Bu Neng Shuo De. Mi Mi

I personally thought that the plot was rather exciting and intriguing. Jay Chou must definitely have put in much effort into making this movie. His first movie-making attempt is pretty much a success, I must say. He's even got very positive reviews and comments from award-winning directors from Asia.

Although the plot needed some thinking to be able to understand it fully, I thought this show was pretty original- a far cry from many other love stories produced. This love story was genuine and not like many other cliché stories you can find in the movie market. The actors and actresses put up remarkable jobs too. I personally feel that Jay Chou has made a great improvement with regards to his once-stagnant facial expressions. His co-star Guey Lun-mei's acting did not fail to impress too- for a neophyte selected by Jay Chou himself, her acting was breezy and natural.

The whole story is filled with love, passion for music and excellent piano pieces. My favorite parts were the piano battle, as well as the piano duet. I thought that Jay Chou's piano-playing was fabulous. He, indeed, lived up to his label as "musical genius".

Overall the movie was great. I watched it twice, and both times I still cried and laughed the same as before. Although I'm merely fifteen and hence my mentalities may be a cry away from some readers and movie-watchers here, I think that this show is one that you should catch. You will not regret it! :)

Unbelievably amazing! As the first movie of Jay, it's much beyond my expectation. I should say I contempt the action that once a music star gains his fame,he quickly transits to be an actor or even editor. But to Jay ,I have to admitted he won my respect. I am really longing for his next work.The story is begined with a romantic affection between two students in high school.The girl has a secret that is shown at the end of the story.The color of the movie is so good that I am sanked in it.I watched this film twice,and I completely understood the whole plot during the second time.The structure of the film is contrived carefully.The truth is so moving with the thrilling rhythm of the secret music.

When this romantic movie was released for the first time in Korea, there wasn't big media hype. However, it became famous gradually through word-of-mouth so that it was shown again a few months after it went off the air. Also it pulled down big amount of money. Many reviewers said, 'If you miss this movie, it would be one of the goofiest things you've done throughout your life as a movie-goer.' I found it true for myself after watching it.

To cut to the chase, it's a romantic movie. However if you expect just a bog standard chick flick, it would be pretty different from what you've expected because it doesn't have only sweet love story and humor, but also the touching plot, unpredictable fantasy, and even a twist. Also when it comes to its music, couldn't be better! It's been considered as one of the movies which have the best music with 'August Rush' and 'The Pianist'. Some commercials were takeoffs on its stunning piano performance scenes.

Thus it would make people who like romantic stories and sweet music be glued in front of the screen, but I'm not sure in the case of people who anticipate cutting edge special effects, spectacle and action scenes. The story goes pretty slow in the first-half part and some graphic effects at the last part is sort of cheesy (It was awarded the prize for visual effects, though). Nevertheless, I still want to recommend it strongly to even these people. At least, I'm not afraid it'll let them down. I can rattle on for hours about the reasons followed by.

First, let's get down to characters. Main characters are Jay (Jay Chou) and Rain (Kwai Lunmei). The two players seemed to have chemistry. Jay Chou is already famous as a good singer and an actor in East Asia. He played lots of roles in this movie. He starred in it as a main character who had a talent for piano. Also the story was based on his first love. Moreover it was his debut movie as a director. He was a composer of this O.S.T as well. He'd studied piano until high school, so he could make amazing scenes in which he played the piano by himself. His calm and gentle appearance went well with the sweet dialog.

Rain is a mysterious girl in the same piano department with Jay. She has innocent looks that could make many guys remind of their first love. Kwai Lunmei played the role of the girl, which I think is the most difficult role to express the character's complicated emotion without a flaw. Plus, the quite cheerful supporting actors add zest to the movie.

The story takes place at one arts high school in Taiwan. It seems to be the late 20th century or the early 21th century. One day, Jay(Jay Chou), who has just transferred this school, follows the unknown tune from the old piano practice room. He tracks down one lovely girl who is playing the piano there. They have good feelings toward each other right from the word 'go', and they fall in love with each other gradually. However, she sometimes disappears, saying 'It's a secret.' Next? I don't want to spoil your pleasure. All that I can say is that the director hid some special factors, such as fantasy and dramatic reversals in the last part and locked down the cover good and tight until the climax. Actually, the first part seems to have something in common with other romantic movies. However, the ending part will lead you to the unknown world.

