The Last Dance

A Hong Kong movie for the people of Hong Kong, it's been a while since the last time I've seen something like this. And the result shows. A testament that movies should be based on quality and not for the wider market only then can you create something that truly transcends to everyone. The Last Dance delves into an ancient tradition of the Canton people, and looks at how something like this affects the society of today. And by looking at the deceased, can we truly appreciate the living. A wonderfully created, dynamic film that has more to do with emotions, families than the topic itself and the box office is its best testament. Perhaps more impressive is the immaculate cinematography, it's so picturesque yet soaked in tradition and culture.

I snuck into this film expecting absolutely nothing, since I was unaware of even its title. Asians dominated the crowd of 25 matinee, so I figured it was an Asian film. This was such a beautiful experience to have unfold before me. Standup comic Dayo Wong is Dominic. His wedding planning business went bust during Hong Kong Covid. But his girlfriend's retiring Uncle Ming has turned over his half stake in his funeral business to him. The other half is held by Master Man (Michael Hui), a well regarded Taoist priest. MM lives with his ambulance driver daughter Yuet (Michelle Wai) and son Ben, who is continuing the Taoist tradition. Ben in turn has a wife and son. Dom visits often. He implements a lot of wacky money making ideas. But it's also a very dramatic film. The priest performs the "breaking hell's gate" ritual, which liberates dead souls so they can move on, as he did with his own deceased wife. Women are forbidden from such jobs, and Yuet is still holding a grudge. All the characters are very well developed. There are beautiful establishing shots of Hong Kong. I was very moved by the film and there was detectable crying in the audience. I would definitely try to see it. It was first released in HK, England, then Ireland. Now the US in very limited release. Anselm Chan is a fine writer/director.

I went in watching this not knowing a single thing but was weeping by the end of it. This is a character-driven movie with well-written characters. I'm not sure if it was intended but the start of the movie made me slightly uncomfortable (?) because the protagonist was clearly in it for the money, which was understandable because he had a lot of debts. However as the movie progressed and Dominic (the protagonist) gained more experience in the funeral business, he also became more empathetic and respectful of not only the dead but the dead's family. It was really good but the one aspect of this movie that hit me the most was the relationship between Hello-man and Man Yuet, his daughter. Throughout most of the movie they barely got along but it was when crisis struck that he and his daughter started getting closer. They didn't have a perfect relationship but they loved each other in their own ways and it's another parent-daughter dynamic that reminded me of the quote from Arcane, "Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"

I didn't want to go see a movie about a Hong Kong funeral director, but my wife made me go. Sounded boring. But WOW. This is one of those rare movies that can appreciated by all cultures and all age groups. It's a dark comedy that can make you smile or have tears of compassion well up in your eyes -- even as you follow the story in subtitles. I am not familiar with the Chinese actors, I hear that some of them are very well known, and I can see why. They were all brilliant, bringing to live a screenplay that is rich in emotion and drama. Solid editing and post-production work as well. Catch it if you can. Maybe someday it will even be on Netflix!

This one is that kind of movies that linger in your mind, that make you think about life, that give you certain positive impacts.

The casting is great and the acting of the individuals is near perfect.

The movie is good for audience of any religious background, for audience who believe or not the last dance is meaningful for the death, for audience who has good/bad bonding with the family, for audience who is struggling for life, and even for audience who doesn't like going to cinemas.

Hong Kong movie industries have been relying too much on kungfu/gangster stories for the last 10 or even 20 years. This movie is a major break-through while in Asia Korean/Japanese movies have been dominating.

Good job!!