City of Glass
Reviewed by YTSL
This is a movie that really does look good.
It is technically polished and stylishly filmed, and features an ample amount
of softly-lit interior and scenic outdoor shots. Virtually nothing in
it is unpleasant to view. Even a scene of a fatal car crash is made
to look artistic rather than horrific.
As I sat back to watch CITY OF GLASS, the thought
that sneaked up on -- and nagged at -- me though was that this was a film
in which style was being emphasized over substance, gloss over reality,
rose-tinted nostalgia over harsher-tinged memory. Consequently, what
could have been a movie about interesting people living in interesting times
(of student protest, political awakening, communal as well as individual
coming of age, socio-cultural change, Hand-Over fears, preparations and actuality)
was forsaken in favor of one which mainly concentrated on showing photogenic
-- and largely self-absorbed -- individuals in picturesque surroundings.
In all fairness, this movie truly does have some
nice visual moments and touches. I particularly liked the scenes of
a formally attired Hsu Chi and her similarly dressed college-mates entering
their dining hall, Leon Lai and her meeting in London, and that of their
airplanes flying over Hong Kong. It was also kind of "neat" to see
the Hand-Over fireworks display (and parts of Prince Charles' speech!) incorporated
into a Hong Kong movie.
Still, pretty pictures -- especially ones that
are only moving in one sense but not another -- cannot adequately compensate
for this movie's many (emotional, plot, musical, etc.) failings. All
in all, this is a disappointing – though not necessarily dislikable -- effort
from director Mabel Cheung which I was shocked to learn was nominated for
-- but did not win -- many Hong Kong Film awards (including those for
Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director as well as Best Art
Direction and Best Cinematography).
My rating for this film: 6.
Reviewed by Brian
This film is an ode to the face of Hsu Chi. The director and cinematographer
embrace her face like a work of sacred art. Every facet of it is photographed
in close up mode from every angle, in every light, in every expression. It
is a sight to behold. Her beauty is luminescent. This valentine is saturated
in sentiment and nostalgia, but the production quality is fabulous and the
direction so smooth that it goes down like 20-year old bourbon. Scenes of
London and HK are gorgeous.
The film opens in style with Hsu Chi and Leon Lai driving down a street in
London on New Year’s Eve with fireworks and the Tower Bridge in the background.
That along with the smile on Hsu Chi’s face lights up the night and creates
a spectacular vision. Then suddenly the car swerves, crashes and both Leon
and Hsu are dead. It turns out that they are married, but not to each other
and both have a grown up child. Hmm? Hsu in her forties? Fortunately, the
director didn't have the heart to even try and make Hsu look older.
The two children – one a male, the other female played by Daniel Wu and Nicola
Cheung – return to HK to settle the affairs of their parents and try to learn
about their parent's love affair as well. The film begins to slide effortlessly
between the relationship that starts to develop between the two offspring
and flashbacks that detail the twenty-year-old love affair of Leon and Hsu.
It is very well done, but because we know that they are dead, a layer of
sadness and nostalgia permeates the film.
Hsu Chi radiates like fissionable material, but she also does an excellent
acting job. Her expressions and movements always feel just right and very
natural. She just continues to get better. For this type of sentimental film
this is a pretty good one. But beware - if you think numerous renditions
of the song "Try and Remember" might cause you permanent brain damage, you
better skip this one! Directed by Mabel Cheung who must enjoy films that
take place over a long number of years - as she also directed the Soong Sisters.
