Joy Sales HK DVD Synopsis: Lau Shing (starred by Stephen Fung), a Chinese herb medicine entrepreneur, leaving his wife and daughter in hometown, goes to the provincial capital with his 8 village brothers to development the business. However, in a soaring blaze, Lau witnesses his village brothers burned in the fire. To make matter worse, Lau is framed-up by the arsonist, Pang Shi (starred by Raymond Wong). Lam Siu Chin (starred by Gillian Chung) is a lawyer but not specialized in criminal case. Due to a quarrel with her father (starred by Wong Yat Fei) on the family grave with good Feng Shui, Lam agrees to take up the case to defense on behalf of Lau for proving her capability as a lawyer. Lau is hoping to get saved at that critical moment, but Lam falls into a hole by accident and get coma. She missed the court hearing, and Lau is finally found guilty and sentenced to death... in result, a mystical arrangement comes to change the fate of Lau. Whether Lau is dead with a grievance or otherwise? The stone-cold falchion of the executor, Chun Bo (starred by Law Mon), is cutting down snarling. A miracle happened mystically... life and deaths are having their fate? The path is twisted by one's decision. The resolution hinges on the eldritch flame... (93 Mins)

 

Views: First off – who the hell wrote that DVD synopsis? Too funny! Liu has been convicted of murdering his friends – an act he claims he never did. The only way to prove his innocence is to try and communicate with them in the afterlife. According to Chinese superstition, the souls of the dead have 49 days to wander the earth before moving onto heaven or hell for eternity. Now, Liu and his lawyer must find a way to reach the spirits before it's too late. 49 Days comes from the mind of the great Tsui Siu Ming – star and director of titles such as The Buddhist Fist (1980), Mirage (1987), and Bury Me High (1991), among many others. A popular child star in his younger days, Tsui was also the producer of films such as The Revenge Of Angel (1990), Centre Stage (1992), A Battle Of Wits (2006), Twins Mission (2007) and others. He also directed the underrated martial arts-drama Champions in 2008, and made a fantastic on-screen comeback in Donnie Yen's Sakra (2023). It's fair to say that this supernatural mystery thriller comes across as one of his better efforts, but at the same time feels like a case of 'what-could-have-been' had it been in the hands of a stronger director. The man behind this one, Lam Kin Lung, had only made 2 little known features beforehand with this being his third and final one to date...

 

The talented Stephen Fung leads the way and does a fine job in his role. I've always felt that he has been somewhat under-appreciated since he came onto the scene in 1990, yet he has starred in, directed, wrote and produced many Hong Kong greats. I first caught the handsome star in the Jackie Chan produced Gen-X Cops (1999) soon followed by Gen-Y Cops (2000) the following year. Since then, I've caught him in films such as Cheap Killers (1998), Sunshine Cops (1999), My School Mate The Barbarian (2001), The Avenging Fist (2001), 2002 (2001), Badges Of Fury (2015) and Bishonen (1998) where he met his wife, the beautiful and equally celebrated Shu Qi. Of course, he has proved more than just an actor with his fantastic directorial efforts such as Enter The Phoenix (2004), House Of Fury (2005), Jump (2009), Tai Chi Zero (2012), Tai Chi Hero (2012), and The Adventurers (2017) with Andy Lau. In 2015, Fung made his move to Hollywood as the executive producer, director and action director of the AMC series Into The Badlands with his good friend Daniel Wu, as well as serving as the executive producer and director for the first two episodes of Wu Assassins on Netflix in 2019.

 

Here, Stephen is joined by the lovely Gillian Chung – one of the popular 'Twins' celebrities and Fung's co-star from his self-directed and very awesome House Of Fury (2005); a film that sees them both carry very different roles to those seen here. In 49 Days, Gillian stars as Fung's lawyer; fresh out of law school and finding it hard to get accepted in her duty. Thanks to their time together in the aforementioned 2005 production, Fung and Chung have a nice chemistry together throughout the film. Raymond Wong Ho Yin co-stars, an actor that starred alongside Stephen Fung in Sunshine Cops (1999) and Gillian Chung in the 2003 horror-comedy Death Curse from director Cheang Pou Soi. That same film would also be the first time co-star Steven Cheung would star alongside Chung, going onto join her in other productions such as 6am (2004), The Twins Effect 2 (2004), Twins Mission (2007) and The Midas Touch (2013) and others. It was also great to see prolific comic actor Wong Yat Fei – who has starred in well over 180 productions during his 45 years in the industry – make an appearance, while Shaw Brothers legend and Venom star Lo Meng stars in an interesting role which shakes things up a little around the one hour mark – but I don't want to give too much away.

 

While it comes across as a TV movie, 49 Days is actually quite well made offering some great shots and visuals that give a classically filmed look to the whole thing. In fact, you could be forgiven if you were to think this was made in the late 80's/early 90's period of Hong Kong cinema. The sets are fantastic due to the fact that it was shot at the incredible Hengdian World Studios in China - something you should really Google and learn more about. The place looks incredible and would also explain the classical, studio-set look to it all. And although its story may seem basic and performances even more so, the film does take some twists and turns in a Sixth Sense (1999) kind of way and brings a few chills to light in between the drama and mystery...

 

Overall: Much different from the Fung and Chung team up on House Of Fury, 49 days offers something a little more subdued and old school, although still entertains!

 

DVD Extras: Board Game (yes, there is actually a board game in the double-disc Joy Sales DVD release), Making of Documentary, CEN Special, Out-takes, Music Video, About 49 Days, Promo Reel