The Diary of a Big Man 1988

The film opens with a playful narration by the lead, who introduces himself as Chow Ting-fat [Chow Yun-Fat], and quietly lays out a dream of wealth, success, and a life where beauty seems to orbit his every move. As the camera shifts to a rain-slick street, Chow’s ambitions collide with reality when his car breaks down, forcing him to take shelter from a heavy downpour. It’s here that he meets two striking women: Joey [Joey Wong Cho-Yin], a chic boutique owner, and Sally [Sally Yeh], an air-hostess who will eventually become his wife. The setup is breezy and comic, hinting at a double life that Chow plans to manage with clockwork precision: a timetable of meetings, seamless alibis, and carefully crafted excuses designed to keep both wives from discovering each other.

Chow convinces himself that his two-timing scheme is foolproof, and he begins to choreograph a calendar that would allow him to savor a comfortable, uninterrupted life with each wife. Yet the fragile balance is shaken when Sally decides to fly back to Hong Kong to stage a surprise birthday celebration for him, a gesture that clashes with Joey’s visit and shatters Chow’s carefully laid plans. In a scramble to salvage the ruse, Chow ropes in his loyal ally and best friend, Chi-hung [Waise Lee], for back-up. The two improvise a string of sign languages and coded excuses to keep the two women from ever comparing calendars or sharing notes.

Trouble compounds after a street accident involving Chow and Inspector Cheng [Kent Cheng Jak-Si], who ends up in the hospital. To avoid suspicion, Chow tries to slip away by shadowing Sally to her hospital bed, hoping she won’t notice the double life. Chi-hung then steps in, pretending to be Chow and answering the inspector’s questions with quick excuses, successfully convincing the investigator that he’s merely facing a copy of Chow in a bustling city. The inspector buys the ruse and leaves without a clue, even as the truth glitters just beneath the surface.

The tangled web grows more intricate as Joey and Sally accidentally become friends, first at Joey’s boutique and later at the hair salon. The situation escalates when Joey throws a birthday party for Chow, and Sally accompanies him to a different gathering at his home. Once again, Chi-hung is dragged into the fray. Chow, improvising again, shifts suspicion onto Chi-hung by presenting him as his best friend and Joey’s “husband.” The ruse buys a moment of calm, but the friends’ friendship has become a fault line ready to crack. To keep the act afloat, Chow stages a chaotic ruse in which Chi-hung’s face ends up smeared on a birthday cake bearing the phrase “Joey Love Fat,” and he even convinces Joey that the police inspector is a psychopath, just to buy more time. He also fakes a reveal that he and Chi-hung are a same-sex couple, forcing the inspector to back off—an audacious bluff that keeps the lovers in the dark for the moment.

Meanwhile, Chi-hung’s strain grows heavy enough to threaten his own relationship with Ka-lai [Carrie Ng Ka-Lai], who believes her boyfriend is having a secret affair. The tension reaches a boiling point when all the principal players—Chow, his two wives, Chi-hung, and Ka-lai—converge for a tense restaurant gathering. The women strike a surprising accord: Joey and Sally become friendly with Ka-lai, and Chow hatches a farcical plan that requires Joey to pretend to be Sally’s lover while Chi-hung pretends to be Ka-lai’s lover. The absurd arrangement buys time, but it’s a brittle peace that could crumble at any incompatible moment.

One year into the odd marriage, the two wives finally confront the truth when they bump into each other at a photo shop, spotting their wedding albums that prove Chow’s two-timing reality. Anger, hurt, and a calculated resolve push them toward action. They stage a vacation “for the men” that spirals into a trap: a hotel room set for a Valentine’s Day payoff, where Chow finds himself suddenly caught between the two women who are now fully aware of his deception. The dramatic setup dissolves into a comic-violent farce as Chow is discovered in a room with both wives, and their shared lesson begins—Chow is outmatched as he’s manipulated, tied up, slapped, and subjected to a series of humiliations that underscore the price of deceit.

After the chaotic lesson, Chow’s attempt to win his wives back unfolds against a sense of inevitability. He travels to reclaim what he has endangered, but the women stand firm in their own resolve, debating who deserves to be his one true partner in life—an uneasy question that remains unresolved as outside forces collide with their personal drama. A police raid targets two criminals, including Shing Fui-On, and the arrival of Chow and the wives inadvertently tips off the criminals, who end up taking the women hostage within a police siege. The wives’ fear gives way to courage as they defend themselves, and the criminals surrender in a display of chaotic escape that the surrounding officers manage to defuse.

In the film’s closing moments, a drenched Chow returns to the scene to offer a sincere apology. He tells his two wives that perhaps it is best for them to live without him, and he sends them home in a waiting taxi as rain continues to fall. The end leaves a hopeful sense that the women may choose their own paths forward, even as the man who caused the storm looks on with a tempered, if remorseful, calm.