True Women For Sale
Encyclopedia
True Women For Sale is a 2008 drama film
directed by Herman Yau
and starring Prudence Liew
and Anthony Wong Chau Sang
.
of Hong Kong society, struggling to survive and haunted by demons in their respective pasts. The literal translation of the Chinese film title is "I do not sell my body, I sell my uterus". In fact it deals with one woman who indeed sells her body but strives to improve herself and one woman who views herself to be of higher status than the street walkers, but in reality is also selling herself by marrying someone and becoming pregnant just to become a Hong Kong citizen. The two women live in the same apartment building and share some interactions on screen; however, their stories do not necessarily intermix. The movie takes place in the Sham Shui Po
area of Kowloon
, Hong Kong
circa 2000.
Lai Chung-Chung (Prudence Liew
) is a cocaine
-addicted yet good-natured street walker who is fast approaching a "destiny call" made by a fortune teller advising her that in the year 2000, she would finally pay off all her debts from her previous life and will turn over a new leaf. To prepare herself for the life-changing event, she works hard to save up for a dentistry process to clean her badly decaying teeth and gums from years of cocaine use. After witnessing Lai heroically save a child from being hit by a van, freelance photographer Chi (Sammy Leung
) thought that Lai would make a good human interest story for a magazine and starts to photograph Lai while having his girlfriend, journalist Elaine (Toby Leung
) interview her. During Elaine's interview with Lai, it is revealed that Lai has had a troubled past with her mother and younger sister.
The other subject is Wong Lin-Fa (Race Wong
), a woman from Mainland China
who married Kin: a middle-aged, construction-working Hong Konger, in hopes of attaining a better life by gaining Hong Kong residency. Upon hearing Kin died in a work accident, Wong travels to Hong Kong, pregnant with Kin's child in hopes of collecting an abundance of condolence money
from Kin's family. However, she only receives $5000 and is kicked out by the family, who labels Wong as a golddigger. She then moves into Kin's apartment in a building that is full of prostitutes, including Lai. Insurance broker Lau Fu-Yi (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) notifies Wong that Kin had bought life insurance with her as the sole beneficiary. Lau later begins an unlikely friendship with Wong, helping her with her quest to give birth and gain residency in Hong Kong, all the while trying to sell her insurance. Lau has a way of classifying people in his head by calculating their potential insurance coverage. He does this for Lai and Chi and quickly dismisses them as having a potential of $0 while evaluating Wong at $2 million US.
and was nominated for several awards.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Herman Yau
Herman Yau
Herman Yau Lai-To , born 1961 in Hong Kong is a film director, actor, cinematographer, scriptwriter and film producer.-Background:A Chiuchow by origin, Yau studied film at The Department of Communications, Hong Kong Baptist College from 1981 to 1984 where he spent much of his early days hanging out...
and starring Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
and Anthony Wong Chau Sang
Anthony Wong Chau Sang
Anthony Wong Chau-sang is a Hong Kong Film Award-winning Hong Kong actor, screenwriter and film director. He is regarded as one of the most notable actors in Hong Kong.-Biography:...
.
Plot
The story revolves around two women in the grassrootsGrassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
of Hong Kong society, struggling to survive and haunted by demons in their respective pasts. The literal translation of the Chinese film title is "I do not sell my body, I sell my uterus". In fact it deals with one woman who indeed sells her body but strives to improve herself and one woman who views herself to be of higher status than the street walkers, but in reality is also selling herself by marrying someone and becoming pregnant just to become a Hong Kong citizen. The two women live in the same apartment building and share some interactions on screen; however, their stories do not necessarily intermix. The movie takes place in the Sham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po, or Shamshuipo, is an area of Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei. Sham Shui Po is known for its street market for electronic devices.-History:Sham Shui Po...
area of Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
circa 2000.
Lai Chung-Chung (Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
) is a cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
-addicted yet good-natured street walker who is fast approaching a "destiny call" made by a fortune teller advising her that in the year 2000, she would finally pay off all her debts from her previous life and will turn over a new leaf. To prepare herself for the life-changing event, she works hard to save up for a dentistry process to clean her badly decaying teeth and gums from years of cocaine use. After witnessing Lai heroically save a child from being hit by a van, freelance photographer Chi (Sammy Leung
Sammy Leung
Sammy Leung Chi Kin is a popular DJ/MC/actor in Hong Kong's Commercial Radio.-Life and career:Sammy Leung tried out to become a DJ for Commercial Radio when he was studying at the New Asia College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. At the time, he was working part-time. However Sammy became a...
) thought that Lai would make a good human interest story for a magazine and starts to photograph Lai while having his girlfriend, journalist Elaine (Toby Leung
Toby Leung
Toby Jing-Kei Leung is a female Cantopop singer and actress from Hong Kong. She entered the music industry in 2004 when the MusicNationGroup discovered her talent. Together with Macy Chan, Elise Liu and Bella Cheung they formed the singing group Girl's only Dormitory but later broke up...
