From Beijing with Love

A Hong Kong spy parody. Ling Ling Chat trained as an agent years ago. With no assignment ever coming, he went to work as a pork butcher. Then a dinosaur skull is stolen and the state calls him in. The problem is that he is not good at anything. He cannot hold a gun, cannot memorise a plan, and the devices he is issued do not work: a solar-powered torch, a phone with a razor in it, a shoe that fires blades. The agent assigned to him, Lee Heung-kam, is there to watch him and has in fact been told to kill him. The humour comes from inverting every convention of the spy film: the opening sequence, the casino, the gadget room, the love interest. All present and all broken. Broad comedy and precise timing are used together; the director and star are the same man and the style is his signature. Stephen Chow wrote, directed and starred. Anita Yuen is in the cast. It was a large commercial success in Hong Kong. One of the most-cited examples of its genre for anyone who likes Hong Kong comedy and parody. For a viewer who wants restraint, the film pushes its exaggeration all the way.