''Rave Fever'' (), also known as ''X-Mas Rave Fever'') is a 1999 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Alan Mak starring

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

composer

Mark Lui Mark Lui (, born 9 July 1969) is from Hong Kong. He is a composer and producer of Cantopop music with the "On Your Mark" creative team, and part of the Artists and Repertoire team at East Asia Record Production Co., Ltd. Notable works include ...

, who was also responsible for much of the film's music. It is a

Christmas film Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

that was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 23 December 1999 for the Christmas season.

Plot

Don (played by

composer

) is a harried yuppie living in Hong Kong who has a one-night stand with a mysterious woman named Sonia. The next morning Sonia disappears but leaves her filofax in Don's possession. He attempts to retrace his steps from the previous night and encounters Nicole (played

Jaymee Ong Jaymee Ong (王淑美, born 21 September 1979 in Australia) is an Australian model and actress. She is currently the co-host of ''The Contender Asia'' and the host of AXN's '' eBuzz'' in Singapore. Personal life Ong was born and raised in Austra ...

), a sexually liberated but potentially untrustworthy woman who may or may not have known Sonia. The filofax ends up in the hands of the journalist Ashley (played by

YoYo Mung Yoyo Mung Ka-wai () is a Hong Kong actress. She was signed to TVB until March 2013, having starred in various TVB television shows, including '' Forensic Heroes I'' and '' II''. Career After graduating from Form 5, Mung worked as a bank cl ...

), who falls for the handsome yet troubled Steven (played by

Terence Yin Terence Yin Chi-wai (, born 19 May 1975) is a Hong Kong film actor, singer, producer, and media relations specialist. Yin has starred in over 30 movies, released one solo album and resides in Hong Kong. Early life May 19, 1975, Yin was born ...

), who is revealed to be Sonia's former lover. Ashley begins to suspect that Sonia may have been the victim of foul play and her suspicions point her toward the peculiar club patron Gordon (played by Sam Lee).

Cast

as Don Fung *

as Stephen *

as Nicole Ko * Sam Lee as Gordon *

as Ashley * Bey Logan as Inspector Ryan * Wah Sun Ng as Gordon's employer

Release

The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 23 December 1999. It was later presented in competition at the 2000

Stockholm Film Festival The Stockholm International Film Festival ( sv, Stockholms filmfestival, italic=no) is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November. The w ...

.
The film is rated R (Restricted).

Box office

The film earned HK$1,824,000 at the Hong Kong box office.

Reception and analysis

Author Gina Marchetti writes that with ''Rave Fever'' Alan Mak "experimented with elliptical narratives reminiscent of

Hong Kong New Wave The Hong Kong New Wave is a film movement in Chinese-language Hong Kong cinema that emerged in the late 1970s and lasted into the early 2000s. Origins of the movement The Hong Kong New Wave started in 1979 with the release of numerous notable fil ...

films". In his book ''Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment'', author David Bordwell calls the film "an experiment in Gen-X network narrative" involving "tracing crisscrossing love affairs". The website lovehkfilm.com calls ''Rave Fever'' "Hong Kong's version of '' Go''" and ultimately declares that "''Rave Fever'' is nothing more than a candy-coated confection set against a sexy, neon-lit backdrop." In his book ''Poetics of Cinema'', author David Bordwell likewise notes a similarity between the American and Hong Kong films, writing, "'' Go'' (1999) and ''Rave Fever'' (1999) echo the network approach by reiterating events seen from different characters' angles and by expanding the roles assigned to bit players. ''Rave Fever'' also uses a circulating filofax to connect its party animals." The website brns.com gave the film a rating of 7.5/10, writing, "This is not a sexy, highly charged exploration of the HK rave scene at all – but in fact a fairly subdued but very amusing comedy. It’s a comedy almost disguised within the veneer of a mystery – but as the mystery plays out almost like a shaggy dog story – the comedic aspects of the film become quite clever, very funny and have some wonderfully absurd moments." Three reviewers on the website cityonfire.com gave the film positive ratings of 8.5/10, 7/10, and 8/10.

References

External links

*
''Rave Fever''
at Hong Kong Cinemagic
''Rave Fever''
at Hong Kong Movie Database {{Alan Mak 1999 comedy films Hong Kong Christmas films Hong Kong comedy films Films shot in Hong Kong Films set in Hong Kong Films directed by Alan Mak