On na ma dak lin na

I went into this film with no expectations, and came away very pleasantly surprised. It is one of my most favorite romantic films.

The main storyline, a romantic triangle, was nice enough. Each of the three main characters (Chan Kar-fu, Mok Man-yee, Yau Muk-yan) have such different approaches to life and romance that it was pleasant (and sad) to watch the ways they connect and fail to connect. I felt this storyline was satisfying by itself, but I think it was given some richness by a series of very peripheral characters that comment on the theme of the film with their own inabilities to romantically connect with the people they are attracted to. For me, however, the thing that made this film stand out most strongly was the eccentric story-within-a-story (written by Chan Kar-fu, read by the assistant editor) which both lightened the serious tone of the film, and deepened the theme of love and the difficulty of admitting that love.

This film is unbelievable. I mean, it's unbelievable that this film even left the drawing board. It's unbelievable that three talented actors could even choose to do a film of this quality. Correction. It's not the quality, it's the lack thereof I should be noting.

Anna Magdalena is a 'romantic tale' (it says on the back), in which a piano tuner (Takeshi Kaneshiro) bumps into a serial womaniser (Aaron Kwok) who is a no-hoper in his aspirations to become a novelist. The 'piano tuner' decides to offer the 'novelist' a hand by putting him up for a few days. Meanwhile a new resident (Kelly Chen) moves into their apartment block, with piano and all, only that she shows little talent. A 'love triangle' forms.

Well, maybe even the clichéd love triangle cannot be an attribute here, as I've seen more chemistry in a bottle of air. The three characters seem as loveless as a defaced stone wall, and the film rarely ever delves further than skin deep. The storyline is virtually nonexistent, and where there is one, there is too much irrelevance to keep the flow running. In particular, the film tries the old tactic of showing the unique quirks of the characters, but in no way do they fit in with the story, nor add anything to what we want to discover.

There is nothing in this film that salvages it from me wanting to call it rubbish. It is simply pitiful. I am a big fan of Kaneshiro and Chen, and I did like to a certain extent their outing in Lavender, but Anna Magdalena would be a film I wouldn't want to remember them for. One to leave on the shop shelf.

I absolutely adore this HK dramadey. The acting is wonderful, the music is beautiful, and the story is told expertly. Everything about this movie just makes me feel good and I absolutely adore it. Highest possible recommendation.

Anna Magdalena is certainly a very interesting film. It is interesting in that this film's plot does progress linearly, bilaterally or whatever. In fact, it is hard to categorise this style of storytelling. Besides being a comedy and a drama, I think this film can also be categorised as a fantasy. To some people, a plot is considered to be an essential ingredient in a film. A certain setting must lead to a certain event, and then that event must be developed further into a plot. However, this movie has proven to the audience that a motion picture need not be bounded by the rules of literature or the theater. In portraying a romantic story, most artistic screenwriters will use a narration, but a creative screenwriter like Ivy Ho chose a much more fantastic style. In the middle of the film, the Anna Magdalena that is chapterised in a style that resembles a classical music piece, spins off to the inner fantasy of Chan Ka Fu(Takeshi), who has written it down and sent it to a publisher. As Chan's flight of imagination is being played out, the subtle love of the assistant editor(Yuen) and the editor(Cheng) are also being portrayed. Granted, The love triangles of Chan, Mok(Kelly Chan), and You(Aaron Kwok), and the As. editor, the editor and his wife are seemingly irrelevant, but the screenwriter has already made it clear that this film is not about the telling of a single story, but a more general, more common yawn for true love among Hongkongers. For those who are tired of set ways, who want a little spice in the dough, who are open-minded to different things, this movie is a must-see.

This movie stars 3 Chinese pop stars, so on the surface, it's like a Chinese equivalent of such American teeny-bopper fare as Dawson's Creek. But of course, it's much better.

The story has a more thoughtful and philosophical bent to it, and doesn't have silly and manipulative romantic entanglements like its American counterparts. That is, no one whines about their broken heart very much - but you still feel the pain.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is the best of the 3 leads as a lovelorn but reserved loner, and he conveys a lot of emotion while being very subtle. The other 2 actors, Kelly Chan and Aaron Kwok, are fine, too.

The all-important novel that Takeshi's character writes fulfills its promise of being an artlessly simple but incredibly sweet love story.

I'm increasingly impressed by foreign movies and their ability to convey the complexity of love, while by contrast, most American movies seem to make it much simpler and less realistic. This movie is one such foreign movie.

Leslie Cheung & Anita Yuen have small but effective roles as 2 people touched by the novel that Chan Kar-fu (Takeshi) writes.