Love stories are not something that I specifically go out and watch but when I hear about one that might be good, starring an actress that I enjoy watching I will go out of my way to see it. I have enjoyed watching Gong Li in some of her movies over the past couple of years so when I heard that she was in the one I searched it out. Not that I was completely disappointed with this film, I was more confused by the mix of past and present storylines that are tossed around throughout the movie more than anything else.
Zhou Yu travels hundreds of miles twice a week to see her true love, Chen Ching, but when she is confronted by Zhang Jiang on one her trips she starts to have feelings that she doesn't want, or does she. Li plays a dual role here, past and present, which just pops up and at times, confuses that storyline. There is no distinction between the two lines so when you see her in the shorter haircut your not quite sure where you are at times, if your watching the same character or someone new. The main story alone is touching enough that the secondary story isn't really needed.
In the way of love stories it's not that bad of a film, if you can get by the flip-flop of the storyarchs it's an enjoyable movie. Within the Asian cinema the love story genre doesn't transfer very well to the American cinema, and this is a good example of that, too much time spent on the subtle nuances of the story and not enough straightforward character development. The majority of the American viewing public doesn't like to spend too much time thinking when it comes to the movies that they are watching. It's a decent date film if the two of you can sit and read the subtitles, or if you both speak the language, you'll get some enjoyment out of it.
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