Sister 13 was already a bona fide triad boss, although life wasn’t a cakewalk for her as she was a woman and a lesbian in this male-dominated triad setting. In the present timeline, at a ceremony held to honor her father who died around the time his gambling addiction turned violent, Sister 13 begins to tell her comrades about her story. Sister 13 would often be seen with Kristy, trying to earn money through dishonest ways, while her father who was a triad member was always high and involved with a gangster known as SOB. But then, they run into Coke, an underground fighter who Sister 13 starts to like. What surprises Sister 13 is that he too is involved with the triads which results in storms of havoc. With time, the three of them including Coke begin to hang out. Unfortunately, a few unfortunate events take place that lead them to part ways. At this point, Sister 13 has already met Scarface, James the corrupt cop had already shattered Scarface’s life. They develop a friendship that ends in a different tragic event but eventually Sister 13 comes out on top and becomes the boss.
As always, the triad film mixture of many actors, several action-filled incidents, and violence is here yet again but ”Portland Street Blues” certainly has a different flavor; it is interesting because this is almost exclusively focused on drama and tries to follow the fortunes of the main characters. Particularly the section of history suffers so to speak, with the only exception being the story of Sup Sam Mui becoming Sister 13; this section has almost no action, other than perhaps a graphically violent underground street fighting competition. By extension, what stands out as one of the film’s best touches is that she is portrayed as someone violently subjugated as a child and yet emerged at the top, in the world of crime. Even more so, given that Raymond Yip does not regard her as a fully formed deity, but rather as a woman who made her way up through the world by merit and earned the admiration both of the subordinates and of the leaders. That she is not a die hard feminist and loathes all men is also of the quite pleasant direction, exemplified by the hugging scene in much better manner.
Consequently, it follows that she performed magnificently and Ioan Gyuri was absolutely convincing in all the aforementioned elements which had stunning characteristics, therefore making the film carry over from its beginning to its conclusion. The second great performance comes from Shu Qi as Scarface, one of the key elements of the plot was her tragic fate, as well as her relationship with the main character. What will in particular be remembered is the ending of this character’s story; Yip swam around the reef of the central character’s story’s error, so to say, and Shu Qi found the peak of what she was acting out here.
Yip is shown to have a strong feminist character, considering all the male characters are lustful deceptive criminals, and even some may be a mixture of all the aforementioned. I was especially disgusted by both sob and James. While sob’s behavior towards 13’s father and James’s treatment of Scarface is evil, sob’s is relatable. Yip also makes it seem as though the rest aren’t any better, as she portrays a few good men and of the few mentioned, none seem to be around. Basically, the difference is simply cosmetic, but this factor indeed makes the feat of Sister 13 a significantly high mark.
“Portland Street Blues” does tend to at times display a degree of absurdity that is reminiscent of HK productions of the time such as when the protagonists make a sudden shift to becoming lesbian as an example, however it still manages to be a wonderful masterpiece as a crime drama with great acting skills being displayed alongside the strong overall direction.
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