Qi yue yu an sheng

One of the ways I know a film is good enough for me to find the best words to adorn it is the feel of it the morning after. A good film should be a full emotional experience that you would find it difficult to let go off. It should create a warm hold on our feelings because through the course of the film we have unknowingly become a member of a family. Last night, we lived a lifetime with Qiyue and Ansheng.

The story couldn't be more cloying and overly familiar. Stories like this come a dime in a dozen, but this one is buoyed by the sured hands of debut director Derek Tsang (the son of screen veteran Eric Tsang), an inspired adapted screenplay, crisp editing, superb cinematography, a great soundtrack, and an outstanding sense of place and time. However, all these are naught if it doesn't get the casting right and right it so marvellously did. In the course of Qiyue and Ansheng's story, it is difficult to see any other actresses play their roles. Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun are born to play the roles and all the other parts they had played prior to this are just rehearsals for this. These are career defining roles and from this moment onwards, whether who will win the Golden Horse Award doesn't matter, because their stars are going supernova. This film lives or dies at the hands of these two actresses and both of them made it soar higher than it would want to admit.

IMHO the key to the film's structure is not about their relationship but how it lulls us into feeling it is about a relationship between us and both the girls. Who wouldn't want to have a soul mate like how it is depicted, not wishy washy with quick superficial emotions, but heart-wrenchingly hurtful and yet forgivingly embracing.. Their character arcs are superbly rendered with an awesome twist that felt totally earned. For me, the experience plays more like a spiritual experience than like a movie, maybe because I love deep friendships like this that I know can't happen.

Feted with seven Golden Horse nominations, including nominations for both actresses, director, screenplay, make-up, song and editing, my money is on Zhou Dongyu for a heartfelt performance. Her dismissive laugh hides a soul in turmoil so beautifully.

My affection for good films usually grows with familiarity, as it does with music and literature. That's why I can watch a good film again and again and relive the same experience without any dilution in intensity. I have a feeling that Soul Mate has found itself in this category.

Edit: Both actresses were rewarded with the Best Actress award. This is such wonderful news. It will be so cruel if only one got it for what are both towering performances.

What I love most about this movie is the great length they took to depict the time period, the realness and livelihood of ordinary people living in China. There's no rich guy trying to woo the girl or a character who went from a loser to being the hero etc. It is just a story about the friendship of two girls growing up. But the way they have set up the plot is brilliantly captivating and fast paced, unlike most Chinese movie I've encounter. Not many movies have two women as leading characters. The ones that do come in mind are Thelma & Louis (1991) and Bridesmates (2011).

Chinese cinema have Zhang Yimou absolute gems like To Live (1994), Riding Alone for Thiusand of Miles (2005) and The Flower's of War (2011) in the most prominent Chinese director impressive filmography. Add Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Shanghai Triad (1995), The Roaf Home (1999), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Coming Home (2014) as excellent films.

Many other known or less known directors were able to surprise me with one clear masterpiece like: 2046 (2004), Aftershock (2010), Ocean Heaven (2010), July Rhapsody (2002), Together (2002) and White Snake (2019)

Ye Lou's Summer Palace (2006) is noteworthy but his Suzhou River (2000) with Xun Zhou's magnetic performance remained to me Chinese's most audacious, disturbing and beautiful Chinese film until I just finished watching Soulmate (2016)!

Soulmate's story is seemingly simple but with amazing dialogue and enough captivating twists. A lot of attention to details and clues make a tight story from the 5 Strong writing collaboration. Then Derek Tsang and the two lead actresses, Dongyu Zhou & Sichun Ma, really take it out the park with amazing performances and poignant scene after scene, especially after the 30 mins mark. Kudos also to the 4 strong editing team. These collaborations coalesced into a very well-rounded effective narrative. Two competent cinematographers to capture it all and voila.

This ifilm is visceral and emotional with life teachings, love, friendship, family and philosophy all finding their ways to add the the mosaic of living. The characters are trying to find their places in the world like everyone.

Very good study of long-time friendship, joys, hardships, distance, dreams, reality, fears and fantasies. This illustrates life's futility, loneliness and beauty while showing the manipulation and illusions we must create for ourselves and others.

Quite transcending and special in many levels. I cant wait to see Better Days (2019) and see if Dongyu Zhou and Derek Tsang can do it again.

Soulmate secures a rewatchable unforgettable ride as well as amazing scenes of pure delicious writing, acting and directing. Bravo!

Just finished watching this what must surely be one of the most endearing and heartfelt emotional ride of a film I've seen in a long time. Very rarely do we ever get to see a friendship of this nature between 2 girls growing up together until their adulthood depicted in this way. But this is not a straightforward story and a huge credit must go to how the film was edited and put together to lure into thinking the story is one thing and then turned out to be completely different and really hit you right into your heart. The only reason I decided to watch this movie was because of Ma Sichun who reminds me of my favourite Korean actress Son Ye-Jin, but I was glad I watched this film, and you will do too. I would urge you to spend a couple of hours of your day to make time for this wonderfully told story of love and friendship.

"That comes as a warning sign that there are concealed happenings which the movie deliberately keeps a lid on from audience, and Tsang's film is full of those masquerades and revelations, the movie ostensibly begins as an adult Ansheng takes a trip down memory lane after reading the titular novel published on the internet by Qiyue, which relates their stories from the very beginning, and the ensuing film blurs the line between reality and fiction, as there are two sources here, Ansheng's own recollection with fidelity and Qiyue's novel whose content could be only a figment of her imagination, and our perception of the story is totally under the manipulation of the untrustworthy narrative, to a point, the final reveal suffers from being too contrived and blasé, its impact is dented."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks