Posted in: Look! It Moves! by Adi Tantimedh, Movies | Tagged: HRL, nyaff, zombiology

Look! It Moves! At The NYAFF: 'Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight'

First of all, Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight has got to be one of the worst titles in the English language. Hong Kong movies have a tendency to be weirdly arbitrary in how they pick their English titles. The direct translation of the Chinese title for this movie is "Let's Fight Zombies Tonight", which is a more accurate summation of this movie and its tone.

Adapted by Alan Lo from his original short film and, apparently, a cult novel, Zombiology is a movie that self-consciously sets out to be a geeky cult movie. The two heroes are a pair of twenty-something nerds who like to think of themselves as winnable superheroes out to save the world — when they're basically slackers with a slight talent in crafting oddball weapons from everyday objects and props from their aunt's dying Cantonese Opera theatre.

Suddenly, a zombie apocalypse breaks out, caused by a giant stuffed chicken that lays exploding eggs that blow people's heads off. Our heroes think this is their chance to shine with their pop culture savvy and odd makeshift weapons, but they're really a pair of screw-ups and their chances of success are really up in the air.

I suppose you could say a country's filmmaking has reached its decadent phase when its movies start getting self-conscious with pop culture references all over the place, wearing its geek credentials on its sleeve. And then it continues, even as the in-jokes overtake the narrative and the story doesn't make much sense, all under a hipster veneer.

There's an opening that's an anime cartoon sequence. There are scattershot satires poking at specific issues in Hong Kong, like armies of rampaging real estate agents who might be scarier than the zombies. There's also a poignant subtext about the old Hong Kong dying in the form of the dying Cantonese opera theatre being bought up to make way for an office complex. Part of the postmodernist references include veteran stars like Carrie Ng and Alex Man playing out their subplot of two older people trying to pick up the pieces after a decade-old tragedy that destroyed their lives. The zombie and horror, or rather, horror-comedy, pitch of the movie means it's automatically banned in Mainland China, so the movie itself is an act of defiance in pushing its Hong Kong cultural identity. It's too bad the movie spends so much time throwing all that stuff at the wall that it doesn't bother to have an ending that's not self-consciously ambiguous while also playing the "validation of the geek manchild" theme.

The closest Western counterpart of this movie is probably Shaun of the Dead, but that movie at least made sure it had a properly coherent story and resolution. That said, this is never dull, and there are plenty of moments that try to say something, even if it tries way too hard to be clever. Given that this movie only premiered in Hong Kong a few weeks ago, the festival getting it so soon is a major coup, and it's a window into where Hong Kong's head is at right now.

Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight will play at the NYAFF on July 15th. You can order tickets here.

Not always enjoying myself tonight at lookitmoves@gmail.com

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Look! It Moves! © Adisakdi Tantimedh

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