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Love
and Let Love! |
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Year: |
1998 |
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Director: |
Dennis
Chan Kwok-San |
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Cast: |
Julian
Cheung Chi-Lam,
Theresa Lee Yi-Hung,
Florence Kwok
Siu-Wan,
Paul Wong Koon-Chung,
Elaine Kam Yin-Ling,
Joe Cheung Tung-Cho,
Michael Tse Tin-Wah,
Vincent Kok Tak-Chiu,
Lee Lik-Chee,
Dennis Chan Kwok-San,
Yip Kwong-Kim,
Eric Tsang Chi-Wai
(voice only) |
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The
Skinny: |
HK
retread of the Guy Named Joe, Always,
Ghost formula doesn't accomplish much. Julian
Cheung hasn't the requisite acting chops to pull off
his role. |
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Review
by Kozo: |
This romantic drama takes us into the territory previously
mined by Ghost and Always. Julian Cheung
is Cliff, an immature male who plays video games for
a living, which irks his longtime live-in girlfriend
Terry (Theresa Lee). Still, the two manage to put a
semblance of civility between them in the first twenty
minutes - which is time enough for a marriage proposal
to get thrown into the mix.
Sadly, it’s all put aside when
a car crash nixes all happy endings that the couple
had planned for themselves. Cliff enters the sweet hereafter,
leaving Terry to contemplate her own loneliness. Not
able to put Cliff behind her, she spurns the advances
of nice guy Ed (Paul Wong of the rock group Beyond),
who she meets while wandering the roads around her house.
However, soon Cliff makes his ghostly presence known,
and Terry believes she’s found her everlasting happiness.
But is that what they really want?
For all the good intentions
of this film, it only succeeds as a superficial exploration
of the issues of love and loss. There is a good message
in this film, as well as a certain hidden nobility to
Cheung’s character that makes his actions compelling.
However, the film is directed really poorly (by character
actor Dennis Chan Kwok-San) and is littered with inappropriate
symbolic metaphor that seems lifted from a Wong Kar-Wai
film. The film is tedious at times, never doing much
with what’s happening onscreen. Acting-wise, the film
does all right. Sadly, the talent of Theresa Lee is
muted while Cheung’s limitations are emphasized. He
plays a good jerk, but it’s hard to see the hidden emotions
behind those eyes, even when we know what he’s up to.
See if you’re a fan of either star, but not for any
other real reason, least of all enlightenment on the
film’s issues. (Kozo 1998) |
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Availability: |
DVD
(Hong Kong)
Region 0 NTSC
Mei Ah Laser
Widescreen
Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks
English and Chinese Subtitles |
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image
courtesy of Five Star Laser Co. |
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| LoveHKFilm.com
Copyright ©2002-2017 Ross Chen
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