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Mo lei tau (traditional Chinese:無厘頭;simplified Chinese:无厘头;Jyutping:mou4 lei4 tau4;pinyin:Wúlítóu;lit. 'nonsensical') is a type ofslapstick humour associated withHong Kong popular culture that developed during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon that has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the placement of surprising and incongruous elements, and the complex interplay of cultural subtleties. Typical constituents of this humour include nonsensicalparodies,juxtaposition of contrasts, sudden surprises in spoken dialogue and action and improbable and deliberateanachronisms.
During an interview withStephen Chow for his 2006 season ofAsian Invasion, BBC film critic Jonathan Ross referred to the genre as "Silly Talk", a label that Chow was happy to accept.
Mo lei tau (Jyutping: mou4 lei4 tau4) is aCantonese term which may be loosely translated as "with no source", but is generally used to mean "makes no sense". The original phrase wasmok lei tau haau (莫釐頭尻) which literally means "cannot differentiate between head and tail". However, in Cantonese the word "尻" (Jyutping:haau1, commonly mispronounced as"gau1"), which means the end of the spine, is often mispronounced as the vulgar word "𨳊" for penis. To avoid saying the wordgau, the phrase is cut tomou lei tau.[1]
Another phrase in Cantonese that is used similarly is九唔搭八 (Jyutping:gau2 m4 daap3 baat3). This literally translates as "nine doesn't follow eight".Gau m daap baat is something that is considered completely nonsensical, but in a somewhat comical manner.[citation needed]
Mo lei tau humour is a recent phenomenon in the culture of Hong Kong.[citation needed]
As a film form the earliest proponents of this form of humour can be seen to be the Hui brothers (Michael Hui,Samuel Hui andRicky Hui) working in the late 1970s and early 1980s, although their comedy was never specifically labelled asmo lei tau.Jackie Chan'sFantasy Mission Force (1982) could conceivably be seen as another early example of the genre.[citation needed]
As typified byStephen Chow's 1990s Hong Kong movies,mo lei tau developed into an 'anything goes' form of nonsensical humour that can and does ignore narrative conventions. It is nonsensical in the same way thatEdward Lear's poems are, where irrelevant elements are somehow thrown together; as opposed to, say,Lewis Carroll's novels, where the nonsense relies on a play on logic or semantics. Generally, amo lei tau scene gives one the feeling of incongruity, consisting of rapid comic banter,non-sequiturs,anachronisms,fourth wall references, and Cantoneseslang andword play.[citation needed]
Regarded as an integral part ofHong Kong's popular culture, it is considered by some as being unique and untranslatable. Compared to a Western comedy film,mo lei tau movies have greater attention onpuns and other Cantonese word tricks.[citation needed]
Amo lei tau performance can be either verbal orslapstick.[citation needed]
A verbal example is thecatchphrase"Co5 dai1 yam2 daam6 caa4, sik6 go3 baau1" (坐低飲啖茶，食個包), meaning "Let's sit down, take a sip of tea, and have abao (a Chinese bun)", first uttered by Stephen Chow in the TV serialThe Final Combat (蓋世豪俠). The phrase becomesmo lei tau because it is repeated in irrelevant and inappropriate situations. It also serves as acomedic device because the actions suggested by "sitting, drinking and eating" are so plain and normal.[citation needed]
For aslapstick example, consider this scene from amo lei tau film: a man is battered by others but is still able to stand upright. He bravely tells his friend he can take the beating, whereupon his friend replies: "Wow! After being hit so badly, you can still talk? If that was me I'd be puking right now!" The man promptly starts vomiting. The scene is hackneyed, but can be seen even to this day in the 2005 filmInitial D, for example.[citation needed]
