God of Gamblers 賭神
In which I’m dealt a full deck of crazy tricks, wacky laughs, and bloody action as Chow Yun-fat 周潤發 dives into yet another iconic role.
God of Gamblers 賭神 is… a zany ride, and of all the movies I’ve watched so far, the most “Hong Kong” of them all. Describing it as a comedy with a supernatural streak wouldn’t be 100% accurate, as it’s also got an action thriller twist. Basically, it contains all the things that Hongkongers find entertaining. The tonal shifts are all over the place. It can jump from cool to crass to flashy to goofy to dark to sweet to gripping to campy. But that is exactly the charm of it all. And the charm of a lot of beloved HK comedies really.
So who better to lead this charmfest than the ultimate charmer, Chow Yun-fat 周潤發, who plays an ultra-slick gangster gambler and a 10-year-old?! We talkin’ range.
Plot summary from IMDb:
A master gambler loses his memory, and is befriended by a street hustler who discovers his supernatural gambling abilities.
Ko Chun (“Chun”, played by CYF) is a world-class, world-renowned gambler. Despite his legendary status, he keeps a low profile, maintaining his privacy by avoiding photos. The only picture of him that exists is a grainy black and white one with his back toward the camera. However, he does have three distinct characteristics: his slicked-back hairstyle, his jade pinky ring, and his love for Feodora chocolate. Four, if you count his theme song. (This theme song is as iconic as CYF’s performance. I wish movies back then put out soundtracks, but there was no reason to as it was never given much thought. Most of the music that accompanied the films was pretty cheesy and forgettable. So I’m forced to blast low quality YouTube rips instead.)
Chun also possesses supernatural gambling abilities, which we see when he travels to Tokyo with his wife, Janet (played by Sharla Cheung 張敏), and his cousin, Ko Yee (“Yee”, played by Lung Fong 龍方), for a match against Japan’s second best gambler: Ueyama Koji (played by Luk Chuen, now Yasuhiro Shikamura 鹿村泰祥). As Chun takes his place, he declares that if he wins only one game, he will consider it a loss. First game: mahjong duel. The player with the highest total wins.
Chun takes it. Next up: dice duel. This time, the player with the lowest total wins. Ueyama requests his associate, and evidently a member of the Yakuza, Miss Chi (played by Michiko Nishiwaki 西協美智子), take his place.
Chun can also hear the value of the dice as they’re rattling in the cup, so he starts applauding even before she reveals her hand. #gamerecognizegame Now it’s his turn. How could he possibly beat that?! He “jokes” that the light plastic cup is perfect for a woman, so he will need a heavier cup.
He smiles and apologizes for being a bit too forceful…
Whaaa?! Yeah, that’s right. He shattered a die. Everyone is blown away. Convinced that Chun is the real deal, Ueyama confesses over dinner that he expected to lose, and that he had invited him to play in hopes of obtaining a favour. You see, three years ago, his dad committed suicide after losing to Chan Kam-sing (played by Pau Hon-lam 鮑漢琳), a Singporean gambler who’s wanted in several countries and hides in international waters. But Chan Kam-sing cheated to win, and now Ueyama needs Chun’s help to take revenge and play against him in an upcoming game. He offers him $1 million USD. Yee doesn’t think it’s a good idea to get involved, so Ueyama pulls out a knife to kill himself. Chun is not into emotional blackmail and sets some boundaries. Kidding! He may have supernatural gambling abilities, but he’s still human. He agrees to help. He’ll do it for a box of chocolates. Grateful for his generosity, Ueyama arranges to have his bodyguard, Dragon (played by Charles Heung 向華強), protect Chun.
Meanwhile, over in Hong Kong, we meet Knife (played by Andy Lau 劉德華), a lowly schemer and gambler with not much money or luck.
Knife is a bit of a dick, and clearly has a gambling problem, but this is a fun movie, so it’s more of a quirk than a destructive force. He idolizes the God of Gamblers. Like, dude carries his picture everywhere and even has a giant poster of him pinned to his bedroom wall. He also loves his girlfriend, Jane (played by Joey Wang/Wong 王祖賢), very much, and dreams of winning big so he can buy a big house for her, overlooking the ocean. Jane thinks he should get a job, but she quit nursing school shortly after meeting him, so… they balance each other out!
A run-in with an Indian domestic worker (The racism in this exchange is truly of that time!) spurs Knife to lay a trap for him to fall into. He and his best bud, Crow (played by Ronald Wong 黃斌. The subtitles call him “Crawl”, but「烏鴉」is “Crow”), get to work.
