The four primary characters in “True Women for Sale” are Fu-yi Lau (Anthony Wong), an insurance salesman, Chi (Sammy Leung), a photojournalist, Lin-fa Wong (Race Wong), a Chinese immigrant wanting to live in Hong Kong, and Chung-chung Lai (Mei-Guan Lau), a heroin addicted prostitute. The lives of these four characters criss-crosses as they move about their daily lives in the lower class area of Hong Kong known as Sham Shui Po.

After the death of her husband, pregnant with twins, Lin-fa Wong arrives back in Hong Kong to take care of his funeral arrangements. She learns from insurance agent Fu-yi Lau that her husband’s insurance policy leaves only a minimal amount of money for her and her kids. Fu-yi plans to stay in Hong Kong and have her twins there, hopefully gaining Hong Kong citizenship through their births.

Meanwhile, neighbor Chung-chung Lai is a street-walking prostitute. Chung-chung’s goal is to save up enough money for dentures (her teeth are horribly rotten). A photojournalist named Chi crosses paths with Chung-chung and takes an interest in her for a human interest story. “True Woman for Sale” covers a wide swath of topics attempting to reflect the realities faced by Hong Kong citizens. This turned out to be surprisingly effective in its narrative form, as it gives a peek into Hong Kong life outsiders normally never get a chance to see. In its thematic form, these topics are not done nearly as well, but I guess there’s always folks like Patrick Tam to handle this area.

Performance wise, pop singer turned actress, Mei-Guan Lau will likely receive most of the accolades for her performance as the drug addicted prostitute. Mei-Guan did in fact receive the best actress award at the most recent Golden Horse Awards. Personally, I found myself drawn more to Race Wong’s cantankerous performance as Chung-chung Lai. Her many loud outbursts while holding her crying baby brought forth an air of familiarity, as well as an odd sense of normalcy in the film. Anthony Wong was his usual affable self and provided the movie with its most light hearted moments. Keying in on Race Wong’s performance, the topic of Chinese & Hong Kong relations and in particular the prejudices held by Hong Kong citizens of their mainland neighbors, was without a doubt the film’s most intriguing elements. The topic of sex workers was less engaging, primarily due to the familiarity with the subject matter from other Asian films.

“True Women for Sale” isn’t an art film per se and it’s not your usual commercial film as well. The film actually settles into a comfortable middle ground between these two areas to deliver a surprisingly effective narrative on 4 Hong Kong residents. Check this one out when you get the chance. P.S. – Herman Yau again uses a soundtrack that should be nuked into oblivion.