Forbidden City Cop
Encyclopedia
Forbidden City Cop is a 1996
Hong Kong
martial arts
/comedy film
directed by Vincent Kok
, starring Stephen Chow
, Carina Lau
and Carman Lee.
wordplay on the code number "008", a reference to James Bond
, whose number was 007 (see From Beijing with Love
), as well as part of a Cantonese Chinese New Year
's Greeting: "Kung hei fat choy" (恭喜發財).
Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow) is, by heritage, a member of the Chinese Emperor
's elite personal bodyguards. Instead of studying martial arts
, like his fellow bodyguards, Ling Ling Fat makes unusual inventions, practices gynaecology
, and spends time with his loving wife (Carina Lau). In the beginning of the film, Ling Ling Fat fails to apprehend a group of ugly swordsmen who are trespassing in the Forbidden City
, but he does manage to acquire a kung fu manual, Flying Fairy, from one of the swordsmen. During an audience with the Emperor, Ling Ling Fat's seemingly useless inventions and his ignorance of martial arts enrage the Emperor, who demotes him to menial tasks around the palace.
Meanwhile, Faceless, King of Gum Tribe, plans to assassinate the Emperor and overtake China. The Gum Tribe creates a diversion by inviting all the doctors of China to a medical exposition in which an alien is to be dissected. Ling Ling Fat and the Emperor separately depart for the event. While Ling Ling Fat and his wife feast at a string of restaurants, Gum's men assassinate and kill the Emperor's three remaining bodyguards. The assassins put the unconscious Emperor in an alien costume to present him as the alien for dissection. Just as Ling Ling Fat and the other doctors discover the Emperor's identity, Gum's assassins begin to slaughter everyone in attendance. Ling Ling Fat uses his wits and inventions to defeat the assassins.
The Emperor honors Ling Ling Fat for his success and gives him an enormous pearl as a reward. For his next assignment, the Emperor charges Ling Ling Fat with investigating a prospective concubine, the beautiful prostitute Gum Tso (Carmen Lee
). Ling Ling Fat meets with Gum Tso without his wife's knowledge and has difficulty restraining himself from her seductive advances. He gives her the enormous pearl and lies about it to his wife. Later, Gum Tso surprises Ling Ling Fat at his home, forcing a violent confrontation between Ling Ling Fat and his wife's family. Ling Ling Fat forsakes his tearful wife and leaves with Gum Tso.
When Ling Ling Fat brings Gum Tso to the palace, he and the Emperor throw Gum Tso in chains and reveal that she is actually Faceless in disguise. Ling Ling Fat had deciphered Gum Tso's true identity during their meeting and enlisted his entire family in a ruse to fool Faceless. The Emperor begins handing out acting awards to Ling Ling Fat's various family members, but Faceless manages to break free. Once again, Ling Ling Fat uses his inventions and wits to combat Faceless, but Faceless fights back with powerful martial arts techniques. On the verge of defeat, Ling Ling Fat is struck by a lightning bolt meant for Faceless which awakes his potential and enables him to use the Flying Fairy technique he learned from the manual he gained at the beginning of the film, thus destroying Faceless.
Hong Kong films of 1996
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1996:.-1996:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1996 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
martial arts
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...
/comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Vincent Kok
Vincent Kok
Vincent Kok Tak-Chiu is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director.Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing with him the films Forbidden City Cop, From Beijing with Love and The God of Cookery in addition to producing and co-writing Chow's...
, starring Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
, Carina Lau
Carina Lau
Carina Lau Kar-ling is a Hong Kong actress. She was especially notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films....
and Carman Lee.
Synopsis
Ling Ling Fat is a CantoneseStandard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
wordplay on the code number "008", a reference to James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, whose number was 007 (see From Beijing with Love
From Beijing With Love
From Beijing With Love is a 1994 Hong Kong action and comedy film directed by Lee Lik-Chi and Stephen Chow. It's a very direct spoof of James Bond movies and stars Stephen Chow, Anita Yuen and Law Ka-Ying.- Synopsis :...
), as well as part of a Cantonese Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
's Greeting: "Kung hei fat choy" (恭喜發財).
Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow) is, by heritage, a member of the Chinese Emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
's elite personal bodyguards. Instead of studying martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, like his fellow bodyguards, Ling Ling Fat makes unusual inventions, practices gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
, and spends time with his loving wife (Carina Lau). In the beginning of the film, Ling Ling Fat fails to apprehend a group of ugly swordsmen who are trespassing in the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City is a film released in 1918 starring Norma Talmadge and Thomas Meighan and directed by Sidney Franklin. The plot centers around an inter-racial romance between a Chinese princess and an American . When palace officials discover she has become pregnant she is sentenced to death...
