Curiosity Kills the Cat is marketed as a sexy thriller, but it's more than that. It's a domestic drama with moral and romance elements in it. I do agreed with those reviews who claimed this film to be the Chinese version of 9 1/2 Weeks and Fatal Attraction, but it's also got a bit Annette Bening from American Beauty happening for the luminous Carina Lau's wealthy housewife role. It's also a revenge drama, and ultimately, it's a short film edited into multiple versions to become a feature length film. The audience don't really get to know the truth until more than half way into the film.
The film is shot in Chong Chin China, and it's set mostly in a upscale apartment building. The story involves a young and nosy photo shop girl named MoMo(Lin Yuen), a security guard named Fen Dou(M. Fan) who she has a crush on, a sexy hair and nail salon owner named Sharon(Shong Jia) who sleeps with a married man named John(Wu Jun), and the mysterious often housebound wife named Rose played by Carina Lau.
Momo thinks she knows all that's happened behind the murder mystery of Sharon, because she constantly snaps pictures of people in places and parking lots. Up until the moment when John had enough of Sharon's pressure and impulsively kills her by beating her with a glass ashtray, he was convinced that every bad thing that occurred to his family and wife was done by Sharon. He did believe she wanted everything from him, and money wasn't enough. Well at this point, we have seen less than half of the real story when John got arrested. Eventually, Momo uncovered more evidence about her so-called boyfriend who she suspects to be the real criminal. Then Fen Dou was threatened to uncover the truth and from that point on Carina Lau's side of the story is told.....
The cast is very good and this film has garnered the best reviews of Carina Lau's career. She recently won the best actress award of the year voted by people's choice on-line at Sina.com and previously nominated at the Golden Horse Award. This is her first Mainland Chinese movie, and most critics considered this film to be the breakthrough role of her career. She was willing to be made to look like a middle-aged housewife and she had insisted on doing multiple takes on a scene when she was splattered with paint all over her. What I really loved about her performance is that after wards I think about how manipulative her character's emotions were, and I was amazed that she was very real and fake at the same time for those terrified and breakdown scenes. As a film wardrobe person, I must say that I noticed two continuity errors on her. She put on a wrong pair of earrings that didn't matched what she worn for numerous scenes after wards, and the other is that the director/editor made a mistake of using two different takes on her panic scene at the lobby when when was covered in paint.
I personally thought Daniel Walker did a marvelous job with the original score and theme song. I rarely watch Mainland Chinese films, because I have more access to Canadian and American films, and I totally loved this film and I am so happy to see Carina Lau in it. I don't think there is another more suitable to play this role, and the love/fight scene with the security guard at the parking lot is worthy of any acting award for her!
The film is shot in Chong Chin China, and it's set mostly in a upscale apartment building. The story involves a young and nosy photo shop girl named MoMo(Lin Yuen), a security guard named Fen Dou(M. Fan) who she has a crush on, a sexy hair and nail salon owner named Sharon(Shong Jia) who sleeps with a married man named John(Wu Jun), and the mysterious often housebound wife named Rose played by Carina Lau.
Momo thinks she knows all that's happened behind the murder mystery of Sharon, because she constantly snaps pictures of people in places and parking lots. Up until the moment when John had enough of Sharon's pressure and impulsively kills her by beating her with a glass ashtray, he was convinced that every bad thing that occurred to his family and wife was done by Sharon. He did believe she wanted everything from him, and money wasn't enough. Well at this point, we have seen less than half of the real story when John got arrested. Eventually, Momo uncovered more evidence about her so-called boyfriend who she suspects to be the real criminal. Then Fen Dou was threatened to uncover the truth and from that point on Carina Lau's side of the story is told.....
The cast is very good and this film has garnered the best reviews of Carina Lau's career. She recently won the best actress award of the year voted by people's choice on-line at Sina.com and previously nominated at the Golden Horse Award. This is her first Mainland Chinese movie, and most critics considered this film to be the breakthrough role of her career. She was willing to be made to look like a middle-aged housewife and she had insisted on doing multiple takes on a scene when she was splattered with paint all over her. What I really loved about her performance is that after wards I think about how manipulative her character's emotions were, and I was amazed that she was very real and fake at the same time for those terrified and breakdown scenes. As a film wardrobe person, I must say that I noticed two continuity errors on her. She put on a wrong pair of earrings that didn't matched what she worn for numerous scenes after wards, and the other is that the director/editor made a mistake of using two different takes on her panic scene at the lobby when when was covered in paint.
I personally thought Daniel Walker did a marvelous job with the original score and theme song. I rarely watch Mainland Chinese films, because I have more access to Canadian and American films, and I totally loved this film and I am so happy to see Carina Lau in it. I don't think there is another more suitable to play this role, and the love/fight scene with the security guard at the parking lot is worthy of any acting award for her!