More Than Kung Fu

Thanks to movies like Apartment for Ladies, I now know how women spend their time when men are not around. Let me share my new found knowledge.

• 50% of their time is spent parading around in their underwear
• 30% is spent in catfights
• 10% is spent using their sexuality to swindle stupid men
• 10% is spent attacking men who steal their underwear

That’s pretty much it. The secret life of women in a nutshell.

Inoue Umetsugu showcased Shaw’s female stars in a way that no other director did—he made them glamorous, clever, powerful and sexy. But, in films like Apartment For Ladies he also pigeonholed and mocked them. What do the heroines do when taking revenge on a couple of swindlers and rapists? Bump them with their hips and tickle them.

While Inoue’s gender comedies are all in the spirit of good fun, they become exasperating during moments like these. Apartment for Ladies‘ ensemble cast includes several generations of female stars—Ouyang Shafei, Teresa Ha Ping, Lily Li and Betty Ting Pei. With all this experience and star power, tickling is the best they can do?

It might be unfair to attack a comedy for a scene it plays for laughs, but the tickling is just a symptom of a larger problem. Where Inoue once made films that showcased women (such as Hong Kong Nocturne), in Apartment For Ladies he instead showcases stereotypes. It’s much less satisfying.

Apartment For Ladies
Dir: Inoue Umetsugu
Released: November 20, 1970