, but he does manage to acquire a kung fu manual, Flying Fairy, from one of the swordsmen. During an audience with the Emperor, Ling Ling Fat's seemingly useless inventions and his ignorance of martial arts enrage the Emperor, who demotes him to menial tasks around the palace.
Meanwhile, Faceless, King of Gum Tribe, plans to assassinate the Emperor and overtake China. The Gum Tribe creates a diversion by inviting all the doctors of China to a medical exposition in which an alien is to be dissected. Ling Ling Fat and the Emperor separately depart for the event. While Ling Ling Fat and his wife feast at a string of restaurants, Gum's men assassinate and kill the Emperor's three remaining bodyguards. The assassins put the unconscious Emperor in an alien costume to present him as the alien for dissection. Just as Ling Ling Fat and the other doctors discover the Emperor's identity, Gum's assassins begin to slaughter everyone in attendance. Ling Ling Fat uses his wits and inventions to defeat the assassins.
The Emperor honors Ling Ling Fat for his success and gives him an enormous pearl as a reward. For his next assignment, the Emperor charges Ling Ling Fat with investigating a prospective concubine, the beautiful prostitute Gum Tso (Carmen Lee
Carmen Lee
Carman Lee Yeuk-tung is a Hong Kong actress who has appeared in films such as The Wicked City , Loving You , The Odd One Lives , and the North American Knock Off with Jean-Claude Van Damme...
). Ling Ling Fat meets with Gum Tso without his wife's knowledge and has difficulty restraining himself from her seductive advances. He gives her the enormous pearl and lies about it to his wife. Later, Gum Tso surprises Ling Ling Fat at his home, forcing a violent confrontation between Ling Ling Fat and his wife's family. Ling Ling Fat forsakes his tearful wife and leaves with Gum Tso.
When Ling Ling Fat brings Gum Tso to the palace, he and the Emperor throw Gum Tso in chains and reveal that she is actually Faceless in disguise. Ling Ling Fat had deciphered Gum Tso's true identity during their meeting and enlisted his entire family in a ruse to fool Faceless. The Emperor begins handing out acting awards to Ling Ling Fat's various family members, but Faceless manages to break free. Once again, Ling Ling Fat uses his inventions and wits to combat Faceless, but Faceless fights back with powerful martial arts techniques. On the verge of defeat, Ling Ling Fat is struck by a lightning bolt meant for Faceless which awakes his potential and enables him to use the Flying Fairy technique he learned from the manual he gained at the beginning of the film, thus destroying Faceless.
Cast
- Stephen ChowStephen ChowStephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
- Carina LauCarina LauCarina Lau Kar-ling is a Hong Kong actress. She was especially notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films....
- Carman Lee
- Cheung Tat-mingCheung Tat-MingCheung Tat-ming is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, director and writer. Cheung married Ho Nim-chi in September 2001. Ms Ho is a doctor...
- Law Kar-yingLaw Kar-YingLaw Kar-ying is a Hong Kong-based actor. He was originally a Cantonese Opera artiste. In 1990 he turned to acting in movies. He became popular after being cast in From Beijing with Love, which also starred Stephen Chow, as Da Vinci, an inventor whose list of gadgets include a solar-powered...
- Tats LauTats LauTats Lau Yee-Tat is a songwriter, musician and comedy actor in Hong Kong.- Music career :During the 1980s, Tats Lau was active in Hong Kong's independent music scene...
- Lee Lik-ChiLee Lik-ChiLee Lik-chi is a Hong Kong-based actor, film director and screenplay writer.-Filmography:*The King of Comedy *Gorgeous *The Lucky Guy *Troublesome Night 3 *Killing Me Tenderly...
- Charles Shen
- Vincent KokVincent KokVincent Kok Tak-Chiu is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director.Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing with him the films Forbidden City Cop, From Beijing with Love and The God of Cookery in addition to producing and co-writing Chow's...
- Manfred WongManfred WongManfred Wong Man-Chun , born on 1 January 1957 in Hong Kong is a Hong Kong radio personality, film producer, screenwriter, director and actor. He is best known for his involvement as a writer for the Young and Dangerous film series.-Biography:...