A wonderful love story
I completely disagree with the review below expressing disappointment with this film. I loved it. The female lead undergoes a complete transformation from a shallow, money-hungry manipulator to a loving and caring person. She starts out being uninterested in the advances of the male lead, but after realizing her life is empty, she seeks him out. Meanwhile, he has been badly injured and forced to retire to a life of dependency. She goes to extraordinary lengths to find him, and proves her love by caring for him in his time of need. Qi Shu probably does the best cinematic portrayal of a woman who is absolutely in love that I have ever seen.
Like most Chinese films, this one has a few corny moments, but I liked the film so much that I've watched it several times, which I rarely do. Qi Shu really gives a tremendous performance, and he's very good as well. If you want to watch a heart-warming love story and are willing to let the plot evolve, you shouldn't be disappointed...
A Chinese Melodrama That Left Me Emotionally Unconnected To The Central Relationship
Chinese Director Andrew Lau, perhaps best known for the thrilling "Infernal Affairs" saga, tries his hand at something a bit softer with the romantic melodrama "A Beautiful Life." As the first scenes of "A Beautiful Life" unfolded, I truly believed that I was going to love this movie. It is certainly well made and its stars, Shu Qi and Liu Ye, are inherently appealing. They have a terrific chemistry and play off each other exceedingly well. And yet, as the film progressed, I realized that I didn't really care about either protagonist and certainly not their journey together. Qi is painted as a selfish manipulator (with zero redeeming value) and Ye ends up being a doormat for her every whim. Look, I'm not saying that people don't form unhealthy relationships like this in real life, but Lau genuinely wants us to care about this train wreck of a pairing. And I didn't. I tried, but I couldn't. You know that the film wants you to believe in the inevitability of true love conquering all,...
Good Movie
This is a good movie. The actors do a great job. The woman, Peiru, is a successful real estate agent in Beijing, who has personal issues, and so drinks too much. Fang is a quiet, hardworking, honest police officer. They meet by chance. They meet by chance a couple of times. She asks for his number. Although it is never stated, it seems as though she recognized how solid and stable he was and was drawn to him, especially since she's all over the place in her personal life. There was never any romantic pursuit from him. I think he thought she was out of his league. She kept calling him to get her out of messes or to help her out. He always did even though he began to see that she was an emotional mess. I really liked Fang. The actress playing Peiru is really beautiful and she's a good actress. When the twist in the story comes, we see how they weather the storm. It is a very Chinese story of endurance of hardship. Those who are used to the high action movies of the West...
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