2002·Drama·1h 33m
7.1
★
A stylish urban romance about the silent suffering of a modern Chinese couple.
Directed by Zhang Yibai
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Geng Le
Jian Bin
Xu Jinglei
Xiaohui
Gao Yuanyuan
Tian ai
Fan Wei
Wang Yi
Zhang Yang
Lao Hu
Wang Ning
Li Chuan
Crew
Zhang Yibai
Director
Liu Fendou
Writer
Zhao Xiaoding
Director of Photography
Popular Reviews
1 review
dparasol
7.0★ · 02/11/26
This, obviously, goes on my train movies list, which features other films where people try to fix their relationship problems in the subway.
I straight up don't believe in style vs. substance. I don't think you can make the distinction. If the style is good, there's substance. If there's no substance, it's a bad style. It's as simple as that, at least as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't put this up there with any of the greater stylists I've seen over the years, but I think there's a solid sense of style here, communicating the essential nature of the failure of their relationship (and, look, a lot of it really is his fault). One scene I liked was the cockroach scene, in which Xiaohui pins a major decision about their relationship on something completely arbitrary rather than making an earnest decision herself.
This movie's real problem is just that there are so many Wong Kar-Wai films out there, being better than it in every way, as well as a whole bunch of other films with similar themes which are, likewise, better.
Taking other movies out of the mix, I think a big problem with this film is most of the interesting things happen outside of Xiaohui and Jian Bin's relationship, whereas scenes between the two of them often end up hitting the same beats repeatedly without ever doing anything to evoke what could happen if they were to communicate openly and honestly, for better or worse. Some of the flashbacks are excellent, some are absolutely pointless. The absolute best moments of this film almost feel like genius to me.
It's a shame, because there are some real possibilities in this film. I think there's always a lot to do with the "seasonal," which is to say transitory, nature of love, but I don't always feel like this movie's doing anything with that thematically. I would have liked to see the film call more attention to how selfish Jian Bin is really being every time he makes himself out to be selfless. I really do think there are some nice stretches in the final, say, fifteen minutes, though.
This rating is just about the average, but trust me when I say that a 3.5 star rating means I think the movie is pretty good. Some people out there use 3 or 3.5 stars for when a movie sucks, and I don't believe in that, alright?
"I know, were I to follow her, everything would be over. I've been this way my whole life. No matter what happens, everything gets blamed on me. Were she to betray me, it would be my fault."
I straight up don't believe in style vs. substance. I don't think you can make the distinction. If the style is good, there's substance. If there's no substance, it's a bad style. It's as simple as that, at least as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't put this up there with any of the greater stylists I've seen over the years, but I think there's a solid sense of style here, communicating the essential nature of the failure of their relationship (and, look, a lot of it really is his fault). One scene I liked was the cockroach scene, in which Xiaohui pins a major decision about their relationship on something completely arbitrary rather than making an earnest decision herself.
This movie's real problem is just that there are so many Wong Kar-Wai films out there, being better than it in every way, as well as a whole bunch of other films with similar themes which are, likewise, better.
Taking other movies out of the mix, I think a big problem with this film is most of the interesting things happen outside of Xiaohui and Jian Bin's relationship, whereas scenes between the two of them often end up hitting the same beats repeatedly without ever doing anything to evoke what could happen if they were to communicate openly and honestly, for better or worse. Some of the flashbacks are excellent, some are absolutely pointless. The absolute best moments of this film almost feel like genius to me.
It's a shame, because there are some real possibilities in this film. I think there's always a lot to do with the "seasonal," which is to say transitory, nature of love, but I don't always feel like this movie's doing anything with that thematically. I would have liked to see the film call more attention to how selfish Jian Bin is really being every time he makes himself out to be selfless. I really do think there are some nice stretches in the final, say, fifteen minutes, though.
This rating is just about the average, but trust me when I say that a 3.5 star rating means I think the movie is pretty good. Some people out there use 3 or 3.5 stars for when a movie sucks, and I don't believe in that, alright?
"I know, were I to follow her, everything would be over. I've been this way my whole life. No matter what happens, everything gets blamed on me. Were she to betray me, it would be my fault."
This, obviously, goes on my train movies list, which features other films where people try to fix their relationship problems in the subway.
I straight up don't believe in style vs. substance. I don't think you can make the distinction. If the style is good, there's substance. If there's no substance, it's a bad style. It's as simple as that, at least as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't put this up there with any of the greater stylists I've seen over the years, but I think there's a solid sense of style here, communicating the essential nature of the failure of their relationship (and, look, a lot of it really is his fault). One scene I liked was the cockroach scene, in which Xiaohui pins a major decision about their relationship on something completely arbitrary rather than making an earnest decision herself.
This movie's real problem is just that there are so many Wong Kar-Wai films out there, being better than it in every way, as well as a whole bunch of other films with similar themes which are, likewise, better.
Taking other movies out of the mix, I think a big problem with this film is most of the interesting things happen outside of Xiaohui and Jian Bin's relationship, whereas scenes between the two of them often end up hitting the same beats repeatedly without ever doing anything to evoke what could happen if they were to communicate openly and honestly, for better or worse. Some of the flashbacks are excellent, some are absolutely pointless. The absolute best moments of this film almost feel like genius to me.
It's a shame, because there are some real possibilities in this film. I think there's always a lot to do with the "seasonal," which is to say transitory, nature of love, but I don't always feel like this movie's doing anything with that thematically. I would have liked to see the film call more attention to how selfish Jian Bin is really being every time he makes himself out to be selfless. I really do think there are some nice stretches in the final, say, fifteen minutes, though.
This rating is just about the average, but trust me when I say that a 3.5 star rating means I think the movie is pretty good. Some people out there use 3 or 3.5 stars for when a movie sucks, and I don't believe in that, alright?
"I know, were I to follow her, everything would be over. I've been this way my whole life. No matter what happens, everything gets blamed on me. Were she to betray me, it would be my fault."
I straight up don't believe in style vs. substance. I don't think you can make the distinction. If the style is good, there's substance. If there's no substance, it's a bad style. It's as simple as that, at least as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't put this up there with any of the greater stylists I've seen over the years, but I think there's a solid sense of style here, communicating the essential nature of the failure of their relationship (and, look, a lot of it really is his fault). One scene I liked was the cockroach scene, in which Xiaohui pins a major decision about their relationship on something completely arbitrary rather than making an earnest decision herself.
This movie's real problem is just that there are so many Wong Kar-Wai films out there, being better than it in every way, as well as a whole bunch of other films with similar themes which are, likewise, better.
Taking other movies out of the mix, I think a big problem with this film is most of the interesting things happen outside of Xiaohui and Jian Bin's relationship, whereas scenes between the two of them often end up hitting the same beats repeatedly without ever doing anything to evoke what could happen if they were to communicate openly and honestly, for better or worse. Some of the flashbacks are excellent, some are absolutely pointless. The absolute best moments of this film almost feel like genius to me.
It's a shame, because there are some real possibilities in this film. I think there's always a lot to do with the "seasonal," which is to say transitory, nature of love, but I don't always feel like this movie's doing anything with that thematically. I would have liked to see the film call more attention to how selfish Jian Bin is really being every time he makes himself out to be selfless. I really do think there are some nice stretches in the final, say, fifteen minutes, though.
This rating is just about the average, but trust me when I say that a 3.5 star rating means I think the movie is pretty good. Some people out there use 3 or 3.5 stars for when a movie sucks, and I don't believe in that, alright?
"I know, were I to follow her, everything would be over. I've been this way my whole life. No matter what happens, everything gets blamed on me. Were she to betray me, it would be my fault."
