Fall for You
Director: Cha Chuen-yee
Year: 2001
Rating: 4.0
Was this suppose to
be a love story or an endurance test? How could a love story that takes
place in Paris be so lacking in charm, so lacking in romance, so lacking in
la vie l’amour. How could you take two Hong Kong stars and place them in
Paris without an inkling of an idea as what to do with them. This Chinese
soufflé is as light and buoyant as a lead pipe and sits just as comfortably
in your stomach. I am truly aghast at what a misshaped and tedious film this
was especially in comparison to Bakery Amour that I watched just a few days
before. Toi, tu l’entends pas (You don’t understand).
Francis Ng stars in both films, but even his star power can bring no light
to this desultory affair. The reasons this film fails so miserable as a romance
are simple – neither character is all that likable – in particular the Kristie
Yeung one, there is absolutely no chemistry between the two actors/characters
and thus no reason for them to fall in love (besides a script telling them
to), they are actually on the screen together for a small amount of time as
the film haphazardly jumps from plot point to plot point for no reason and
finally the ending is completely unsatisfying (the turtle on the hand being
a particularly ridiculous moment). Ca fait drole (it’s funny).
Francis Ng is a struggling painter in Paris
looking for a break, but after six years his future is looking bleak and
he may soon be forced to leave though he desperately wants to stay. He makes
love to his paint covered French models, but suffers from an unusual sexual
dysfunction – he blacks out after climaxing. A friend warns him that he may
die after one such black out – ah dying for love – how Parisian. C’est l’amour
qui fait qu’on s’aime (Its love that makes you happy).
Kristie’s character is one that you would love to see washed overboard a
yacht in the middle of the ocean – annoying, self-centered and not at all
interesting. She also wants to stay in Paris – her goal is to be married to
a rich man by the time she is thirty – only two years away. So she uses a
high-class pimp to introduce her to rich Frenchmen and takes it from there.
The Prince of Monaco is on her target list. Je suis a toi (I am yours).
They meet cute – he is a waiter, she trolling after a wealthy man – a spilled
drink – a written charm on the bottom of the foot, but this romance just refuses
to take off – it lies earthbound like a collapsed over stuffed Zeppelin. Francis
falls for Kristie, but one can’t even begin to imagine why – is it her high-pitched
whine or the way she uses him. Eventually she thinks she is in love with
Francis – it must be his grungy knit caps that cover his head like a moldy
infestation because it certainly isn’t his charm. T’es beau tu sais (You’re
handsome, you know)
Still the film does take place in Paris and I love Paris. The film makes
good use of the city – which I suppose makes good sense if you go to the trouble
of flying there – much more so than most recent HK films have made use of
Hong Kong. For the scenes of Paris and for having an opportunity to see Francis
and Kristie act in both Chinese and French – and even some English – Non,
je ne regretted rien (I regret nothing).
(French from song titles sung by Edith Piaf –
who knew what love was on the streets of Paris.)