Gao hai ba zhi lian II

In the airplane from US to CN, under international category, I can only find this movie. It is my first time to go back China after three years of study in US. And it is right after my first visit to Glacier National Park.

Believe or not, under that circumstance, I could not feel I am watching a Chinese movie. I feel lost in a foreign space. Maybe because not only the movie mix mainland characters with Hongkong characters, or even American hunters, but also the beautiful shangri-La view reminds me some beautiful Rocky mountain scenery in the park. It can be a story without limitation of country or culture boundaries. It would be better to keep the story only within shangri-La. Where a husband is trapped by the forest, while a wife is trapped by her longing heart. They were just lost for 7 years. It does happen to people; lost in life for a long time. You cannot move forward until you get out of the trap.

Oh, look – it's Louis Koo again. Didn't we just see him in, err, another movie? Yes, the good looking Hong Kong artiste is appearing in yet another production, and the tanned one does seem a little tired in this Johnnie To directed romance flick. But luckily for Koo, his role in this beautiful film allows him to appear weary and withdrawn most of the time.

Koo plays a up and coming superstar who had everything going for him, until his bride runs away at their wedding ceremony. Depressed, the man ends up in Yunnan's Shangri La by chance (some call it fate) and meets a miserable woman who happens to be his die hard fan a long, long time ago. For the following one and a half hours or so, we see how these two individuals come together in a relationship that is bittersweet and like how you'd expect – romantic.

The Chinese title for the movie has a "II" attached to it, suggesting that this is a sequel of some sort. Without giving too much away, let's just say the plot develops in such a way that the couple's eventual outcome is like a second parter to a first movie.

With that out of the way, we welcome To's return to romance dramas. After all, the prolific Hong Kong filmmakers is known for his MIlkyway productions which explore the darker side of human nature (Election series, Vengeance, Life Without Principle). Some of To's best works include Yesterday Once More (2004) and Needing You… (2000), which tell touching love stories. In his latest project, he intertwines three lives together and the result is a somewhat predictable but still enjoyable romance drama.

As much as we were hoping that this would be a tearjerker, we didn't find ourselves empathizing too much with the protagonists' fates. Maybe it's the frequent and lengthy use of flashbacks to tell stories. Maybe it's the disengaging way the film progresses. Or maybe it's just how this 112 minute movie doesn't provide much surprises, considering it's helmed by To.

There are, however, a few pleasures while watching this movie. The breathtaking scenery in the picturesque Shangri La is the highlight of the production. One can only imagine himself being the protagonist in a movie like this, running in the snow with magnificent mountains as a backdrop. While Koo delivers a decent performance as a down and out celebrity (doesn't the tanned star feel any fatigue after appearing in one movie after another?), it is his co star Sammi Cheng who gives a moving, and dare we say it, award winning worthy showcase of emotions in her role as a woman who is trying very hard to let go of the past.

Koo and Cheng's on screen chemistry is supported by a similarly commendable supporting cast, which includes 1970s movie idol Tien Niu as a kind doctor, Li Guangjie as Cheng's missing husband and Gao Yuanyuan as a runaway bride. In addition, movie goers would also be pleased to know that this movie is presented in its original soundtrack here. You'd be able to hear the characters speak in both Mandarin and Cantonese, a move we'd always welcome.

With Valentine's Day round the corner, this is one movie you'd want to bring your loved one to watch. It may not be the best love story you've seen on screen, but it does its job of featuring good looking people in a love story.

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I am never quite the fan of Johnnie To's romantic films of recent times, especially since Linger shouldn't have lingered, and Don't Go Breaking My Heart had an interesting premise, but ultimately you can feel that it got made with an eye for the Mainland market, and had a final act in China which bordered so close on the ridiculously impossible. But with his Milkyway creative team firmly behind him, they have now roared back with a solidly crafted romantic classic that would put the Nicholas Sparks films that Hollywood consistently churns out these days to sit up and realize that this part of the world can play the same game.

Romancing in Thin Air welcomes the empathic return of Sammi Cheng since her last film outing in Lady Cop & Papa Crook back in 2008. She plays Sue, a woman who has been holding onto memories of her missing husband Tian (Li Guangjie), refusing to give in that after 7 years since he's lost in a thick forest that he had simply passed on. Adamant that he will one day return to where they last parted, she now works at the Deep Woods Hotel in the snowy picturesque mountainous region of the Yunnan province (which accounts for the thinness of air in the title), waiting for that eventual day to come.

But here comes a movie star to gatecrash that melancholic mood. Louis Koo's Michael Lau is a big time Hong Kong actor who got unceremoniously left at the altar after his actress wife to be Yuan Yuan (Gao Yuanyuan) decided to skip out publicly when her husband in China paid a tearful visit for her return home, leaving him an emotional wreck who turned to the bottle, and eventually found his way to Deep Woods Hotel by mistake (or by chance, depending on how you would like to interpret it). Koo keeps his character bearded for the most parts, charming everyone in the small province from the hotel staff, to the doctor (Tien Niu) who treated him, everyone eager to pose for a picture especially without his knowing and in his most unflattering state.

As you would have guessed it, this is a story about two characters whose togetherness will bring about natural therapy from the pain each of them are bearing, and would find that spark of companionship and romanticism thanks to frequent bike rides and sunsets. This rehabilitation of two broken souls provide that emotional grounding that's requisite for a romantic film like this one to work, and screenwriters such as Wai Ka-Fai and Yau Nai-Hoi pile such moments on, especially since both Koo and Cheng share some wonderful chemistry on screen together. And you know the characters are made for each other when Sue is discovered to be a long time fan of Michael Lau the actor, just like how fairy tales get crafted with one about to be fulfilled now.

It's curious to note that the Chinese title had a "2", implying a sequel of sorts. I had gone back to To's filmography to look for the original, but unless my research came up short, I believe it's referring to the two stories we get for the price of one here, the first being that of Sue and Ting which took up a significant portion of time in the middle act, before it goes on with the present in Sue and Michael. Or of course referring to the second chances that both characters have in front of them, if only they were to let go of the past and commit to the present. In a certain way you can say this is more of a Sammi Cheng comeback vehicle and marks her second film renaissance and career resurrection, which in itself overpowers that of Cecilia Cheung's collective comeback film efforts last year.

I am always of the opinion that the more successful romances on film are either romantic comedies, or romantic tragedies. This film had a sprinkling of comedic moments mostly put into the first act, although not the main focus of the movie, and making it the latter will just shortchange the audience and perhaps spoil the mood for some as they celebrate this February's main celebratory highlight. But still it managed to tackle and include an aspect of it in brilliant terms to allow for a meta based finale that says a lot more than was left unspoken, and provided that oomph to the finale that had some unavoidable morbidity put into it.

Romancing in Thin Air is obviously Milkyway's offering this Valentine's Day period, and given its down to earth treatment, nevermind it being steeped with certain clichés, set against a breathtaking backdrop of snowy white mountains and plains, it scores with its moving soundtrack, wonderful cast and having just about everything right to make this an unforgettable trip for old fashioned romantics. Recommended for all lovers the week to come!