Mei li ren sheng

I went into this thinking it was going to be a standard love story / drama. Wow, it blew me away with how different from the standard it was! The story really goes in some unexpected and interesting directions, there are some genuinely heartbreaking and touching scenes, the performances are great, and the plot isn't easy to predict.

I'll leave the details to other reviewers but suffice it to say I'm not someone who normally watches this kind of film, I watched it because I'm learning Mandarin and devour any Chinese films I haven't seen yet. I was very pleasantly surprised at how real the characters felt, and how their development goes throughout the film. The runtime is also good, long enough to make a great story and develop the characters, but not too long, which many movies are now.

Give this movie a watch if you're looking for a good story with characters that feel real, and if you're looking to be moved. It definitely far surpassed my expectations!

This film is all heart. A policeman rescues a drunk real estate agent who is drop dead gorgeous and takes her home. He stands by her throughout the film despite her sometimes ignoring how good he is to her. The message is anti-materialism and shows there might be hope for china before they follow our path to decline in the USA. He is good to everyone in his life and at work, but tragedy keeps falling on him, but he does not give up hope. He takes care of his little brother. The photography is very well done and the actors are top rate. It has been nominated for Hong Kong Movie awards and should be nominated for best foreign picture if Harvey Weinstein does not promote the Intouchables through the roof.

This movie is way too long. It needs an editor to cut it down to 90 minutes. The first 90 minutes are great. It tells a complete story. We have a beginning, middle, and ending. But this movie continued on for another 40 minutes and it really starts to drag.

The movie could had ended at a very specific part and it would had been a 9/10, but it went on and on and it slowed down to a halt. The final 40 minutes suddenly covers over a year in these two persons' life.

The acting is really good, but this movie really needed a better editor to trim the fat. 6/10

Alert!

Beautiful girl.

Alone.

DRUNK.

Black slinky dress and 👠 red platform shoes.

/Someone/ should look out for her.

She stumbles onto Fang, but another dude arrives to assist her, so Fang walks away. But Fang made an impression, so while he's walking home, she's ba-aack! And she jumps on /his/ back.

"I'll buy you coffee sometime," was how the night ended. They soon run into eachother a couple more times. Yes, she remembers him; she wasn't /that/ drunk. She gives him her card and makes more promises about future coffee. Next, she sees him in the grocery store and /demands/ his help in making dumplings. He complies. When her sig-other comes home, however, she acts like Fang's the plumber🔩💦

😳uch

She seems to think she's a 🐈 that can sit on anyone's lap and be loved. Look at how cute she is, afterall! Due to the success of the dumplings, she's now in the habit of calling Fang for all kinds of help. We soon learn that her sig-other has a much /more significant/ other of his own. She's going to need lots of help.

ABL is a 2011 124-minute release that is rated 92 on AWiki. It is a beautiful story, and it is completely different from a typical Chinese modern-day feature. That's probably because it's a collaboration with Hong Kong. It feels like we're watching real people from a camera in the corner of the room.

Liu Ye (First Night Nerves) plays ML Fang Zhengdong. He lives with his brother, who has communication struggles and needs looking after. Fang seems to be a natural nurturer. Shu Qi (Good Autumn, Mommy) portrays FL Li Peiru. Everyone in her life is selfish. Once she meets Fang, she just keeps comin back round to him because he is something entirely strange and new. It's mutual. They are obviously drawn to eachother. Over time, a bond forms and continues to get stronger. In the beginning, it's him helping her, but she gets a chance to return the favor.

ABL is just lovely. It is a romance that would please more than romance-junkies. These are two lonely people, and as opposite personalities, they each handle loneliness in their own ways. As a policeman, Fang handles it in an orderly manner by keeping his head down and fulfilling responsibilities. Li acts out in a disorderly fashion. She's often drunk and disorderly. One cop took notice, and 2 lonely lives became one beautiful life together.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.6 📝7.4 🎭8 💓7 🦋5.5 🎨6.5 🎵/🔊7.2 🔚8 🤗8 ▪ 🌞6.5 ⚡3.5 😅2 😭4 😱2 😯3 🤢3.5 🤔4.5 💤0

Age 13+ adult situations and mild sexual content

Rated TV-PG-13: Parents Cautioned

Re-📺? Would

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

💓 - C🇨🇳: A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5; Find Yourself 8.9; The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8; The Sleepless Princess 9.1; Wait, My Youth-8.4

Romance junkies only: Accidentally in Love-6.5 '18 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch, Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine but many object to an outrageous stunt the ML pulls, When I Fly Towards You-7.8, You are my destiny-6.8 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding, Meteor Garden-7.4 - 70% flowing 30% dragging and BOF is better, Hidden Love-7.8

K🇰🇷 : A Witch's Love 7.8; Love To Hate You 8.9; Touch Your Heart 8.2; Crash Landing On You 9.1; Oh My Ghost 10; It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9; Hospital Playlist 9; My Mister 9.5;

🎎 - C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4, Under the Power 8.6, The Rebel Princess 9.1, The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style), The Rise of Phoenixes 9 K🇰🇷: My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy; Mr. Queen 8.5; My Sassy Girl 8.5; The King's Affection 8.3; Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉- C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9; Douluo Continent 9.4; Handsome Siblings 8.7; Ancient Love Poetry 8.6; Love and Redemption 10

⚡/😱 - C🇨🇳: Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!; K🇰🇷: K2 8; Private Lives 8.1; Sisyphus 8; Tunnel 8.1; Signal 8.6; The Man From Nowhere 8.9 Black 9; Squid Game 8.4; Kingdom 8.3; Sweet Home 8.4

Japanese🇯🇵 lite romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Toradora-8.5

🇭🇰 Hong Kong - The Defected-8.2, Don't Go Breaking My Heart-7.7

🇹🇼 Taiwan - Age of Rebellion-9.5, The Fierce Wife-8, Two Fathers-7.5, The Fierce Wife-8.

Wonderful movie, I watched it knowing not what to expect. The first hour has a different tone from the second one, but they both complement each other in a beautiful way. What is really lovely is that one of the characters changes for better, and it is a real, deep change, rarely portraited efficiently on screen. The photography is stunning, the soundtrack is beautiful and the actors did a wonderful job. Netflix is allowing me to discover these wonderful and heartfelt movies.

Nothing much left to write, except that it was a great experience and that I will recommend this movie to everyone! Beautiful!