) interview her. During Elaine's interview with Lai, it is revealed that Lai has had a troubled past with her mother and younger sister.
The other subject is Wong Lin-Fa (Race Wong
Race Wong
Race Wong Yuen-Ling is a Hong Kong actress and a member of the Hong Kong-based Cantopop music group 2R alongside her sister Rosanne Wong. She is now a Singaporean resident.She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English.-Album:...
), a woman from Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
who married Kin: a middle-aged, construction-working Hong Konger, in hopes of attaining a better life by gaining Hong Kong residency. Upon hearing Kin died in a work accident, Wong travels to Hong Kong, pregnant with Kin's child in hopes of collecting an abundance of condolence money
Condolences
Condolences are an expression of sympathy to someone who has experienced grief arising from death, deep mental anguish, or misfortune.When individuals condole, or offer their condolences to a particular situation or person, they are offering active, conscious support of that person or activity...
from Kin's family. However, she only receives $5000 and is kicked out by the family, who labels Wong as a golddigger. She then moves into Kin's apartment in a building that is full of prostitutes, including Lai. Insurance broker Lau Fu-Yi (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) notifies Wong that Kin had bought life insurance with her as the sole beneficiary. Lau later begins an unlikely friendship with Wong, helping her with her quest to give birth and gain residency in Hong Kong, all the while trying to sell her insurance. Lau has a way of classifying people in his head by calculating their potential insurance coverage. He does this for Lai and Chi and quickly dismisses them as having a potential of $0 while evaluating Wong at $2 million US.
Cast
- Prudence LiewPrudence LiewPrudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
as Lai Chung-Chung - Anthony Wong Chau-sang as Lau Fu-Yi
- Race WongRace WongRace Wong Yuen-Ling is a Hong Kong actress and a member of the Hong Kong-based Cantopop music group 2R alongside her sister Rosanne Wong. She is now a Singaporean resident.She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English.-Album:...
as Wong Lin-Fa - Sammy LeungSammy LeungSammy Leung Chi Kin is a popular DJ/MC/actor in Hong Kong's Commercial Radio.-Life and career:Sammy Leung tried out to become a DJ for Commercial Radio when he was studying at the New Asia College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. At the time, he was working part-time. However Sammy became a...
as Chi - Toby LeungToby LeungToby Jing-Kei Leung is a female Cantopop singer and actress from Hong Kong. She entered the music industry in 2004 when the MusicNationGroup discovered her talent. Together with Macy Chan, Elise Liu and Bella Cheung they formed the singing group Girl's only Dormitory but later broke up...
as Elaine - Sherming Yiu as Chung's friend
- Yumiko ChengYumiko ChengYumiko Cheng is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer. Cheng was given the Japanese nickname "Yumiko" by her friends in secondary school, and upon signing with EEG, adopted it as her official stagename.-Career:...
as Midwife - Chapman ToChapman ToChapman To Man-chak is a Hong Kong actor, best known for specializing in comedic roles in films such as Infernal Affairs and Initial D.-Career:To began his acting career in TV soap operas and moved to the big screen in 2000...
as Cop - Susan Shaw as Chung’s mother
- Jessie Meng as Dr. Li
- Monie Tung as Sister Kot
- Louis CheungLouis CheungLouis Cheung is a Hong Kong Cantopop recording-artist, songwriter and actor. He has written many songs for other famous cantopop singers, such as Eason Chan, Leo Ku, Hacken Lee, Eric Suen, and Joey Yung...
as Social Worker - Terence SiufayTerence SiufayTerence Siufay is a Chinese singer who has been with the group C-Plus for the past 10 years in Macau. In 2007, he joined Gold Typhoon in Hong Kong...
as Joe
Awards & nominations
The film was selected as the opening film in the 2008 Hong Kong Asian Film FestivalHong Kong Asian Film Festival
Hong Kong Asian Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Hong Kong. Started in 2004 as an indie film festival, it has since grown into a large film festival known in Hong Kong....
and was nominated for several awards.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Golden Horse Awards | Best Actress | Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:... |
||
| 2009 | Hong Kong Film Awards 28th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 19 April 2009 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Eric Tsang, Teresa Mo, Sandra Ng, Vincent Kok, Kay Tse, Denise Ho, Lam Chi Chung, Chin Kar-lok, Louis Fan, Tin Kai Man, Michelle Lo and Wong Cho Lam.-Best Film:-Best Director:-Best... |
Best Actress | Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Race Wong Race Wong Race Wong Yuen-Ling is a Hong Kong actress and a member of the Hong Kong-based Cantopop music group 2R alongside her sister Rosanne Wong. She is now a Singaporean resident.She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English.-Album:... |
||||
| Ming Pao Weekly Magazine Awards | Most Outstanding Actress | Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:... |