Cantopop star Anita Mui was so big, she even has her own wiki page, like Don Knotts and Baby Shark. Of course, only one of those three is still alive today … and it’s the wrong one. A queen of tabloids and controversy, Anita turned her Madonna-like singing career into a Madonna-like acting career, and finally ended her personal ballad with a Lady Di-like philanthropy career. A throng loved her, clearly including writer/director Lok Man Leung.
Most biopics of singers cast people who can actually sing; Anita took the bold move of doing no such thing. I kid, but –seriously- the Anita show began during her childhood as a duet with her (also pre-pubescent) sister the girl they’ve cast as li’l Anita can’t really sing at all. At some point, a frustrated child pre-Anita vows she’ll “never sing again.” I wish. Oh well.
That didn’t stop Mui Yim-Fong (Louise Wong), who later adopted “Anita” in order to attract an entirely new group of lowlifes to take advantage of her. As a young adult, Anita breaks with her sister, claims a new name, and wins Chinese Star Search or whatever. It isn’t quite the fame-making scene we’re used to in performer biopics (That Thing You Do comes to mind as having the best “holy crap, we’re famous!” celebration scene) and I think the film suffers for it. Considering this movie is such a love letter to Anita Mui, I think we’d want to revel in her newfound celebrity.
Instead, the film focused on Anita’s on-again-off-again relationship with Japanese singer Goto Yuki. Ironically, Anita’s multi-lingual singing attracted her to a Japanese audience that turned out to be a cultural no-no. If you have to choose between love and your multi-platinum singing career, odds
are you’re gonna take the platinum, sad to say.
The film happily introduced and subsequently dismissed Anita’s substance abuse problem in about a-scene-and-a-half. Clearly, that wasn’t the tragedy the producers wanted to explore. Oh, ok. Well, sure, I guess technically you’re only an alcoholic as long as you’re drinking alcohol, right?
And finally, when we are introduced to the cervical cancer portion of the film, Anita Mui still looks fantastic. Tumors are HOT! It’s nice to gloss over unpleasant things … or simply handle them in ways that only speak to heroism instead of true struggle. I do not doubt for a second the real Anita Mui suffered and struggled a great deal. That doesn’t come across in this film as much as it should. There’s clearly an idolization going on in this portrait that –in my humble opinion- detracts from the genuine performer. I attended this film wanting to learn more of Anita Mui, a popular singer I knew nothing about, and got something akin to an airbrushed version of celebrity; it’s pretty, but it’s not entirely true or useful.
There once was Anita Mui
Who lived a life so unhappy
She had many beaus
So who would suppose
It is “the stage” that she wanted to marry?
Not Rated, 137 Minutes
Director: Lok Man Leung
Writer: Lok Man Leung, Wai Lun Ng
Genre: The tragic life of an overrated superstar
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of Anita
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Fans of documentaries