Chun, now back in Hong Kong, takes the night off from gambling to watch his friend, Big Peak (「大岳」I’m loosely translating here as this is an uncredited role played by Chan Yiu-kwong 陳耀光) play. But the game is rigged; the dealer’s literally got cards up his sleeves. Chun advises Big Peak to cut his losses. The rest of the table grumbles. One of the men, Nam (played by Yeung Chak-lam, now Yang Tse-lin 楊澤霖), calls Big Peak a sore loser. Chun smiles and volunteers to join the game. These guys, of course, have no idea who they’re dealing with. The entire time, Chun dances between cool and cocky. To his opponents, it is infuriating. To me, it is an absolute deeeeelight.
Chun cleans up to the annoyance of Nam. He, Yee, and Big Peak waltz outta there, cheque in hand. They make alternate arrangements to leave, Chun fully expecting Nam’s men to come after him. Y’know, if Nam didn’t want to pay, he could just put a stop on the cheque. But then we wouldn’t get to see stuff like this, or guys like this.
Unfortunately for Chun, Nam’s men find him on the train. (What are the odds? Higher than… four aces maybe?) Unfortunately for them…
Samson’s hair does little to help him.
Chun leaves Dragon to deal with the mess and hops off the train. This proves to be a big mistake as he accidentally stumbles into Knife’s trap, hitting his head hard on a rock. Knife, Crow, and Jane find him passed out, blood dripping from his head. Scared to bring him to the hospital since they set the trap, Knife and Crow convince Jane to bring him back to their place. Along the way, they struggle to carry Chun, causing repeated blows to his head. The last one in particular… yikes.
But fear not! Chun survives. Except he wakes up with no memory of who he is, and the intelligence, wonder, and innocence of a child. With no I.D. on him, they name him “Chocolate” (Chun’s obsession for the treat remains in full force) and take him in.
The whole thing is so bizarre in the best way possible, and watching CYF switch from a super slick high roller to an earnest and enthusiastic child so naturally and convincingly is both startling and mesmerizing.
Jane becomes protective of Chuncolate, while Knife struggles to maintain patience with him, frequently yelling at him. Until he discovers Chuncolate’s innate gambling skillz…
Things are all happy-go-lucky for the gang for a while, but one afternoon at a gambling den, Chuncolate runs out of chocolate and is in no mood to play. Frustrated, Knife smacks him, and in retaliation, Chuncolate loses all their money on purpose. Knife then drags him out onto the street and tells him to stay put while he goes to the washroom, but jumps on a bus as soon as he’s out of sight, abandoning Chuncolate.
On the bus, his guilt grows as he watches a mom berate and strike her crying kid. He tells her off and races back, but Chuncolate is nowhere to be found. Panic sets in and he runs through the streets, searching high and low for Chuncolate, but to no avail. Just when all hope seems to be lost…
Growing more fond of Chuncolate, Knife takes him to the doctor’s to see if they can do anything to restore his memory. The doctor reports that the injuries to his head have regressed him to a 10-year-old. That is so much older than I thought, but I’m never around children and I talk to all of them — no matter what age — like they’re toddlers. Anyway, he suggests surgery, but it’s expensive: $200,000 HKD. Jane wonders how they’ll be able to afford it. Knife figures they’ll sell the jewellery and car they bought with their winnings, and if need be, the vegetable plot behind the house. Aw! Butter Knife!!!
Jane worries they still owe money to a loan shark named Shing (played by Ng Man-tat 吳孟達). Knife responds that will just have to wait. Tomorrow, they’ll move into his friend Sparerib’s “villa”「別墅」.
That is, “Ecstasy Villa”「銷魂別墅」, a brothel.
Knife, Jane, Crow, and Chuncolate settle into their room. Chuncolate marvels at the round bed and wonders what brand of chocolates are on the bedside table. They’re condoms, but Knife lies they’re balloons. They hear a woman moaning through the walls, so Chuncolate starts moaning too.
Knife shushes him, and tells him only women are allowed to moan here, otherwise, they’ll cut it off. Scared, Chuncolate shuts up. But shortly after, he hears a man moaning too.
Knife manages to stop Chuncolate in time and scolds him. Chuncolate pouts, reminding Knife this was all because of what he told him earlier. Knife softens, and apologizes. BUTTER KNIFE!
The next day, they head to the doctor’s. But Knife runs into Shing and his men in the W.C., so he escapes out the window. Shing orders his men to chase after him and we are treated to some classic HK bamboo scaffolding action.
Unfortunately for Knife, his cockiness is short-lived and Shing catches him.
Meanwhile, back at the brothel…
In search of chocolate, Chuncolate goes through the bags and finds his suit jacket from the night of his head injury. Rummaging through its pockets, he comes across Dragon’s business card and experiences a brief memory flash. He dials. Dragon picks up and guesses it’s Ko Chun, but the call is intercepted by front desk personnel, who respond that there’s no one by that name at the brothel and disconnects assuming it’s a wrong number.
