Gall of Gamblers
The gambling movies from Hong Kong, such as Wong Jing’s God of Gamblers franchise, are best appreciated when you learn the Cantonese slang terms. A “big stall” is an illegal gambling house. Likewise, a nest can either mean an apartment owned by a group of friends or a place where illegal activity takes place. This reflects the first God of Gamblers movie. To kick a nest can either mean to turn up unexpectedly in order to raid a premise where criminals are hiding or to catch somebody out such as appearing at the apartment of a parner’s secret lover (as implied in God of Gamblers II starring Andy Lau and Stephen Chow).
“Dái” (底) means foundation and background. This can describe a plan, a secret identity (such as a gangster status), a hidden background or even a hundred thousand dollars worth of dead chips. A “dove hair flying a paper harrier” means taking a risk. Wong Jing went uncredited for his duties as a co-director for a film that he wrote and produced: No Risk, No Gain (1990). The story behind the directorial decision is that Taylor Wong was too slow as a director, so Jing had to compensate alongside director and studio head Jimmy Heung. Although he is an incredibly diverse film-maker, Wong Jing is most prolific in the gambling genre.
Ironically, neither he or any other film-maker has yet to exploit the fact why Bolo is the name given to Yang Tze’s villainous character in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. It ended up becoming a part of Yang’s new screen name: Bolo Yeung. In Cantonese, bo lo means pineapple. Bō láu can be a billiard hall (whether it be snooker or pool). According to Jackie Chan, the Triads usually preferred hanging around this type of place. Bō láahm means illegal gambling on soccer. Bō lòh dēng means someone who takes advantage of other people. In October 1983, two films were released where Bolo played a character whose names were reminiscent of the Chinese word for ball or breasts. Bolo played Bo in Just for Fun, and Bu Bo in The Boxer’s Omen.
When Bruce Lee was alive, he wanted to make a film with Bolo called The Green Bamboo Warrior. Although it wasn’t going to be about gambling, it’s hard to imagine the film being made without someone in production being reminded of it due to various Cantonese terms. A bamboo house is a name for a Mahjong parlour. An exploding scaffolding refers to a full house, both literally and figuratively. Bamboo war is a common name for Mahjong. Other names are pounding small stones, scraping bamboo, building a few circles, and attacking the four-sided city. In Hong Kong, there used to be an ungoverned territory in Kowloon called The Walled City. A magpie bureau is a Mahjong party where each winner makes a contribution for dinner. Speaking of all things sky related, a “sky fairy plot” describes a conspiracy between members of a gambling ring to rob an unsuspecting outsider.
Johng sáu sàhn literally translates to God of Hands. This would have been a better title for Wong Jing’s directorial debut: Challenge of the Gamesters. A Mahjong leg refers to a player. There are four players, therefore “not enough feet” usually means that you’re one player short of a game. Four legs are likened to either a table or a four-legged animal. Mahjong reminds me of Scrabble. In fact, “word flower” is an illegal gambling game involving guessing which character will be uncovered, formerly played in Hong Kong. Because of the often illegal nature of gambling, there is a code for a game which is to have a meeting. It’s reminiscent of Japanese gangster culture that giving up gambling is described by the Chinese as chopping off one’s fingers. Wong Jing made a gambling movie about the Yakuza. It’s called Conman in Tokyo.
Itchy hands can equally mean touching things that one shouldn’t touch as well as being eager to have a go at playing Mahjong, likewise with “body itch” (although this can equally refer to visiting prostitutes). Equally desperate is the use of the “chase” expression to describe someone who keeps on gambling in order to recoup one’s losses. “Skinned pig” could be used for strip poker although it’s usually referred to (or should that be reserved for) situations where a person is either literally stripped naked, cleaned out or generally left with nothing. There is an erotic movie about gambling. It’s called The Pearl of Oriental, but it’s about a woman who owns a racehorse instead of a woman who specializes in strip poker. A “seabed fishing for the moon” means to take the last piece and win at Mahjong, but it can also mean an anal massage.
“Crossing the big sea” means going from Hong Kong to Macau. The latter is the Chinese equivalent to Las Vegas. Stanley Ho Hung-Sun was Macau’s most lucrative entrepreneur for gambling, and Wong Jing made an epic film about him called Casino Tycoon. It came with two caveats, not just splitting it into two films but having to change the protagonist’s name to Benny Ho Hsin. “Stanley” can be used as a sarcastic name since not only is there a Morgan Stanley bank in Hong Kong, but there is also a prison called Stanley. In the last decade, Wong Jing made a trilogy of films called From Vegas to Macau. These starred Chow Yun-Fat, who played the titular God of Gamblers.
