Au revoir, mon amour

Although not known to the Western critics, this picture may be in the all time top-10 of Hong Kong cinema. A tale of time, love and expectation. An incidental couple- Mui and Leung- fell in love within the turmoil of Chinese-Japanese conflict. Their occasional rendez-vous and common habitual adversity ends with war-torn, irreversible relationship regardless of their intention. The depiction of historic events and sentimental trajectory is overwhelming. Stylish mis-en-scene and dynamic camera works are superb. The English title is "When my dear come again?

The pairing of Tony Leung and Anita Mui should have been a great one, but this film is confusing. It leaps through time and circumstances without any real explanation, and somehow these two main characters really are not all that appealing. Anita Mui plays a singer in Shanghai, meets Tony Leung, who is a member of the resistance and they carry on an affair which has pauses in time. By the end of the film you're not sure why you care about these two people. The visual aspect of the film is great, and Ms. Mui looks great, but I just felt the story could have been tighter in its execution. Not a total waste by any means, just not as great a film as these two lead actors could have done. I'd far recommend the late Ms. Mui in "Rouge", if you want to see how special she is as an actress. Not bad, but it could have been a lot better.