Anita Mui: A Rainha do Pop da Ásia

Living in Hong Kong during it's golden years of cinema, music and live concerts this movie brought back very fond memories. I knew Leslie (GorGor), Anita (Big Sister) and her stylist dress designer Eddie Lau. The production was seamless especially the scenes that blend footage from the past with the present. Louise Wong's portrayal of Anita Mui is brilliant and not much is known about her. The production values are first rate, the direction perfect and storyline honest. Anita did a lot more charity work than what was "allowed" in the movie. Now that Hong Kong is China with a hardline security law it could not be shown.

Those who gave it a score of 10 or 1 are rather strange.

I find the movie disappointing and rather overhyped or overrated from HK. The whole movie suffered from a poor script or editing, the trailer is far better.

Too much of real events are deliberately left out probably not to tarnish her image and to appeal to the government and her fans. Her fame as both an actress and singer wasn't felt in the movie and most hit songs at the peak of her career wasn't mentioned at all. Her mum and brother was totally left out, Leslie Cheung's success wasn't mentioned at all making him looked like an unsuccessful artist until after his death, her "slapped" scene by a gangster was shown but what followed all changed, the guy got killed wasn't mentioned at all. We can't feel or see Anita's character and spirit from the movie, can't really understand why in some scenes she felt unhappy or stressed. The best scene in the movie is when she and Leslie film "Rogue", very creative and some HK outdoor scenes of the 80s look realistic. Some said there will be a director's cut of 4 hours, hopefully it will rectify all the shortcomings.

If you don't know her, this is still a great story. Having lived in HK for half a year and being a fan of Chinese music, I had heard a bit about her. If you know nothing this is still a great movie and true story.

Of course, there is an undercurrent to the story which a foreigner will not get about her but it is still an incredible movie experience. For example, there is a simple scene where she, now being rich and famous, is interviewed and asked if she will stay in Hong Kong after 1997. She proudly says "Yes, I will stay in Hong Kong". This was the year that Hong Kong was handed back over to China from being a British colony and there was a lot of fear at that time that the mainland government would be heavy handed with locals and take away their western freedoms. This turned out to not be the case but many people left HK at that time and she proudly stayed. This is not explained in the movie, you'd have to know the history of HK. But these few blips would take nothing away from this film if you didn't.

If anything, the true story of her life is even more incredible than this story, a wonderful film.

I find this film absolutely captivating. Every single second is filled with heartfelt story. The actress playing Anita Mui is very good, and delivers much resemblances to Anita. This film gives me a profound experience, and I'm still in tears hours after watching it.

Out of respect to Anita Mui, I watch the movie. It has not let me down. The casting is excellent. The costume and setting is good. It brings along the memory of the good old days when Anita and Leslie are alive.

I wonder if any producer would make a film on Leslie Cheung? I would be the first to watch it.