''King of Comedy'' () is a 1999 Hong Kong

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Lee Lik-chi Lee Lik-chi (李力持) (born 10 May 1961) is a Hong Kong-based actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Stephen Chow before disassociating each other due to frequent clashes. He is also an active contribu ...

and

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for ''Shaolin Soccer'' and ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in British ...

. ''

The New King of Comedy ''The New King of Comedy'' () is a 2019 Chinese comedy-drama film directed, written, and produced by Stephen Chow. It is a remake of Chow's own 1999 film '' King of Comedy'', this time set in Mainland China with different characters. The film tel ...

'', a remake set in mainland China, was released in 2019. Unlike Chow's typical ''

mo lei tau ''Mo lei tau'' () is a type of slapstick humour associated with Hong Kong popular culture that developed during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from t ...

'' films, ''King of Comedy'' verges on comedy-drama, describing the trials and tribulation an aspiring actor experiences on his way to stardom. Some commentators say the story is based on Chow's early career, as he started off as a temporary actor, before becoming a successful and popular comedy actor over the course of a decade. The film features a short cameo by

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

, who also got his start as an extra.

Plot

Wan Tin-sau is the head of his village's

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

, where he gives acting lessons and host community plays. On the side, he is an aspiring actor moonlighting as a

movie extra A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street ...

, often taking his work too seriously for the roles he receives. One day, a group of club girls come to ask Wan to help them act like innocent schoolgirls so they can make more money. One of the girls, Lau Piu-piu, although skeptical of advice from an unsuccessful actor, becomes a better actress through Wan's instruction and falls in love with him. When both characters finally make love, Wan searches his home for enough money to pay Piu-piu for her "services", since he thinks she slept with him for money. After Piu-piu leaves him in anger, he goes back to the film studio and receives a part as

leading actor A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

next to a legendary actress, Sister Cuckoo. During this time, Wan reconciles with Piu-piu and he pledges to support her for the rest of his life. Just as Wan is about to settle in the life of a movie star, his part is given back to a highly sought after male lead. Luckily, he regains his confidence with the help of the

misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

lunchman at the studio, who is secretly a C.I.B. agent. Wan is used in an

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

operation, where he is disguised as a delivery boy and made to deliver a hidden gun and

listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and ...

inside take-out food. Although the

ruse Ruse may refer to: Places *Ruse, Bulgaria, a major city of Bulgaria **Ruse Municipality ** Ruse Province ** 19th MMC – Ruse, a constituency *Ruše, a town and municipality in north-eastern Slovenia * Ruše, Žalec, a small settlement in east-ce ...

is discovered and the C.I.B. undercover agent is shot, Wan takes up the gun and saves the day. The lunchman is rushed to the hospital and survives his wounds. After a somewhat successful sting, Wan finally becomes famous through a performance of the ''

Thunder Storm ''Cobra Command'', known as in Japan, is an interactive movie shooter game originally released by Data East in 1984 as a LaserDisc-based arcade game. Released as an arcade conversion kit for ''Bega's Battle'' (1983), ''Cobra Command'' bec ...

''. The actors include Piu-piu, Sister Cuckoo, and his wanna-be Triad students. The end of the film involves a blatant marketing plug for

Pringles Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based crisps. Originally sold by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1968 and marketed as "Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips", the brand was sold in 2012 to the current owner, Kellogg's. As of 2011, Pri ...

brand

potato chips A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appe ...

. The entire cast of the play stands backstage rehearsing their lines while literally stuffing their mouths full of Pringles, with the logos of all five cans clearly facing towards the camera. At one point, Wan and one of his triad students argue over who should play the role of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

's character, when another actor screams "don't fight, eat chips!" When the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...

roll, a quick Pringles advertisement appears on the screen.

Cast

"King of Comedy (1999)
''

HKCinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

''. Retrieved June 2016

Box office

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, the film grossed

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

29,848,860 ()

Award nominations

References

External links

*
''King of Comedy (1999)''
at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...