Sandra Ng's "matterphorics”: A feminist approach to recent Hong Kong cinema

Abstract

The final chapter of the book, by Elaine Kim-mui E. Chan, looks at contemporary Hong Kong cinema, and how veteran actress-producer, Sandra Ng (1965), has impacted women’s roles in the booming industry. In her thirties, Ng began to push beyond the limits of what the male-dominated film industry had considered viable. She altered her physical appearance through changes in image and weight to better fit serious dramatic roles. This chapter examines the significance of Sandra Ng’s creative contribution to Hong Kong cinema. Her practice is not only socio-culturally significant, but also, perhaps belatedly, feminist.

Veteran and well-renowned Hong Kong actress producer, Sandra Ng, has been gaining more international recognition over the last decade. She began her career as a comedian in television and film playing minor roles. Later, she became well-received as a slapstick comedy artist in the 1980s. However, she found it difficult to secure leading roles in the industry. Therefore, in her thirties, she began to push beyond the limits of what the male-dominated film industry has considered non-viable. She altered her physical appearance through changes in image and weight to better fit serious dramatic roles. Despite her subsequent efforts in 4 Faces of Eve (Kam Kwok-leung, Eric Kwok and Jan Lam, 1996) not paying off, she persisted. Her creative contribution in Golden Chicken (Samson Chiu, 2002) and Golden Chicken 2 (Samson Chiu, 2003) appeared to be a turning point in her career. Ng’s portrayal of a female sex-worker, Ah Gum, from her teenage years until middle age, broke new ground in her film career. With Golden Chickeness (Matt Chow, 2014), or Golden Chicken 3, she pursued other creative endeavours outside of acting, such as producing. She has since gained international recognition, receiving the Asia Star Award in 2014 at New York Asian Film Festival. In Golden Chickeness, Ng is both an actress and producer. She redefines and transforms the body of the same character by giving herself fake breasts which do not, however, lead to concretizing the patriarchal male gaze. The three Golden Chicken films, or so-called prostitute trilogy, tell stories about the highs and lows of Hong Kong, which strike a chord with audiences.

More recently, Zero to Hero (Jimmy Wan, 2021), co-produced and performed by Sandra Ng, was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. This biopic tells the story of a paralympic champion, in which Ng plays the role of mother of the male protagonist. Her superb performance in the film won her the award of Best Actress in a Leading Role (or Golden Angel Award) at the Chinese American Film Festival in 2021. In 2022, she became the first Hong Kong actress invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in the USA. In the same year, she was selected to be the “Filmmaker in Focus” at the 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

This paper aims to critically examine the significance of Sandra Ng’s creative contribution and her trope of cinema. Ng’s practice is not only socio-culturally significant, but also “matterphorically” feminist.