I Have a Date with Spring
Director: Clifton Ko
Year: 1994
Rating: 8.0
Bathed in a warm
buttery glow, this film is a lovingly nostalgic look back at Hong Kong in
the 1960s. Based on a stage play by Raymond To, Clifton Ko brought this to
the screen in 1994 and with a cast of supporting and unknown actors. It became
a surprise hit that ran in HK for over five months. The film is structured
very much like a play – almost every scene takes place inside - and it utilizes
very few cinematic devices (besides the flashback) to tell the story.
The story it tells is a bittersweet one – of life flying by all too quickly
– of love lost and lost friends – of success and failure – and the sad inevitability
of growing up and growing apart.
A well known singer Alice Lau (Butterfly Yiu) returns to Hong Kong in the
1990s for the first time in years to perform a benefit concert at an old
nightclub that is being torn down. Hearing certain music and seeing familiar
sights set her off down memory lane and a series of flashbacks take us back
into the 1960s. Alice and three other girls (Law Koon-lan, So Yuk Wa and
Fung Wai-hang) portray a struggling but spirited singing group working for
Uncle Po (Yip Wing-cho) at this club.
The film delves into the personal lives of the four girls and charmingly
evokes their friendship and support of one another in pranks, tears and mahjong
games. Outside of the club, Hong Kong is being torn apart by riots and bombs
– but inside there is only their comradery and their music. Life though begins
to intrude – one girl goes off to perform in Vietnam with her boyfriend,
another begins singing at USO canteens and Alice gets her big break one evening
when the headline singer (Chow Fai) gets waylaid by the bombs and Alice stands
in for him.
Alice also falls in love with the saxophone player, David Ng, but success
and pride drive them in different directions. Now Alice has come back to
Hong Kong and the ghosts of her past begin to surround her once again. It
is all told in a wonderfully moving manner – funny, sentimental and poignant.
The acting from all the participants feels just right – and in particular
Alice Lau is simply wonderful.