Jane enters and dissuades Chuncolate from playing with the phone. She calls Shing, pleading him to let Knife go as she can pay back half of what he owes tonight. Shing scoffs and demands $210,000 HKD. Jane hangs up, dejected. She’s only got $80,000 HKD and they’ve already paid the deposit for Chuncolate’s surgery. And then, an idea so crazy, so desperate, it might just work…
Jane arrives at Shing’s and asks him to release Knife, as a sign of respect to the God of Gamblers. Chuncolate enters, his hair slicked back and wearing a suit, but with the eager smile of a little boy. (Props to CYF for balancing both somehow. Might be even more magical than dou san 賭神 himself?!) Shing laughs in all their faces. He throws a deck of cards onto the table and commands him to shuffle and deal him a Dragon hand「一條龍」(a 13-card straight, Ace through King).
Crow immediately takes out all the chocolate from his pocket.
YESSS. Dou san 賭神 activate! Guys, I cannot explain the utter glee in me when the music kicks in to let the audience know that we’re about to witness a dou san 賭神 miracle. Also, that smirk on CYF’s face when he’s dealing the cards with the flick of his thumb… The joy in my heart! Shing and Chuncolate both pick up their hands.
Jane tosses the $80,000 HKD onto the table, but Shing sneers that he didn’t agree to any of that and pulls his switchblade on Chuncolate. Dou san 賭神 activate!
Jane grabs the knife out and stabs Shing in the leg, forcing him to release Knife and concede that they’re square. Debt settled, the gang hustles outta there.
Oh, hey! It’s been fun following Chun on his adventures with his new friends and all, but remember Janet, his wife? Surely, she must be worried! Well, she’s at home, recounting into her voice recorder that it’s been eleven days since Chun went missing, and if he isn’t back by tomorrow, she going to the police! What? She hasn’t gotten the police involved?! Oh wait, this is the HKPF we’re talking about. Probably for the best. She admits she has doubts about Yee. In fact, she’s been getting weird vibes the past few days. Yee barges into Janet’s room, red-faced and drunk. Uh-oh… She hides her recorder underneath a magazine and asks him to leave so she can go to bed. He leers and grabs at her, but she pushes him away, demanding him to get out. Yee explodes, ranting about how he’s tired of being a nobody. Why does Chun get to be the God of Gamblers?! Janet tries to leave, but he throws her onto the bed, insisting that he could love her better than Chun— okay, WTF, this is getting dark... Struggling to escape his grasp but also remembering the recorder is still on, she comments no wonder Yee wouldn’t let her go to the police. Yee snarls he had no choice and expounds that Chun has all the money in the world and refuses to share any of it with him (Really? I find that hard to believe. I’m guessing Yee is just greedy.) and even if he isn’t dead, he’ll make sure he does die and then he can have Janet and all the money in his Swiss bank account! Janet shoves Yee hard and tries to run, but he catches her and in the struggle, throws her out the balcony window.
Stunned, he sits down on the bed and discovers the recorder underneath the magazine. Oh shit. He literally mwahahahahas! as he pulls the tape from the cartridge and leaves it to burn in an ashtray. And in case you didn’t think he or that entire exchange was fucked up enough, Yee heads out to the yard, where Janet lays dead, and growls at how she’d rather die than be with him. Well, even if she’s dead, he’ll still have her! And then he climbs on top of her and… WHAT. THE. FUCK.
Okay, so like, you don’t see him, but you know he… her and… uh… *ahem* Seriously. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!
…A glimmer of hope from all this(?): a gush of wind conveniently blows into the bedroom, saving the tape from being consumed by flames so that it can expose the truth about NecroYEEliac.
NecroYEEliac meets with Nam, who he knows is also Chan Kam-sing’s partner in Hong Kong. Like, syndicate partners, not lovers, although, I can’t be sure. He suggests they work together to get rid of Chun. He’ll pay him $2 million USD. NecroYEEliac tells Nam he hears Chun’s been hanging with someone named Knife in Mong Kok. With that hot tip, it doesn’t take long for them to track Chun down. Luckily, Dragon shows up at the brothel, just in time!
Dragon addresses Chuncolate as “Ko Chun”, and Knife and Jane are like, oh shit, he’s dou san 賭神!? No time to really take in this new development though, because more! men! are! coming! And not in the good-for-brothel-business way.
Knife convinces Dragon to give him a gun, even though he has no idea how to handle one, but he bumbles his way through and manages to kill a bunch of Nam’s men. Chuncolate panics and runs away, and Knife goes after him while Dragon takes everyone else out, one by one.
We even get an Untouchables homage(?)/parody(?)!
Meanwhile, Knife does his best to protect Chuncolate. He’s not great with the gun, but he mostly gets the job done. Eventually he runs out of bullets, but he manages to pull off a pretty sweet move.
