Anna Magdalena is certainly a very interesting film. It is interesting in that this film's plot does progress linearly, bilaterally or whatever. In fact, it is hard to categorise this style of storytelling. Besides being a comedy and a drama, I think this film can also be categorised as a fantasy. To some people, a plot is considered to be an essential ingredient in a film. A certain setting must lead to a certain event, and then that event must be developed further into a plot. However, this movie has proven to the audience that a motion picture need not be bounded by the rules of literature or the theater. In portraying a romantic story, most artistic screenwriters will use a narration, but a creative screenwriter like Ivy Ho chose a much more fantastic style. In the middle of the film, the Anna Magdalena that is chapterised in a style that resembles a classical music piece, spins off to the inner fantasy of Chan Ka Fu(Takeshi), who has written it down and sent it to a publisher. As Chan's flight of imagination is being played out, the subtle love of the assistant editor(Yuen) and the editor(Cheng) are also being portrayed. Granted, The love triangles of Chan, Mok(Kelly Chan), and You(Aaron Kwok), and the As. editor, the editor and his wife are seemingly irrelevant, but the screenwriter has already made it clear that this film is not about the telling of a single story, but a more general, more common yawn for true love among Hongkongers. For those who are tired of set ways, who want a little spice in the dough, who are open-minded to different things, this movie is a must-see.
