In 1991, the band "Beyond" was at the peak of popularity, so the appearance of this film is not surprising. At one time, even the Beatles were filmed in movies. It would be logical to assume that “The Beyond Diary” should be a musical film, but no, for the entire film, Beyond performs only one song, and the rest of the time they pretend to be comedic actors. And they're doing very well. Of course, it is difficult to call acting, after all, they are primarily musicians, but they cope with the roles, although they take them exclusively with their charisma and personal charm.
In this film for the first time appeared on the screen, then unknown singer Fay Wong (although recently somewhere in the archives was found a film released before the “Diary...” in which Fay starred under a pseudonym). Everyone who has watched Chunking Express knows how natural and relaxed she can be on the screen, because it is even more insulting to see that in this film she only performs the functions of furniture (she plays the bride Yip Say Wing and participates in 3-4 scenes for the whole film). The truth for the fanatics (Fay fans) her presence is quite enough to watch this film several times.
The film was directed by Francis Sung, the man whose greatest achievement in cinema was the role of driver Jackie Chan in “Twin Dragons”. Naturally, no directorial delights are expected. All the merits of Francis come down to the fact that he managed not to spoil the original script of Vincent Kock, which is the main advantage of this film. Thank you for that. Vincent Kok by the mid-90s, along with Stephen Chow and Lee Lik Chi, will create a new subgenre of Hong Kong comedies - "moleito" (something like a comedy of the absurd), and in 1991 he made his first timid steps in the cinema. The Beyond Diary was his debut work. In this picture, Vincent was a screenwriter, assistant director and played a cameo role.
The script literally for the first few scenes draws very lively and voluminous characters, while maintaining a very specific composition: all four storylines go in parallel, almost never intersecting; the main characters meet each other extremely rarely, all together they get together only twice - at the very beginning and at the end, when they perform at a music competition.
The film is full of original and sometimes even funny jokes. It can be seen that the rudiments of the corporate style of Vincent Cock were formed already in 1991. What he hasn’t yet developed by 91 is a sense of proportion: some jokes can be shocking. For example, in the film there is a character Kitaro nicknamed AIDS Bearer and if someone offended you, then this Kitaro can be hired for the Nth sum to kiss or!!!! In my opinion, such black curtains are too much for such a positive and fun comedy. With the theme of AIDS in the film is connected and another joke: in the family of Wong Ka Kui made fun of each other, saying: “Yes, you have AIDS!”, while everyone laughs and grabs the tummy. Perhaps in Hong Kong in the early 90s, the problem of AIDS was very acute and these pearls were something of a joke on the topic of the day. Quite a bold move. Just as boldly, the filmmakers laugh at economic instability, corruption, the approach of '97 (when Hong Kong will be handed over to China), and other serious things. From here follows the main idea of the film - to live in this world is very difficult, but you need to meet everything that fate presents us with humor and optimism; do not be afraid to take responsibility for your actions, your life and for the society in which we live; each of us is able to change this world for the better, without losing yourself and your ideals, in pursuit of a dream. In principle, these ideas are the leitmotif of Beyond’s musical creativity, so this film fits into their creative heritage.
I wouldn’t put Beyond’s Diary in the Must See category. It’s just a movie that can brighten up some dull evening for you. But if you are a fan of Beyond, a fanatic or a lover of unconventional humor, then Diary has every chance to become one of your favorite films.