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Most people say "Xilu xiang" portrayed the hardness of life of people living in the slums of Hong Kong. Though true, this film ran much deeper than that. "Xilu xiang", like "Made in Hong Kong" and "The Longest Summer" (which along with this film are commonly referred to as the "Hong Kong Handover Trilogy"), was more of a reflection of the people's attitude towards the Hong Kong "handover" (where Hong Kong was returned to mainland China on July 1st).

While "Made in Hong Kong" was about the youth of Hong Kong's doomed attitude towards the "handover" and "The Longest Summer" was about how Hong Kong citizens who worked for the British and were more British by heart had to deal with the sudden change in both the social and political spectrum, "Xilu xiang" is taken from a child's point of view and how the child views the "handover". What was more interesting and different about "Xilu xiang" than the other two films in the trilogy was that this film not only incorporated the Hong Kong citizen's point of view towards the "handover", it also looked at the point of view from the Chinese mainlander, as the first half was narrated by Xilu Xiang while the second half was narrated by A Fen. One could easily spot the change in the attitude of the people between the two plots.

This film focused on the interaction between Hong Kong citizens and the Chinese mainlanders, two people, though close geographically, but in fact were very different culturally and ideologically. The mainlanders feared being found out as illegal immigrants, while the Hong Kong citizens held a distrust towards the mainlanders. The children, on the other hand, did not see any differences between themselves and they were able to become close friends. However, the events and people around them forced them to end their friendship and to be apart. Thus, no matter how hard the people try, they could not get along.

The beauty of the film is that the two children, Xilu Xiang and A Fen, saw all the changes in Hong Kong before the "handover" as it affects even their everyday life. Yet, because of their youth and innocence, they did not completely understand them and the significance of the events as they unfolded. They had their own commentary, but they were only able to take note of the mundane and interesting details. However, the audiences, on the other hand, were more affected and touched more emotionally that these children seeing the same images that these children see. The audiences were treated to a very different cinematic experience, as not only were they able to see how the children view the "handover" and treasure and smile at their innocence, they were also able to exert their own view at the same time. Two very different views forming at the same time, simultaneously but yet not overpowering one another. Only one word to describe it: amazing.

There were no main stream Hong Kong actors in this film, though the child who portrayed the title character won the Taiwan Golden Horse award, the Asian equivalent to the Oscars, for best new comer for this role. Thus, the director and the screenwriter, Friut Chan, might be the biggest draw. If you are not a big film bluff and not in touch with the "handover", this film might be hard to understand because it tends to be confusing with images and events flying at you from all directions and there were many hidden meanings. I had to change this review couple of times because I remembered things as I was writing. Otherwise, this film is a must see. Gives you a different and new cinematic experience.

This film was said to be one of the very few films able to hit the bull's eye on the youth culture in Hong Kong, ranging from their hair styles to their life philosophies, during the 80's. It generated a great deal of controversy in a mainly Confuscious Hong Kong society, where the people and the community know of the problems but instead employ an one eye open, one eye close attitude and prefer to keep them shredded in darkness and secrecy while making everything look nice and peachy on the surface, when it was first released with the film's shocking and brutal honesty on the lifestyle of the youth. Its portrayal of the youths as being a very promiscuous and sexually open group who goes through life with a "live for today, die tomorrow" attitude while having no goals and directions challenged the thinking of Hong Kong society by bringing out the problems with the youths; meanwhile, the many "streamy" love scenes(no nudity; many were just scenes and shots of the actors and actresses scantily clad and in provocative positions; the one scene where it was close to a standard love making scene was too dark to see and could only see the arms and face; nothing compared to western cinema) and the amount of skin the actors and actresses revealed challenged Hong Kong films society which was rather conservative.

I really liked the way they were able to reflect both the youth and the parent's reaction and attitude towards their lifestyle. However, the writers were trying to do too much. They tried to generate some excitement and climax by putting a international assassination plot into the story, but it just made the film became more of a silly soap opera and it lost focus from the main theme, a reflection on youth society. The cast was rather impressive, which featured some recognizable names even in 2005 and although only Leslie Cheung became a breakout star, the other main actors and actresses became reliable performers; the performances, on the other hand, were believable and natural but nothing spectacular and rather green. Overall, it would be recommended for only film buffs or Leslie Cheung fans. There was nothing exciting about this movie, as even the love scenes were boring.

I was very excited about this film when it was first introduced and had been dying to see it. There was a lot of hype surrounding the film, as the last time Andy Liu and Jacky Cheung, two of the most popular figures in Hong Kong pop culture, collaborated before was sixteen years ago, and the media kept reporting the effort and time the actors put into the film. However, just as the reports were on mundane details such as the hairstyles and the time put into the hairstyles, the movie was mundane at best.

The ensemble cast was great, gathering some of the most prominent figures in Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment. In fact, the producers even convinced Wu Chien-Lien, who had not appeared in a Hong Kong produced film in a long time, to make a cameo to play Andy Liu's character's wife. However, it seemed that the movie planned to run on star power and paid little to no attention to the details. First of all, although the acting of the four main characters of the two different arcs were solid, Andy Liu and Jacky Cheung could be better, given their talents. Secondly, the supporting characters' acting were mediocre and even many were prominent names, they seemed to be misused and underutilized, thus making it feel like they were forgettable and unnecessary. For example, Eric Tsang, a very versatile actor who even won a Golden Horse Award (the equivalent to the Oscar in the Taiwan, Hong Kong and China sphere) and able to play many different characters while making them feel convincing, felt very one-dimensional here. In fact, he could be killed off and nobody would care. Next, the plot jumped from one story arc to another at what seemed to be the worst possible time, making the film feel confusing at times. Finally, the script, except the end and the restaurant scene where the mastermind of the whole plan was, was very formulaic and seemed like any other Hong Kong made crime thriller.

Still, compliments had to be given to the camera work and the ending. The camera work was excellent, giving the film a dark and mysterious aura that matched nicely with the plot and the tempo of the film. And the ending was excellent. It was very thought provoking and left the audience, if they still followed the film and did not get bored to death, something to think about. It gave the film a different perspective, which I personally appreciated, and made sense of the whole film. It was one of the best twists that I have seen in a while.

Overall, the film, until the ending, receives 5 out of 10. This maybe biased because I have seen too many films with the same kind of plots. With the ending, it is a 6 out of 10 film. Although the twist was great, it was just too late, as half of the audience probably would not care anymore. Watch it if you love Hong Kong produced crime thrillers and have the time. Otherwise, watch Infernal Affairs instead.