R E V I E W
FALL FOR YOU
2001. Mei Ah.
Directed by Chan Chuen Yee
Written by Taures Chow Yin-Han
With Francis Ng, Kristy Yang
Chan Chuen Yee began his directing career in 1989 with Mr. Fortune. He has now completed 15 films, including comedies, dramas, crime stories, and Category III adult tales. Perhaps his best known works are the most recent: Once Upon a Time in Triad Society (with Francis Ng), its sequel, and Theft Under the Sun.
The film opened in Hong Kong cinemas at the end of March 2001, played for two weeks, and grossed HK $342,000.
MOVIE
Plot: With their visas about to expire, an artist and a fortune hunter in Paris try to figure out what's truly important to them.
Performances: Fans of Francis Ng will enjoy the actor's embodiment of an artistic type unconcerned with his own outward appearance. Kristy Yang looks beautiful and fulfills the requirements of the part without digging very deeply into the character. To be fair, her character, as written, is not very deep.
Production: Francis paints! Francis cooks! Francis speaks French! Francis cuddles with half-naked Frenchwomen! If only the movie were as enticing as the potential taglines . . . Sadly, the story is muddled, the romance is unconvincing, and the conclusion is confusing.
Francis Ng is Tai Yue, a painter from Hong Kong who has lived in Paris for six years. He dallies with his nude models, cooks in a Chinese restaurant to make a few dollars, and plots to meet an art critic, imaging that the critic will bestow success upon him if only he sees his paintings. (One of the confusing points of the story is the art critic --- it's not really clear what the man does -- is he an art critic, a patron of the arts, a businessman, a gallery owner?) He comes into contact (literally -- he spills a tray of drinks on her) with Yi, played by Kristy Yang. She's a gold digger, on the hunt for a wealthy man to marry her. Both Tai Yue and Yi are faced with expiring visas, which gives the plot its only impetus.
Scenarist Taures Chow Yin-Han (Expect the Unexpected, Fighting for Love) and director Cha Chuen Yee have failed to construct a scenario that allows the audience to empathize with the main characters. Tai Yue celebrates his 40th birthday, which means he came to Paris to pursue his passion of painting at the age of 34. What motivated him, though, to take such a drastic step? What life did he leave behind? As for Yi, she is 28, and explains at one point that she wants to get on with living. But we are not shown (until far too late) her motivation for seeking a wealthy husband. And the supposedly romantic pair are rarely shown conversing, so it's hard to imagine why Tai Yue develops an attraction to Yi (and why he treats the friendly Juliette, one of his French models, in a very cavalier way).
Some dialogue is exchanged about the manner in which people use one another, but in general this is a low-key affair that is novel only in its low-budget use of Paris locales.
Rating: Category IIB. Brief nudity and adult situations.
DVD
Look: The letterboxed presentation is unexceptional. The source print evidences wear and tear, with scratches evident from time to time, and the muted color palette looks washed out, especially in the exterior scenes.
Sound: The main Cantonese and French stereo audio track (DD 2.0) sounds muddy and less than full-bodied. The Mandarin track (DD 2.0) sounds clearer -- the songs and French dialogue are noticeably crisper -- but has the disadvantage of dubbing in a differnt dialect.
Subtitles: The white, removable English subtitles are translated acceptably, but odd symbols are left at the end of some titles, which is a bit irritating to see. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also provided.
Features: Nine chapters can be selected from a still-frame menu. The "databank" includes the synopsis from the back of the DVD case. The 'bestbuy" is a trailer for Feel 100% II.
RECOMMENDATION
Rent. Low priority. An unremarkable and unconvincing love story about a painter and a gold digger.
(Reviewed by Peter A. Martin; March 27, 2002)
Copyright 2000-2002 by Peter A. Martin. All rights reserved.
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