The Second Woman (2012 film)
| The Second Woman | |
|---|---|
 China poster | |
| Directed by | Carol Lai |
| Produced by | Gordon Chan |
| Screenplay by |
Carol Lai Lai Ho |
| Starring |
Shu Qi Shawn Yue Chen Shu Zhang Nai Tian Niu Meng Meng |
| Music by | Raymond Wong |
| Edited by | Kwong Chi-leung |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country |
China Hong Kong |
The Second Woman (Chinese: 情谜, Qing mi) is a 2012 Chinese-Hong Kong film directed by Carol Lai.[1][2][3]
Plot
Twin sisters Bao and Huixiang are both identical, even to a fault where their mother and Bao's lover, Nan, could not tell them apart. When Bao becomes sick after the pressure of being on stage, Huixiang decides to replace her for the time being since no one else in the troupe knows about her besides Nan. After hearing that Huixiang performed better than her, Bao and Nan's relationship starts to deteriorate as she suspects that her twin sister and her lover might be carrying an affair behind her back. Bao takes Huixiang to their favorite hill by the cliff to have a conversation and the scene shifts to Huixiang alone in a canoe in the middle of the lake. She grabs the oar and attacked a hand that grabbed her and leaves. One of the villager fisherman witnesses Huixiang running to the dock in the rain.
The family was made aware that Huixiang left to travel for work and wants to report the sudden disappearance instead, but Bao (whom the viewers is led to believe is Huixiang in disguise) hesitates on the idea. Nan, though convinced that Huxiang does often disappear without leaving a message, is extremely suspicious of Bao's lighthearted attitude about the whole situation. He goes to his friend, KK, to look into Huixiang's disappearance and KK reaches out to his sister, Fan, to help him in the investigation. The same fisherman finds a floating jacket at the shore and reports to the police; KK and Fan is convinced that Huixiang drowned Bao at sea to take her place based on this evidence. In the meantime, Bao starts to see manifestations of her sister and is stuck between a psychotic state and a sober state as she tries to improve her acting along with Nan and the aggressive female lead, Amy. During one rehearsal, Amy is injured but Nan believes Bao caused the accident on purpose so that she could rise as the female lead.
After going with Fan to the cliff, Nan finds Bao's floral hair pin and confronts her in the dressing room. Bao recalls the story of taking Huixiang to the hill by the cliff to ask her relationship with Nan. Huixiang avoids the subject. The two take cover in a makeshift shelter from the thunderous rain where Bao drops her hair pin and then she suggested the two steal a canoe to go to the lake. When KK temporarily leaves the investigation to Fan, Fan travels to the haunted island which the twins and Nan often frequent and is captured. As KK comes to her rescue, Fan persuades him that Huixiang was the one who tied her up and mentioned about Bao being the female lead. Fan recalls as Huixiang tells the rest of the story to her that Bao continued to pressure Huixiang for an answer on the canoe. Huixiang gives a shallow answer by accusing her sister of being a bad performer and a bad girlfriend and then accidentally knocks her off the canoe. When Bao blames her for purposely knocking her off the canoe, an enraged Huixiang attacks her with the oar. Huixiang was eventually pulled under by Bao; Bao triumphs over Huixiang and left her for dead while taking her clothes. KK and Fan reaches the conclusion that all this time, it was actually Bao, not Huixiang disguised as her, who wanted to succeed in the troupe's live performance.
During the live performance, Bao was locked in her dressing room and forced to watch the performance executed by Huixiang with Nan. The performance, similar to Bao's and Huixiang's realistic situation, allows Bao to enter the stage with ease and play a part of her original character to synchronize with Nan and Huixiang while she challenges her twin to see who Nan prefers. In shock, Nan, similar to the actual play, also could not choose between the two of them. Huixiang finally stabs herself to death with Nan crying over her body and Bao mourning at a distance as the crowd gives a roaring applause.
Cast
- Shu Qi as Huibao and Huixiang
- Shawn Yue as Nan
- Chen Shu as Amy
- Zhang Nai Tian as KK
- Niu Meng Meng as Fan
References
- ↑ James Mudge (23 July 2012). "The Second Woman (2012) Movie Review". BeyondHollywood.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
- ↑ Russell Edwards (25 March 2012). "The Second Woman". Variety.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
- ↑ "情谜 The Second Woman (2012)". movie.mtime.com (in Chinese). Mtime.com Inc. Retrieved 2012-08-29.