MY YOUNG AUNTIE offers something a little different to the usual Shaw Brothers film. This one goes down the comedy musical route and it's something of an overlong piece at two hours, but it still manages to pack in all of the fight action that you expect from Shaw; it's simply that the rest of the film is unlike the majority of the studio's action output.
The main thrust of the story concerns the lovely Kara Hui and the unusual situation in which she finds herself: married to an elderly chap who dies, she is now the senior woman of the family, the titular character, to whom others must defer to despite her youth and beauty. Thus this is a fish-out-of-water comedy, with a lot of slapstick and knockabout humour arising from Hui's relationship with the bratty youth played by Hsiao Hou.
Hou doesn't often get the chance to shine in the films but he makes a big impact here, and is funny and a great fighter to boot. Presiding over things (he wrote and directed, as well as co-starring) is Liu Chia-Liang with a strong role that dominates the action at the climax. In support are Wang Lung Wei playing his usual stock mega-villain, Gordon Liu in an amusing cameo as a westernised Chinese, and Yuen Tak, one of the least known of the famous 'Seven Yuens' which included Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. The musical scenes are surprisingly a lot of fun and the comedy works well too. The highlight is undoubtedly the sight of seeing Hui kung fu-fighting in a dress that shows off her lovely figure; she's a real star in this one.
The main thrust of the story concerns the lovely Kara Hui and the unusual situation in which she finds herself: married to an elderly chap who dies, she is now the senior woman of the family, the titular character, to whom others must defer to despite her youth and beauty. Thus this is a fish-out-of-water comedy, with a lot of slapstick and knockabout humour arising from Hui's relationship with the bratty youth played by Hsiao Hou.
Hou doesn't often get the chance to shine in the films but he makes a big impact here, and is funny and a great fighter to boot. Presiding over things (he wrote and directed, as well as co-starring) is Liu Chia-Liang with a strong role that dominates the action at the climax. In support are Wang Lung Wei playing his usual stock mega-villain, Gordon Liu in an amusing cameo as a westernised Chinese, and Yuen Tak, one of the least known of the famous 'Seven Yuens' which included Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. The musical scenes are surprisingly a lot of fun and the comedy works well too. The highlight is undoubtedly the sight of seeing Hui kung fu-fighting in a dress that shows off her lovely figure; she's a real star in this one.