Online Review: Sara (雛妓)

Sara (雛妓) is a Hong Kong film directed by Herman Yau, starring Charlene Choi and Simon Yam as leads. It was released on March 5, 2015. Sex trades in Asia have been a social issue for a long time. However, it is only the tip of the iceberg of the current issue faced in Asia.

“How much can a woman betray herself for living? I have been thinking about this after that.” The film opens with this question, after Sara (Charlene Choi) was raped by her stepfather when she was teenager. This can bring us into a discussion that, how should women treat herself if they see her body as their only capital?

Hide Paternalism: Body and Capital

The film narrates story by using double narrative lines: “today’s” Sara and a Thai girl Dok-My, Kam Ho-Yin (Simon Yam) “in the past” and Sara, to compare Sara sells herself for something which is same with Dok-My. Besides, we can also see a collage student works as a table-dancing girl just for returning the tuition fee, and Sara’s mother marries the boss of a stationery store for daily bread, chose not to speak up even knowing Sara was being sexual abuse.

This setting points out that no matter you are in high or low level of knowledge, if you are a woman, your body already has its value, it can be a product to sell. And these girls are just wanted to keep their living in a basic way, hopelessly and powerlessly.

On the other hand, all the males characters are powerful: Sara’s stepfather who is the boss of a stationery store, high officials in the night party, the chief editor who rejected Sara’s project, Kam Ho-Yin who works in Education Bureau, even Sara’s boyfriend Raymond also looks down on her saying there is impossible to help the prostittes in Thailand.

Yau tried to make a difference between male identity and women body, imply the conflict and replacement in the authorities and the weaknesses — the males used to held the power at the beginning, but when the time passed and with other factors, the power moved to those who are weak, like Sara. In the movie, Sara saved Dok-My twice by paying money. She gets involved as a tourist, it is just a growth of another power using money as capital. Ironically, the formation of this power is based on a woman body.

The Nature of Education: Knowledge and Body

Kam Ho-Yin is a staff in Education Bureau and keeps promoting, showing that the officials in the department are just some evil people ironically. There is something noticeable that Sara thinks it is impossible to sell pirated discs all the time, sleep in the park, and make friends with hogs and dogs so she sought help from Kam at first. She is not just asking for a stable life and fed by someone, but also for a chance to control the future. “I want to study, I want some choices in my future. That's all.” So she started the eight-year relationship with Kam.

The film shows the relationship between education and authority. Sara was getting into a famous school by the power of Kam, University forced to reduce resources by the power of the government. “Knowledge can change life, and society,” said by Kam in a talk. If the quote is used on Sara, what make me sad is, before she can get the knowledge, she has to betray herself first. This is what the director wants us to think: if we cannot get a good education, then how can we change our life?


Student Name: Ngai Yim Wa Twiggy
Student Number: 10593053/21428747