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愛情觀自在 (2001)
Love au Zen


Reviewed by: JohnR
Date: 06/10/2007
Summary: Zen In the Art of Romance

This movie is an interesting take on the classic Lady and the Monk story. It first appears to be examing whether or not a man's quest for spiritual enlightment will be derailed by a woman's attempt to find true love. But it's actually saying that the two journeys are the same. And in fact it's the women in the film, one of which is a master of the male/female relationship and the other an apprentice in that area, who are deemed by the Zen master the two couples follow to be more advanced than the men.

There is a lot of intelligent diologue, beautiful scenary, and good acting. Others have said that the only character that establishes an emotional connection with the audience is the Zen monk Chi Yuan, played to perfection by Ko Hon-Man. Not the typical movie monk, Chi Yuan is "cool" and likes beer and skinny dipping. But I think that's being too harsh. I found myself cheering for Ah Sau (Poon Chan-Leung) and in the end happy for Siu Jing (Flora Chan). And although a character like Mila Kwan isn't someone I'd take home to meet my parents, I thought Annie Wu was very effective at portraying her. Her irrepressible emotions were a good balance to the other characters' suppressed ones. I loved watching different emotions chase each other across her face.

Although uncredited in the database, the actors who play Mila's parents give a tour de force performance during their brief scenes outside the church the day of the wedding. The husband is hen-pecked and on the verge of exploding in frustration, the wife a dominating shrew with a razor-sharp tongue. If, like me, you have to read the subtitles, do yourself a favor an go back to the scene later and just watch their faces as they stand next to each other on the lawn smiling and waiving at acquaintences while slicing each other up soto voce through glenched teeth and painful smiles (sorry, though I recognize both of them, I don't know their names). The woman is especially brilliant in portraying the mother, who is a master of surface reality.

This isn't really a romance comedy, though there is a lot of humor and wit. I found its message equating spiritual and romantic quests interesting. And though the diologue is intelligent, it's not intellectual and certainly not just for the art house market. In fact, this movie's poor fate is to fall into the no-man's land between commercial movies and art house cinema, and mostly seems not to please either side. Too bad; it deserves more recognition.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: mejones
Date: 03/21/2002
Summary: another vote for ok-ish

A lot of fuss has been made by lots of people over this film, really raving about it, etc. etc., but I don't get that! It's cute and well-made but otherwise unremarkable! Falls between good and bad IMHO. In some ways it reminded me of "Wedding Days" in that you have two women who want to marry their boyfriends, one who, like Anita Yuen in WD is really desperate to do so. Annie Wu, who has just replaced Shu Qi in my book as most annoying and shrill HK actress, plays one half of a couple, Andrew LIn being the other. She basically bullies him and whines to get her way all the time, and you really feel sorry for him! Why does he love her? The other couple is formed by their two best friends, played by Flora Chan and Poon Chan Leung, though recently the male party has gone missing. Until the day of Annie and Andrew's wedding, when he suddenly appears in monk's garb and is mistaken for the officiator of the wedding! All of this causes a little scene and when Andrew pauses for 5 seconds before saying "I do" Annie decides to call off the wedding!

The mystery of the disappearing best man is soon cleared up as Poon explains to Andrew that he's decided to temporarily drop out of the rat race and is studying Zen Buddhism on Lantau Island under a former schoolmate of his. Soon all four of the main characters end up at the monastery intent on working out their various issues. Basically I think I have to agree with Brian over at brns.com, none of the main characters actually hooked me in any way except for the monk, he was pretty cool. There's lots of cryptic Zen-speak in the film, and the setting is distinctly different from the majority of HK films which makes it at least feel fresh! Flora Chan wasn't too bad, though her character didn't seem to have any actual emotions about life. For once, Andrew Lin didn't completely drive me away from watching the film, which is a good thing. Though, after recently seeing Annie Wu in "Love Paradox" and now this film, I'm convinced she's completely mastered the art of playing the spoiled, whiny and bitchy girlfriend! Enough! BTW, this disappointment brought to us by Derek Chui who directed three other films which I highly recommend: Ah Fai the Dumb, Sealed with a Kiss and Comeuppance.


Reviewed by: bastardswordsman
Date: 02/11/2002

A refreshing premise - relationship difficulties played out around buddhist theory. Penned by veteran writer Raymond To (to later in 2001 get his directorial debut with FOREVER AND EVER) and skillfully handled by the reliable Derek Chiu, with beautiful scenery around the Lantau monastery. Recommended.

(See other reviews for more detail).


Reviewed by: danton
Date: 01/11/2002

I thought Derek Chiu's previous films (Sealed with a Kiss and Comeuppance) were refreshing and somewhat different, so I watched this latest title of his with some anticipation, and I wasn't disappointed.

Apparently based on a stage play, the movie is a witty and charming relationship film laced with more thoughtful observations than usual for this kind of film. It's the story of two couples who are friends with each other and whose relationships are in crisis for different reasons. Couple number 1 (Andrew Lin and Annie Wu) are getting married, but a five-second pause during the most important part of the wedding ceremony leads to disaster. Couple number 2 (Flora Chan and some actor I didn't recognize) are even worse off: he has apparently abandoned their 5-year relationship and has retreated to a Buddhist monastery on Lantau Island. Eventually, all 4 of them end up at this retreat, trying to find peace with themselves and each other, aided by a Zen Buddhist sifu whose wit and unexpected directness are easily the highlight of the film.

The movie starts slow and at first I had trouble getting into these characters, but once it got to the hilarious wedding scene, I was hooked. The performances are all solid (I especially liked Annie Wu, who starts out as a shrill airhead but adds increasingly more vulnerability to her character as the story progresses), and although the screenplay remains a little detached, I found the interplay between them quite enjoyable. The quasi-philosophical Zen observations range from shallow pop psychology to truly insightful, and add a refreshingly different perspective to what is in essence a very tired genre.

The cinematography is lovely without ever being intrusive, focusing on the lush vegetation of the island setting, and I also enjoyed the music (except for a Cantopop song at the beginning, most likely sung by Flora Chan, I guess).

If you're interested in a somewhat different take on the romantic comedy genre (with an outcome that is not necessarily what you might expect), I'd recommend this movie.


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 10/17/2001
Summary: Ok'ish

Not bad, but not that great!!
The key to entertainment of this movie is actually the buddist belief's and philsophies!! I think if your a buddist,you may get a little mroe out of this movie.

The movie is about 2 relationships which appear to be good, but end up bad. So the 2 men escape to a buddist retreat, where there 2 woman follow. And that is the basic plot

I can only recommend this movie because the buddist philosohpies challenges the mind, which it did to me. In terms of romance, there is some but i didn't care much about the characters so that didn't help!!

6/10