It's no exaggeration to say that its background music is another main character. Even if you hate soft music, once you try to listen to its music, it would begin to wear down your defenses. It won't let your ears close even for a minute. Especially, the scene, called 'Piano Battle' between Jay and the talented student at the school, is considered to be the killer part of the movie. Jay copied it correctly by ear right after the talented boy played one piece. This was how the battle went. They played three pieces each, and two of them were arranged Chopin's works. I bet over ninety percent of people, who watch it, would find themselves searching for the video clip of this scene on the Internet afterward. I even signed up for the piano institute right after watching it, and mastered Chopin's Impromptu.

The cinematography also pulled its weight. It tried to play down its involvement in the story. I thought first it was nothing to write home about, but I realized it helped me to concentrate on the story, not on less important things. I don't mean it was lousy. The subdued lighting matched perfectly with the atmosphere. Also, certain scenes were shot dynamically. While two boys were having the piano battle in particular, the camera chased their alive and dynamic performances very effectively.

Are you still hesitating to watch it? Well, I'm a girl in twenties who loves romantic comedy and classical music. This movie which has all these things was beyond amazing to me. I know arts can't be judged if one is better or worse than another. However, a lot of film festivals acknowledged 'Secret' through giving it many awards. It means that many people thought it was very worth watching.

Also one experience sometimes changes people's tastes by accident. There might be a chance 'Secret' could be this experience to somebody. Shake off your prejudice and just expose yourself to the variety of arts. I hope my review change your mind. Lovely music, striking scenery, interesting stories...'Secret', which was made out of this, will stimulate your sensibility. It's time to hunker down and dive into the romantic world!

It has never come to my mind that the R&B/rap singer Jay Chou would make such an extraordinary fantasy/romance movie (and as his debut!), but beyond everyone's expectation he did, showing the world his talent as a fine director.

Definitely not going to compare it to any other campus love story, because this movie is quite different in nature. Still not wanting to give away much about the plot, but the movie got a 360 degree shift half way through when subsequently a whole lot of thrills and twists kept popping out.

Wong Chau-Sang is the most versatile actor in Hong Kong, this time playing Jay Chou's father-on-screen for the 2nd time since Initial D. Lun-mei Guey in the movie was a plain-looking girl who accidentally got hold of some kind of time-traveling ability by playing a mysterious sheet music on a old piano. Both two made irreplacable contribution to the movie's success.

And what also impressed me was the heart-touching soundtrack by Jay and the Thai composer Terdsak Janpan which went perfectly with the plot, especially towards the climax.

For those of you who like My Sassy Girl and Comrades: Almost a Love Story, Bu neng shuo de. mi mi is 100% sure to win your tears once again. Recommend to all Jay/non-Jay fans.

1. familiar plot but with some refreshing elements.

2. beautiful piece of film score which are composed by Jay Chou and Terdsak Janpan .

3. surprisingly good acting by Guey Lun-mei (an adorable and charming girl with potential), great acting by Anthony Wong (such a versatile actor, no doubt), refreshing acting by Alice Tseng Kai-xuan (a girl who possesses sublime beauty and angelic smile) and fairly improved acting by Jay Chou (just being himself by acting cool as usual, i guess?)

4. fancy cinematography with good editing and compositing.

5. intermediate visual effects.

6. cool executed scenes to show off music talent.

7. a combination of sci-fi, comedy, mystery, youthful romance (although Jay looks a bit "mature") and probably horror? (the flashback and liquid paper parts really give me the creeps!)

8. some logical flaws. (eg. the desk in the classroom, get what i mean?)

9. flowing storyline with great atmosphere formed by the cool color theme used.

10. and of course, the director himself-Jay Chou, the Chinese pop icon and idol for many teenagers and young adults.

All of the main ingredients above could be found in "Secret". It's definitely worth your time to explore and reveal the secret by yourself or together with your beloved one. It's quite a touching tear jerker (but not as touching as Be With You, personal opinion...) Well, it might not be the cup of tea for everyone, but it is the bowl of soup for me!

Overall, 8 out of 10 for a freshman film director.

Recommend to all of those who believe in fate and love.