Plot
Two girls, one dream. Little Papaya and Big Papaya grow up idolizing Chen Jin Lang, the King of Hokkien Getai, and dream of becoming Getai singers themselves. Their heart wrenching story is related by their introspective but highly sensitive friend and driver, Guan Yin.
Coached by their seamstress Ling Yi (Aunt Ling), the Papaya sisters struggle at first because they have no “feel” in their voices. As a last resort, they appeal to Aunt Ling’s estranged twin sister, the Goddess of Getai, for help. She grants them their wish, but warns them the price will be high, especially if they do not obey the rules of Getai. Rule number 5 states that they shall not love or be loved by any man.
The Papaya sisters hit the getai circuit and sing their hearts out with their newfound “feel”. Big Papaya is pursuing her dream in spite of strong parental objections. Little Papaya, being an orphan, is in a personal race against time to realize her potential. Like her deceased parents, Little Papaya suffers from cancer and has little time left. Through their perseverance, hard work and Aunt Ling’s amazing costumes, the Papayas become the most popular sister act in town. They use their fame to help raise funds to help Chen Jin Lang, who is suffering from cancer. But they are soon devastated by the death of their idol, Chen Jin Lang. While Little Papaya grieves, Big Papaya finds solace in the arms of Guan Yin.
Unknown to them, rival sister group Durian Sisters have become intensely jealous of the Papayas' success, and are determined to trip them up by messing up their schedule. With the help of their gangster Godfather, the Durians succeed in shutting the Papayas out of many getai. They are ruthless in their underhand attacks on the Papayas, using magical darts to hurt their rivals. Guan Yin cannot defend them, and even the Goddess is appalled by the tactics employed by the Durians. Although she grants the Papayas whatever celestial powers she can bestow, she warns them that there is a limit to what she can do.
At a confrontation, the Durians challenge the Papayas to a showdown. The stakes are high: whoever loses will leave the getai scene for good. The Papayas accept, and start preparing for the big day – new costumes, new songs, new dances. The movie climaxes with a dramatic musical battle. Both sides pull out all the stops to win over the audience, at first with their musical numbers. But as the fight becomes more intense, the Durians attack with their laser darts and the Papayas retaliate with their celestial powers.
Read more about this topic: 881 (film)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“James’s great gift, of course, was his ability to tell a plot in shimmering detail with such delicacy of treatment and such fine aloofness—that is, reluctance to engage in any direct grappling with what, in the play or story, had actually “taken place”Mthat his listeners often did not, in the end, know what had, to put it in another way, “gone on.””
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“The plot! The plot! What kind of plot could a poet possibly provide that is not surpassed by the thinking, feeling reader? Form alone is divine.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)