Fan yi cho

It's difficult to see how Lavender has made itself different to any other 'angel from heaven' romantic comedy. Ok, we may add a little bit of 'Chocolat' in it with Kelly Chen playing an aromatherapist just to spice things up a bit, but ultimately, it follows an all too familiar script.

Kelly Chen plays Athena, an aromatherapist whose boyfriend died in training for the SWAT team. Takeshi Kaneshiro plays Angel, an angel (surprise!) who falls through the roof of her apartment after being caught in a storm. Injured and only being able to survive through being loved, he learns about the human world while he recovers. Throw in Chow Chow (played by Eason Chan), a gay ex- lover of Athena's ex-boyfriend, and you have yourself enough twists to make a tightly plaited rope.

Whilst most of the story follows the motorway, occasionally, there are a few witty moments, which are quite touching. You wouldn't say that Lavender was funny, though. Witty is probably just the word for it.

Kaneshiro does an excellent job of playing Angel, and from the few movies I have seen, he is quite a talented actor. Chen graces our screen, and given that she hasn't dabbled in acting much, I do think she's done well and is one to look out for. However, the lack of on-screen chemistry between the two is missing from the film, and that is a shame because overall, the film is fairly good.

My eyes are still swollen from crying during the last thirty minutes of the film. The lighting was great, I enjoyed the performances and it makes you wonder about the beauty of it all. I will keep my eye on this director and I will look for his previous and future films.

Hong Kong heartthrob Takeshi Kanehiro plays an angel with a broken wing in this bizarre romance directed by Ip Kam-Hung. He lands in the garden of Athena, a heartbroken young woman who has given up on love after the death of her previous lover. She works as an aromatherapy instructor by day and cries into her exclusive diet of ramen noodle soup by night, sending helium balloons into the sky in hopes that they reach her deceased lover in heaven.

Her unwelcoming persona turns off 'Angel' so he spends most of his time hanging out with her neighbor, Chow Chow, a flamboyant homosexual played entertainingly by Eason Chan. Although Angel assures Chow Chow that in heaven all love is treated equally, the pathetic manner in which the Chow Chow character is portrayed hardly makes 'Lavender' a film that deserves praise for positive gay representation.

Director Ip treats the audience to endless shots of Kanehiro's pretty face and body, and I must admit that he does a good job at seeming really angelic. But the main plot involves Angel's attempts at helping Athena to break out of her love funk. The problem is that much of this part was very corny and cliched, and Kelly Chan's constant crying and annoying tantrums made sympathizing with her character a bit difficult. I'm not sure it was her fault, because the script didn't leave her much to work with.

The most redeeming performances came from Eason Chan as Chow Chow and a small role for Cheng Pei-Pei (who played the evil Jade Fox in 'Crouching Tiger') as an aging woman trying desperately to hold on to her youth.

The actual main plot, involving the relationship between Angel and Athena just got to be a bit too sentimental and cliched in parts, and even downright corny in others. For example, Angel develops some strange fascination with shoes (I still don't know why) and when Athena throws his favorite pair of shoes away Angel embarks on a mission to find those shoes at any cost, in the middle of a monsoon. I think this illogical part of the plot was simply thrown in to allow for a cliched reuniting in the rain.

But by far the strangest moment in the film is when Athena comes face to face with a big black bull standing in an open field next to a tree full of balloons. Once again her tears (of joy?) start flowing as she realizes that the bull is the reincarnation of her dead lover (no, I'm not kidding). During this very touching moment layered in sentimental music, I honestly could not control myself from bursting out into out-loud laughter. The problem is that it wasn't supposed to be funny. (5 out of 10)

Mainly, it's just a movie for Takeshi Kaneshiro fans. If there was a male beauty contest he definitely would win. Which makes you wonder, since Kelly Chen is not 10% as beautiful, what does the angel see in her, and what was his mission anyway? She's constantly mean and depressed, not making for a very lovable personality either. There are many weird unexplainable moments in the film and again, this is a movie for people to gape at Kaneshiro, which it does a fine job of doing. The gay scenes portrayed in the movie were extremely clichéd, as are all the other moments. However, again, this is every girl's romantic fantasy, isn't it, to look dour and act unhappy like Kelly Chen's character, and yet still have a gorgeous angel fall from heaven to fall in love only with her. What a fantasy. I am jealous indeed.

Beautifully shot, with moments of humor and beauty, Lavender is a film for all hopeless romantics, or those who sneer at the notion of true love. both parties get their fill, for the film deals with happiness and pain, joy and heartache, love and loss.

Nothing much happens in the film, but the narrative flows smoothly like scented oils on supple skin. There are many moments of sheer beauty, and interesting shots, punctuated by beautiful music.

All in all, the film succeeds in making you feel giddy, whether it's the corny moments, or the many close-ups of Angel. But for sure, either one will make your heart skip a beat.