''My Mother Is a Belly Dancer'' (師奶唔易做, lit: "It's not easy to be a ''see lai''") is a 2006

Hong Kong film The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former Crown colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of ar ...

directed by Lee Kung-Lok. It is part of

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah ( zh, order=t,j, t=劉德華, j=Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born Lau Fook-wing; 27 September 1961), is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1 ...

's "Focus: First Cut" series, focusing on promising young directors from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Andy Lau makes a cameo in the film.

Plot

The film is a portrait of three "see lai", a

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

term used in Hong Kong to describe wives, especially

housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

, who are approaching or in their

middle age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

s. Mrs. Chan (Amy Shum), who has a grown daughter, is a housewife who tends to be domineering of her husband. Mrs. Lee (Sydney Suet Lei), on the other hand, is meek, with a chauvinistic husband (Ken Tong) and a young son who is troubling her with his poor grades. Mrs. Wong (Crystal Tin) is a garbage lady who has to support a family of four daughters. Her doting

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

husband (Gordon Lam) is out of a job, and the family has to make ends meet nonetheless. Her life is thrown out of order when she is laid off her job. Mrs. Chan and Mrs. Lee originally join the belly dancing classes held by foreign teacher Pasha (Pasha Umer Hood) out of curiosity. Pasha replaces their traditional dance teacher and many in the neighborhood are unwilling to learn the dance as they think it indecent. Before long, Mrs. Wong and

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...

Cherry (Monie Tung), join them. Cherry is a twenty-something

gold digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold di ...

who nonetheless wants to find a father for her baby boy. The belly dancing classes become the highlight of the lives of these women, as they try to cope with upheavals and stresses in their private lives. Mrs. Chan's husband has an affair with a younger girl and she is thinking of

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, yet unable to take the definitive step to break with her husband. Mrs. Lee's husband objects to her classes and bars her from attending them, especially after her understanding

mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

faints after dancing too vigorously during a belly dance gathering. Mrs. Wong has to deal with the stress of having no income, even though her husband voices his support for her belly dancing. Cherry intends to end her gold digging ways and settle down with someone who can accept her baby son. The film ends with each finding solution to her problem: Mrs. Chan accepts divorce after support from her grown-up daughter; Mrs. Lee reunites with her husband after moving out briefly; Mrs. Wong finds a new job; and Cherry discovers someone who cares enough for her and her baby son.

Cast and roles

* Cheung Wing-Hong * Amy Chum - Mrs. Chan (credited as Yan-mei Tam) * Pasha Umer Hood - Pasha *

Lam Chi-chung Lam Chi-chung (; born 16 August 1976) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong actor. Partial filmography * ''The Sexy Guys'' (2019) * ''The Incredible Monk 3'' (2019) * ''Monkey King - The Volcano'' (2019) * ''Flirting Scholar from the Future'' (2019) * '' ...

- Cameo *

Gordon Lam Gordon Lam Ka-tung (林家棟; born 21 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor, film producer and screenwriter. Initially known for his supporting roles in films directed by Andrew Lau and Johnnie To, Lam eventually became a lead actor in the Hong ...

- Mr. Wong *

- Adili (Cameo) * Suet Lei - Mrs. Lee (as Sydney) *

Kristal Tin Kristal Tin Yui Nei (, born 28 September 1977) is a Hong Kong singer and a former TVB actress. Career Tin's career began with a first-place award in a singing contest in 1993. After the competition, she was offered a contract at Asia Televi ...

- Mrs. Wong *

Kent Tong Kenneth Tong Chun-yip (; born 29 September 1958) is a Hong Kong actor. He was a popular TVB actor during the 1980s, nicknamed "Prince" and one of the " Five Tiger Generals" of TVB. Early life Kent Tong was born to and grew up in a poor family in H ...

- Mr. Lee * Monie Tung - Cherry

External links

IMDb entry
{{Andy Lau Hong Kong drama films 2006 films Films produced by Andy Lau 2000s Cantonese-language films 2000s Hong Kong films