Cheung's crass creativity makes up for the loose story and lack of sight gags, and Pang manages decent emotions too. Fluency in Cantonese is a must to get the full effect.

VULGARIA: A box-office smash in Hong Kong that begins a Toronto theatrical run this weekend, this Cantonese-language comedy is more than filthy enough to live up to its title. That Pang Ho Cheung’s film is also one of the most ruthless satires of the movie business sinceThe Player makes it even more impressive to connoisseurs of rude humour.

Vulgaria stars Chapman To as To Wai Cheung, a hapless producer working in the lowest rung of Hong Kong’s film industry: the lurid, low-budget exploitation movies known as Category III. After a drunken meeting with a gangster from the mainland, To finds himself saddled with an unusual project. Not only does the gangster want the producer to make a sequel to his favourite soft-core movie from the ’70s, he has some very specific ideas about the casting, ideas that best not be mentioned here lest they offend more sensitive readers.

Though the local nature of the humour may be lost on western viewers — subtitles apparently cannot do justice to the sheer foulness of the language — the wildest gags survive any challenges inherent to the translation process. Vulgaria opens Sept. 28 at Cineplex Odeon Yonge-Dundas, Cineplex Odeon Eglinton Town Centre and the SilverCity Richmond Hill.