Qi yue yu an sheng

"That comes as a warning sign that there are concealed happenings which the movie deliberately keeps a lid on from audience, and Tsang's film is full of those masquerades and revelations, the movie ostensibly begins as an adult Ansheng takes a trip down memory lane after reading the titular novel published on the internet by Qiyue, which relates their stories from the very beginning, and the ensuing film blurs the line between reality and fiction, as there are two sources here, Ansheng's own recollection with fidelity and Qiyue's novel whose content could be only a figment of her imagination, and our perception of the story is totally under the manipulation of the untrustworthy narrative, to a point, the final reveal suffers from being too contrived and blasé, its impact is dented."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Just finished watching this what must surely be one of the most endearing and heartfelt emotional ride of a film I've seen in a long time. Very rarely do we ever get to see a friendship of this nature between 2 girls growing up together until their adulthood depicted in this way. But this is not a straightforward story and a huge credit must go to how the film was edited and put together to lure into thinking the story is one thing and then turned out to be completely different and really hit you right into your heart. The only reason I decided to watch this movie was because of Ma Sichun who reminds me of my favourite Korean actress Son Ye-Jin, but I was glad I watched this film, and you will do too. I would urge you to spend a couple of hours of your day to make time for this wonderfully told story of love and friendship.

Chinese cinema have Zhang Yimou absolute gems like To Live (1994), Riding Alone for Thiusand of Miles (2005) and The Flower's of War (2011) in the most prominent Chinese director impressive filmography. Add Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Shanghai Triad (1995), The Roaf Home (1999), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Coming Home (2014) as excellent films.

Many other known or less known directors were able to surprise me with one clear masterpiece like: 2046 (2004), Aftershock (2010), Ocean Heaven (2010), July Rhapsody (2002), Together (2002) and White Snake (2019)

Ye Lou's Summer Palace (2006) is noteworthy but his Suzhou River (2000) with Xun Zhou's magnetic performance remained to me Chinese's most audacious, disturbing and beautiful Chinese film until I just finished watching Soulmate (2016)!

Soulmate's story is seemingly simple but with amazing dialogue and enough captivating twists. A lot of attention to details and clues make a tight story from the 5 Strong writing collaboration. Then Derek Tsang and the two lead actresses, Dongyu Zhou & Sichun Ma, really take it out the park with amazing performances and poignant scene after scene, especially after the 30 mins mark. Kudos also to the 4 strong editing team. These collaborations coalesced into a very well-rounded effective narrative. Two competent cinematographers to capture it all and voila.

This ifilm is visceral and emotional with life teachings, love, friendship, family and philosophy all finding their ways to add the the mosaic of living. The characters are trying to find their places in the world like everyone.

Very good study of long-time friendship, joys, hardships, distance, dreams, reality, fears and fantasies. This illustrates life's futility, loneliness and beauty while showing the manipulation and illusions we must create for ourselves and others.

Quite transcending and special in many levels. I cant wait to see Better Days (2019) and see if Dongyu Zhou and Derek Tsang can do it again.

Soulmate secures a rewatchable unforgettable ride as well as amazing scenes of pure delicious writing, acting and directing. Bravo!

What I love most about this movie is the great length they took to depict the time period, the realness and livelihood of ordinary people living in China. There's no rich guy trying to woo the girl or a character who went from a loser to being the hero etc. It is just a story about the friendship of two girls growing up. But the way they have set up the plot is brilliantly captivating and fast paced, unlike most Chinese movie I've encounter. Not many movies have two women as leading characters. The ones that do come in mind are Thelma & Louis (1991) and Bridesmates (2011).

Good story, good performances. The ambivalence of spirits is completely shown. Director Peter Chan is really expert at demonstrating the inside figure of characters.