Film Review: A Fishy Story 不脫襪的人 (1989) - Hong Kong
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 8/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
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There are movies that glide along on charm and star power, and then there are those rare ones that use charm as a Trojan horse to slip deeper truths about ambition, class, love, and a city on the edge of chaos into your heart. A Fishy Story is one of the latter—a sparkling, bittersweet Hong Kong romantic dramedy that earns its place among the more memorable films of the late ’80s wave.
Set against the turbulent backdrop of 1967 Hong Kong, with its riots, political unrest, and colonial tensions simmering just outside the frame (and sometimes bursting right into it), the film follows Huang (Maggie Cheung), an aspiring actress and relentless social climber who arrives full of dreams and designer gowns. She moves into a quirky apartment building and promptly enlists her reluctant neighbor, Kung (Kenny Bee), an unlicensed taxi driver who moonlights as a “toy boy” for a wealthy woman, to be her personal chauffeur and occasional accomplice in her schemes. What begins as mutual annoyance slowly, messily, transforms into something resembling love—though in this movie, love is never simple or pure. It’s laced with manipulation, sacrifice, ego, and the harsh realities of survival.
Maggie Cheung delivers a star-making performance here, one that won her the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress. She is luminous, mercurial, and utterly convincing as a woman who weaponizes her beauty and charm while revealing flickers of vulnerability and genuine longing. Cheung has that rare quality of making you root for a character who is, on paper, often quite selfish. Kenny Bee matches her beautifully as the rough-edged yet decent Kung—his performance has a weary charisma that grounds the more theatrical moments. Together, their chemistry crackles with the push-pull of two people who see through each other’s facades but can’t quite walk away.
Director Anthony Chan (who also appears in a supporting role) directs with a light but confident touch, blending screwball comedy, melodrama, and social commentary. The film has been compared to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the comparison is fair—both feature glamorous dreamers navigating a gritty city—but A Fishy Story feels more grounded in its specific time and place. The period details, the use of archival footage of protests, and Peter Pau’s elegant cinematography (won Best Cinematography at Hong Kong Film Awards) give it texture. It never feels like it’s lecturing you about politics; instead, the unrest serves as a constant reminder that personal dreams play out against larger forces.
At times the tone shifts abruptly, and some of the emotional manipulations border on exhausting, but these are minor quibbles. The movie earns its emotional payoff through honesty about how ambition can corrode relationships, and how two flawed people might still find something real amid the fishy circumstances of their lives.
I had a smile on my face for much of A Fishy Story, and a lump in my throat by the end. It’s funny, stylish, and surprisingly moving. In a cinematic world increasingly dominated by spectacle, it’s refreshing to be reminded that great performances and human-scale stories still carry the day. Thumbs up. A charming gem that deserves more attention outside Hong Kong cinema circles. (Neo, 2026)