La Lingerie

And there I was, on another lonely Sunday.

I felt lazy going to Ikeja's Family Sunday. No driver. And nobody to bum a ride. So i stayed in the house all day, Sunday.

I thought it was only me and Randy in the house. It turned out that the usual bunch is in the house -- me, Randy, Steven, Edward and Wesa. Only our boot camp manager went out that day.

As usual, i went to the living room and rummaged through our DVD collections. I think it is Steven who bought new DVDs regularly. Anyway, i've gotten tired of action flicks so i choose a rather sleazy-titled DVD - "La Lingerie". The cover photo was that of pretty young things (Hong Kong Chinese movie stars).

Hmmm, a teeny-bopper movie.

Bring out the camote and the yoghurt. The whisky and the soda.

I thought it's going to be a sort of B-movie, but it turned out to be a comedy. It's like the sort of Ruffa Mae Quinto movie. Sexy, funny, naughty, and some dorky life-changing experiences thrown in between.

The story is weaved by narration of the main character named Miu, who aspires to be a lingerie designer but ended up as a 'lingerie researcher'.

Among the bunch of characters are :

- Donut (yes, Marix, that's her movie name), Miu's cousin, who is having an affair with a married man.

- Celine, a flight stewardess endessly looking for a rich man in Business Class to seduce and marry

- James, a rookie policeman and an OC, who fell in love with Celine but indeed up as her boy-toy

- CC, a high-class GRO but manages her own lingerie store.

- Lucas, marketing manager f the lingerie store where Miu us working

- Antonio, the son of the lingerie store owner, who is gay and narcissistic.

- The unnamed lingerie pervert who stole lingerie from apartments and collects them in his pad.

I think the most hilarious part of the movie was the scene where the 'gay' Prince Antonio, supposedly wanted to have an 'experience'. Since both of them are virgin, Antonio suggested they should do Antonion's idea of 'safe sex', that is: "you do yours, i will do mine.." Nooo, there is nothing x-rated in that segment. Really reminded of Ruffa Mae's movies.

The movie may look like it has a convoluted plot (magulo) which has no direct relation with lingerie, except maybe for Miu. But if looking at the 'big picture' one will see where the title"La Lingerie" comes into play, and that is because all of the characters' separate story somehow has something with lingerie.

- Miu met Lucas when she was accepted in the lingerie store. Then, inheriting an expensive collection of lingeries from her dead aunt.

- James, meeting Celine after she complained about her missing lingeries

- CC, who owns a lingerie and met Eugene. She used her entire savings from the lingerie business to buy jewelries to be used in Eugene's 'Harvard' ball.

- Donut, who met the married man while doing assisting him in selecting lingerie for his wife

But the main theme is not about the lingerie. It is about everyone's search for true love. About dreaming of their Mr or Miss Right, while someone close to them is ignored. And as a teeny bopper movie, there is the usual need for sex or to wanting to be devirginized. At least the movie kept the 'sex' side of the story safe (no pun, intended) and wholesome.

And in the end, when the efforts failed, there is the (predictable?) usual ending .... realizing where true love lies... As their were four stories/plots in the movie, one ended happily (Miu and Lucas), another in status quo (Celine & James), the third in separation (Donut and her affair), and CC losing her sanity.

I know it's a cheap story. But it's definitely better and less corny than if it were a Pinoy version. Of course, i will make an exception if Ruffa Mae Quinto is in that movie.

The movie dialog is in Chinese (Canto) but the English subtitle is quite grammatically correct. Unlike those other Malaysia-recorded DVDs where the english translation is mangled.

Here is a review from an HK reviewer:

Miu Ho, a sweet and somewhat daffy virgin who's angling for a job as a lingerie designer. She seems to have the skills, but interviewer Lena (Gigi Leung) wants Miu to dig deeper into undergarment culture. Miu receives the title "Lingerie Researcher", and is assigned to look into the world around her to observe how underwear makes the woman - or, in some cases, vice-versa.

Miu starts her duties by surreptitiously peeping at accidental exposures in everyday life and noting in copious voiceover how many of the exposures may not really be accidental. After all, lingerie is hidden beneath a woman's clothes, but the lingerie is eye-catching and expensive, indicating that perhaps the women do want it to be seen. What's the meaning behind this contradiction? Miu's underwear thesis is ostensibly the driving force behind La Lingerie's narrative, and Chan Hing-Ka and his co-screenwriters dig into their toolbox of undue metaphor to come up with their canned, cloying discoveries.
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/la_lingerie.html

Despite the half-smile review in HK, the movie is not really that bad --- to alternate with internet...

But next Sunday, I swear I will go to Eleko Beach...