Comments: This is a ONE STAR film without Zhou Xun. She is a joy to watch even with a co-star (Kun Chen) who is frighteningly bad here. He doesn't act as much as mug his way through the film like his appearance is a gift. The direction is silly at times with meaningless repetitive jump cuts and other random shenanigans. The script is immature and, frankly, stupid. The story sets up a charming and beautiful woman with an adorable best (male) friend (Yim Linq) who desires her and is good to her but she won't reciprocate because he's a few years younger than she is and she's got the hots for some pig of a selfish man (Chen). That's what his character is supposed to be, though, I'm not just dumping on the guy. This film not only resolves with the woman and the jerk getting together--without redeeming the jerkball at all--it also kills off the good guy! This is one gross male fantasy. Whoever wrote this movie is not someone I would like to meet.
The cinematography is beautiful at times and the location of the tea house is somewhere I'd like to sit and have tea but it's difficult to get behind such a disrespectful script.
Summary: Zhou Xun stars as Xiao Yu, a cafe owner in Hangzhou. One day Ah Qin (Chen Kun) celebrates his birthday alone in her cafe. Xiao Yu's curiosity sparks off their dialogues. Conversations in a relaxed mood in a cafe with tender music stir up the passions buried deep inside their hearts. But Xiao Yu has a Hong Kong boyfriend and Ah Qin's fiancee lives in Beijing... What will be their choices? To whom should they be loyal?
Yuan yang hu die
2004
China
A West Lake Moment