Chuncolate, scared out of his mind, runs off again and hides in a corner by himself, but is soon found by NecroYEEliac. When he realizes Chun has no idea who is he, he smiles and gets ready to kill him. Knife dives in to save the day!
Dragon races into the parkade but gets stuck in a reverse bear hug. He remains bad-ass the entire time.
Unfortunately, more dudes keep showing up. Unable to get out of the hold and out of bullets, Dragon gets shot. Chuncolate cowers, watching it all unfold. Dragon yells for him to pick up the gun near him, but he remains frozen in fear. But then, something in him clicks and…
With the last man dead, Chuncolate snaps out of his God-of-Gamblers-and-Shooters state, freaks out, and flees. He doesn’t get far though. He trips and hits his head hard. Again.
Somehow, it doesn’t knock him out. He manages to pick himself up, but in shock and in pain, he stumbles — right into traffic.
Chun wakes up at the hospital with NecroYEEliac in the room. He has no clue of what’s happened. The last thing he remembers is falling down and hitting his head after getting off the train. He asks for Janet. NecroYEEliac looks down and lies that he had left Janet to go searching for Chun but that when he returned, he found broken glass and blood on the floor, but no Janet. Chun is devastated.
NecroYEEliac puts on a big show of how awful he feels to have failed at protecting Janet. Chun shoots out of bed, hell-bent on finding his wife. At that moment, Knife appears with a big smile but it drops as soon as he recognizes NecroYEEliac. He charges at NecroYEEliac, who fights him off, and security arrives to break up the commotion. Chun is confused; he doesn’t recognize Knife. As Knife is hauled out of the room, he yells at Chun to not trust NecroYEEliac.
With their assassination attempt botched, NecroYEEliac proposes a new plan: ensure Chan Kam-sing wins so they can make a killing when they bet against Chun, and destroy Chun in the process. Chan brags that he’s watched Chun’s last 500 card games and he’s figured out his tell —any time he bluffs, he rubs his jade ring. NecroYEEliac reveals he’s got an even more surefire way to win. He hands Chan a special pair of eyeglasses that will allow him to see cards marked by invisible ink. Since he and Nam will be the ones to inspect the decks at the game, they’ll be able to fool everyone!
Game day! Everyone arrives on Chan’s yacht, including Knife who sneaks on as a cater waiter. He tries to warn Chun again. Chun promises to hear him out later but needs him to stay away from interfering with the game.
With his cheater glasses and knowledge of Chun’s tell, Chan takes the first two rounds easily. Down to the last briefcase of Ueyama’s money and holding two Aces face up, Chun bets his entire wealth on top. Chan, who’s got three Queens, calls. Chan gets another Queen and Chun gets another Ace. Having missed the opportunity to see the marking on Chun’s faced down card, Chan gulps. As Chun slides his card off on top, Chan’s glasses reveal it’s a King, and he relaxes, triumphant. Chun shakes his head…
He sighs and flips over the card.
Ohhhhhh shit! Dou san 賭神 reveals that he had secretly altered the markings on the cards and was wearing his own special contact lenses — far superior to Chan’s glasses — to read them. And that he had been rubbing his jade ring for the last 500 games on purpose to throw Chan off. LONG CON! (Wait, when did he have time to…nevermind. This is exhilarating! Just go with it!) He thanks NecroYEEliac for setting Chan and Nam up and embraces him…
Chun saunters over to Yee’s dead body.
He then remarks that it looks like Chan’ll be going to jail for murder. Chan claims self-defence, but Chun is quick to point out that everyone can see Yee had a toy gun. Chan laughs; he can’t be touched on international waters, so nice try! Chun suggests they all look out the window, where they can clearly see Lantau Island, so actually, they’re well within Hong Kong waters (Dragon commandeered the crew during the game). Man, he’s thought of everything! Chan sputters that Chun broke the law too! But Chun shrugs. Whatevs, so he’ll have to pay a $3,000 HKD fine. Worth it!
Chun says bye to Knife and leaves without another word. Back at his home, Knife sulks by himself. He’s about to rip his dou san 賭神 pic up, when he hears a familiar voice from behind. Guess whooooo! Knife’s all mad that Chun pretended he didn’t know him, but Chun explains he had to to keep up with his plan. Knife doesn’t like being played. Chun can’t believe Knife couldn’t see that he was winking at him the entire time. How can he count on him when they go to Vegas if he’s so slow? Knife’s eyes widen. He accepts but warns Chun that if he fails to recognize him again…
THE END.
We may be done with this movie, but the success of God of Gamblers 賭神 spawned a whole bunch of sequels, spin-offs, and spoofs, so this will not be the last we see of this crazy universe. Now that’s three consecutive movies where CYF hasn’t died. Woohoo! I am on a roll!
