Free Screening

Perhaps Love

Dir/Prod: Peter Ho-sun Chan
Co-dir: Samson Chiu
Scrs: Aubrey Lam, Raymond To
Prod Cos: Astro-Shaw, TVB, Stellar Megamedia
Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Xun, Jacky Cheung, Ji Jin-hee
2005 | Colour | 35mm | Cantonese & Putonghua | Chi & Eng Subtitles | 108min

After his pan-Asian ventures with Applause Pictures, Peter Ho-sun Chan moved into the Chinese mainland market with Perhaps Love. The film revisits the themes of romance and love triangles reminiscent of Comrades, Almost a Love Story but transplants them into the less-familiar genre of grand musicals. Instead of the streets of Hong Kong and New York seen in Comrades, Almost a Love Story, Perhaps Love is set against the backdrops of Beijing and Shanghai.

Hong Kong actor Lin Jiandong (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and star Sun Na (Zhou Xun) are cast in a new film Forget Me Not, directed by Nie Wen (Jacky Cheung), who is Sun’s current partner. Years earlier, Sun abandoned Lin to pursue fame and now refuses to acknowledge him while the trio’s relationships become increasingly entangled both on and off screen. Chan enlisted Indian choreographer Farah Khan to stage elaborate musical sequences. Jacky Cheung naturally shines as a singer while Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Xun and Ji Jin-hee contribute to the soundtrack.

The film’s non-linear narrative is structured through three interweaving strands: the film-within-the-film, the present, and the past. Imagery including the frozen canal in Beijing, swimming pool in Shanghai, and trapeze in the movie set all mirrors the characters’ emotional deadlock and alludes to the film’s central message: ‘The person who loves you the most is always yourself.’ Love is not about redemption, and everyone must carve their path alone, with or without regrets.

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.