Sammi Cheng Gives Film Queen Performance in “Fatal Visit”
The Hong Kong film industry is welcoming Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) back with open arms.
Pre-screening audiences for Fatal Visit <聖荷西謀殺案> have been sending Sammi large waves of praises and positive reviews, with critics pushing Sammi to win 2020’s Best Actress.
Directed by Calvin Poon (潘源良), film stars Charlene Choi (蔡卓妍) as Yanny, who leaves Hong Kong to escape a failed relationship. She decides to visit her close friend Ling (Sammi Cheng), who has been living with her husband Tang (Tong Dawei 佟大為) in America. In the five days that she has been staying with Ling, Yanny discovers that the couple have been harboring dark secrets, and one of them involves a murder.
“Ah Ling is as very dimensional character,” introduced Sammi. “There are very different layers to her, and I hope that, through my performance, the audience can understand how complicated she is as a person.”
While Ling may be a very complicated person, she is very sure of what she wants. “Everything this woman does is out of love. While possessive, her love for Tang is real.”
The overseas shooting location in Canada has allowed Sammi to remove herself from Hong Kong and be more connected with her character. She credited Charlene and Tong Dawei for their assistance in helping her get in character.
“There are several scenes involving the three of us that I find unforgettable. Whether it was through our physical touches, or just verbal, I felt Iike I was really her. Ah Sa was also very in character. Once you find the right scene, she really becomes Yanny. It’s like she’s a totally different person. That really helped me with my acting.”
Sammi shared that she also gained eight to ten pounds for her role. She explained, “It’s not that I wanted to be a big person. I just wanted to change my image, so I would look different for the movie screens. Sammi likes funny roles, but Ah Ling is someone completely different. I want the audiences to feel that.”
Fatal Visit premieres April 2020.
Source: HKET.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
I actually can’t wait to watch this movie, as I’m a huge fan of playwright Candace Chong’s work (this movie is actually an adaptation of her stage play Murder in San Jose). I loved the previous two screen adaptations of her works, though Candace was involved in the process for both of those, so I’ll need to find out if that’s the case this time around too.
@llwy12
I’m sure the story is great, but the acting is less than desirable. Charlene Choi and Sammi Cheng are mediocre actresses at best.
@anon I completely agree! If we compare the cast of this movie to previous casts for Candace Chong’s work (whether movie, TV series, or stage play), of course this movie’s cast pales in comparisons (artists who have starred in Chong’s previous work include the likes of Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Eason Chan, Dayo Wong, Anthony Wong, Liu Kai Chi, etc.). I’ve always been neutral toward Sammi as an actress and I can’t stand Charlene (whether as an actress or singer), so definitely not watching this for the cast, but rather the story…. I’m crossing my fingers that the script remains true to the original story….
Sammi is totally overrated as an actress. Every character she plays is almost unidentifiable from the others. The most annoying thing about her is that she tries so hard to fake some sort of cbc accent which she clearly wouldn’t have.
@chena i on the other hand has opposite view. she is underrated as an actress. I dun understand how actress like miriam yeung can win best actress but not her. is just that timing is not right everytime she gets nominated. her performance in movies like ‘blind detective’, ‘wu yen’, and this year ‘fagara’ are excellent.
@vinceboy I agree with you that Miriam Yeung is a bad actress. But I she and Sammi are both horrible. In all fairness, there’s very little true talent in the HK entertainment industry. Even the few that are better are mediocre at best.
Another example of crap “talent” is Charlene Choi. Every character she plays is her with the same “I’m trying really hard to be a cute 5 year old” voice. If HK actresses would get over trying to be “cute”, their acting would be slightly better. I don’t know what it is with HK girls and women and their preoccupation with being cute. It’s so CRINGE!! They all have the same fake high pitched chicken voice. I really don’t know how this is deemed attractive??
@chena Mariam looks SO OLD in this new TVB Drama ‘Wonder Woman’! Paired next to Pakho, she looks like his great aunt or something! Horrible! Also her acting in this drama is bad.. appears she’d trying too hard to angle her face toward the camera to make her look younger that it compromises her natural acting. They used soft lenses to film this entire drama just to make the females (Mariam) look younger and prettier… it sure didn’t help her much! I mean, I have always loved Mariam.. but she has aged too much to try to play a role like this.
@chena most asian women have high pitched voices…it’s just how they naturally are. i notice HK women actually try harder to speak with a lower pitch voice, because they are just as sick of cutesy acting women and know other women near them would judge them for it.
@coralie not true. The chicken voice is definitely an act and a learned behaviour. You don’t hear ABC’s and CBC’s sounding like a squeaky doll.
@chena I can give you an example – Charmaine Sheh. She was hated on back then by HKers for her chicken voice and she eventually overcame it by practicing how to speak with a lower octave. This is well documented. Xiaxue from Singapore has a higher pitch, too, which she’s learned how to modify so that she can sound better. Notice these women are both working in cities/countries where women are scorned for sounding like kids. It’s unfortunate because their natural voices are hindering their progress rather than help it.
@chena so true. Can’t agree with you more. She really can’t act.
@nigel She always has the same stupid “I’m so confused” face.
i hope she does win her first hk film best actress next year. but i worry that she may gets two nominations (for fatal visit and for fagara). this is going to split her votes and cause her to lose. I would rather she gets nominated for ‘fagara’ (which she is very good in that one too) next year and get this ‘fatal visit’ to air next year for the awards in 2021. she should have won it long time ago…it’s absurd to think that she hasn’t win any yet.
Sammi Cheng = Film Queen?
Please stop! HK really has no standard.
@anon see her latest films like fagara and fatal visit before judging so blindly. She has improved a lot over the years especially in more serious roles that stray away from her comedy roles in the past
Other than the legendary Leslie Cheung, I can never take any other singer-actor/actress seriously.
While I like Sammi, I also think she isn’t that great of an actress. However, maybe this will be her breakthrough role as it sounds like Ling character is delusional/gone crazy about her husband having an affair with her friend, lol.