From Beijing With Love (1994)

Plot Summary: A bumbling, small-town pork butcher is secretly Agent Ling-ling-chat, China's answer to 007. Sent to recover a stolen dinosaur skull, he's armed with gadgets that do the wrong job, a partner who wants him dead, and a total absence of anything resembling competence. Carnage and absurdity ensue.

Chinese Title: 國產凌凌漆 (Guóchǎn Línglíngqī)
Directors: Stephen Chow, Lee Lik-chi
Writers: Stephen Chow, Roman Cheung / Vincent Kok, Lee Lik-chi
Producers: Charles Heung, Jimmy Heung
Music: William Hu

Starring:
Stephen Chow as Ling-ling-chat
Anita Yuen as Lee Heung-kam
Law Kar-ying as Tat Man-sai
Wong Kam-kong as Golden Gun
Pauline Chan as Mystery Woman
Lee Lik-chi as Executed Martial Arts Master

 

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT ⚠️

007, Campiness, and The Shoe That Is A Hairdryer

Today I'm continuing my exploration of Stephen Chow's filmography with Ling Ling Chat, AKA From Beijing with Love (1994). Yes, it is taking me six months to watch all 10 movies directed by this talented director and actor, but I'm getting there. I honestly left this comedy spy thriller for last because I'm not a big fan of 007 movies. I was worried I wouldn't get many of the jokes since it's a direct parody of that genre. Specifically, the film engages with the Roger Moore era of Bond, known for its campiness and larger-than-life villains. But let me tell you, I didn't need to be a Bond expert to lose it. The first laugh-out-loud moment that almost unexpectedly left me in tears was exactly when our hero shows his "gadgets" to his partner.

We get a telephone that click here, a shaver that is a click here, a hairdryer that click here, and a shoe that click here... It is one of the most nonsensical scenes delivered in that signature, deadpan Stephen Chow style. It was extremely hilarious to me. This formula of delightfully stupid inventions is something he also used in Forbidden City Cop two years later. Even the opening sequence is a direct visual homage to Maurice Binder's Bond designs, silhouettes of women, guns, and fluid abstract forms, while William Hu's score skirts the absolute edge of copyright infringement on the iconic Bond theme.

Watch the clip below for a compilation I made of all the useless gadgets presented in the movie.

Lost in Translation and The "Smelling C**t" Joke

I would say that From Beijing with Love was the movie that probably had the most jokes that just went over my head initially. I actually had to do a little research on some of the Mo Lei Tau humor and references. For example, the character of the inventor, played by Law Kar-ying, is introduced as "Da Man-sai." On the surface it sounds like a transliteration of "Da Vinci," suggesting genius. But in Cantonese, "Sai" is vulgar slang for female genitalia, and "Man" means "to smell." So "Man-sai" sounds like "Smelling C**t." The joke is that the inventor keeps correcting people: "Please, call me by my full name, Da Man-sai," because without the "Da," it's just an obscenity.

Then there's the recurring motif of Li Xianglan. The spy trying to kill our hero, Lee Heung-kam, claims to be the daughter of Li Xianglan, who was historically a real Japanese singer accused of treason in China. It creates this knot of pop culture and irony where Chow's character sings the song "Li Xianglan" (a Jacky Cheung hit) to the daughter of the woman the song is named after, while she is plotting to kill him. It's sophisticated stuff. That said, the moment the camera zooms in on Anita Yuen during that piano scene is a beautiful, beautiful shot, probably my favorite photographic moment of the entire movie.

Watch below the scene where Ling Ling plays the song on the piano.

Whiplash Tone and Anesthesia by Pornography

The movie is also very, very violent and bloody, something that you will find very often in Chow's movies. The tone changes abruptly from serious stuff to comedy with the snap of a finger, which is something I really love about his style. The villains here are 100% certain to give children nightmares. There is this one specific moment during the jewelry store robbery that confused the hell out of me but also made me laugh. Ling Ling sees a man hiding, looking all suspicious, and gesturing for him to be quiet. I honestly thought the guy was a witness hiding from the robbers. But no! He turns out to be just playing hide-and-seek with his kid. Ling Ling smiles at the innocence of it... and then, seconds later, the robbers brutally murder the father right in front of the child. It's such heavy stuff mixed with a joke.

Then you get the highlight of the movie, a scene I am certain you will not see in any other film, ever. Lee Heung-kam has to remove a bullet from Ling Ling Chat's leg with a hammer and a screwdriver, and for a sedative? Ling uses a pornographic tape to distract himself from the pain. So yeah, I enjoyed this movie very much. The only off-putting stuff is the violence against women, which is unfortunately recurrent in Chow's movies. Anyway, I definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for the absurd and some bloooood.

Watch the clip below for the bloody scene where Ling Ling uses pornography as a distraction from pain.

Freddy's Final Rating

70

Gadgets that shave when they should dry, a man called Smelling C**t, and anesthesia by pornography — Chow at his finest

📦 Watch or Own From Beijing with Love

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💿 From Beijing with Love — Blu-ray
Chow's anarchic Bond parody in the best quality possible — because even nonsense deserves HD.
View on Amazon

📀 From Beijing with Love — DVD
The classic disc option — gadgets that do the wrong job look equally chaotic in standard def.
View on Amazon

🎬 You Might Also Enjoy:

Forbidden City Cop (1996)
Chow's spiritual sequel to this film, another bumbling secret agent, same delightfully useless gadgets, set in imperial China.

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Chow's masterpiece of tonal whiplash, brutal violence and slapstick comedy sharing the same frame without apology.

Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Underdog story, absurdist humor, and CGI that actually holds up surprisingly well.