IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
A cute, drunk realtor (Shu Qi), dating her married boss, pukes on a single, sober cop at a Beijing hotel after partying. They keep bumping into each other after that.A cute, drunk realtor (Shu Qi), dating her married boss, pukes on a single, sober cop at a Beijing hotel after partying. They keep bumping into each other after that.A cute, drunk realtor (Shu Qi), dating her married boss, pukes on a single, sober cop at a Beijing hotel after partying. They keep bumping into each other after that.
- Awards
- 5 nominations total
Elena Mei-Ye Kong
- Pei Rus Sister
- (as Elena Kong Mei-Yee)
Yuen-Yan Lo
- Pei Rus Mother
- (as Angelina Lo)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The story starts with Shu Qi as a real estate worker I guess as the translation was not quite clear trying to make it in Beijing on her own. She has difficulities getting what she wants and gets duped and dumped for her partner who is younger by the male character and also shorted of her fair share according to what I understood. She has a cop that falls in love with her and is her shoulder to cry on and tries to help her anyway he can for her to achieve what she wanted when she came to Beijing in the first place. She then leaves and he gets let go of the police force for doing her a favor which was against policy. He also finds out that he has a form of dementia. Even through all of this he promises his younger brothers fiances mother that he would watch over both of them. That is how kind hearted he is. After some time has passed The Shu Qi character finds a piece of paper and scribles some black pencil on it to reveal a message. That's when she sets out to go back to Beijing to find him only to see that he has moved. The blind man tells her what he is going through and asks her if she can love him even though he may wind up forgetting who she is. As you probably figured out she goes to live with him and eventually they get married and then he sustains an injury while chasing a thief and she is crying for him not to die. The ending is you probably know is a Happy one. I always find Shu Qi in these roles of victim or getting killed with the exception of the gangsters daughter. I think that she should play a different role in the future, otherwise she will get typecast for this type of role forever.
10gkaldis
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.
A total Waste of talent and money and wasted my 2 hours to watch this cringy and cliche content. I can understand why the producer and director were same. Writing was so inconsistent. Total mess.
We did a double take when we first read that Andrew Lau's next project after the martial arts vigilante flick "The Legend of Chen Zhen" was a romantic drama between two unlikely individuals with a melodramatic twist. After all, this is the director of hard-boiled crime thrillers like "Infernal Affairs" and "Young and Dangerous", whose occasional foray out of his comfort zone has only been to the relatively safe rom- com territory (i.e. the Andy Lau-Shu Qi romance "Look For A Star").
But with a distinct change in genre, Andrew Lau has cemented his reputation as one of the best contemporary directors in Hong Kong- because this drama is not only warm and engaging, it is also exceptionally moving. Indeed, it is probably one of the most heartfelt films you'll see this year, a resounding affirmation of the strength and the courage true love gives to its beholder, and the more sentimental viewers among us will best be advised to get their Kleenexes ready.
Turning once again to his favourite leading lady, Andrew Lau casts Shu Qi in the role of Li Peiru, a young and ambitious real estate agent from Hong Kong in the city of Beijing trying to strike it rich. She meets the honest and principled local policeman Fang Zhendong (Liu Ye) one night while entertaining her potential clients at a karaoke bar, and despite his best efforts to shake her off, Zhendong ends up taking the intoxicated Peiru home and putting her in bed.
They meet again through a series of handy coincidences, and the straight-laced cop quickly but surely finds himself falling for Peiru- even though she is in a torturous relationship with a married man. Zhendong is the characteristic lonely soul yearning for companionship, his first responsibility towards his younger autistic brother Zhencong (Tian Liang) leaving him with little time and energy to socialise and meet new friends. Their mutual affections aren't contrived- underneath her veneer of confidence lies an equally lonely heart searching for true love- and Zhendong recognises it even before Peiru does.
For the first hour, Tang Kit Ming's (who also wrote "Look For A Star") screenplay lays bare the depth of Zhendong's love for Peiru- Zhendong cooks for her, cleans up after her drunken stupors, and even agrees to spy on her boyfriend to make sure he isn't cheating on her with another mistress (he is). But the real test of his love for her comes after her fall from grace- she loses her job, has to downgrade from her swanky apartment to a much smaller place, and asks to borrow money to start her own business. Kit Ming's script isn't afraid to let them fall in love in less than typical adorable rom-com fashion, and it is through his characters' day-to-day real-life struggles that we empathise with them even more.
Of course, much of the empathy the film generates is due to the endearing performances by both Liu Ye and Shu Qi. While it is probably no stretch for her playing the teasing flirtatious Peiru at the start of the film, it is her character's subsequent downfall that proves truly interesting to watch. These later scenes bring out an unexpected nuance in Shu Qi's acting, and the most remarkable of these is a single uninterrupted hand-held shot in an alleyway where her character reveals her deeply heartfelt plight- she has to earn money to help support her debt-saddled family back in Hong Kong. Liu Ye's intense down-to-earth performance is an excellent complement against Shu Qi, and the two evince an easygoing chemistry that will win you over effortlessly.
The strength of their combined performances is also a huge reason why the second half of the film anchored by a melodramatic twist turns out affecting and poignant, especially in its portrayal of the reciprocal nature of true love. This latter half also contains perhaps the most touching sequence in the film, one which speaks volumes about Zhendong's love for Peiru and his efforts to love Peiru to the best of his abilities in spite of his frailties. Lau tries to top this with an even more emotionally wraught climax, but can't escape the obvious contrivances of its plotting.
Yet that doesn't distract from an otherwise perfectly crafted film, a tearjerker if you will, that reminds us of the inherent desire within each and every one of us for company and companionship, and the lengths to which true love will give us the strength and willpower to go to. What is a beautiful life? It is a life lived fully in true love, perfectly embodied here in that between Zhendong and Peiru.
But with a distinct change in genre, Andrew Lau has cemented his reputation as one of the best contemporary directors in Hong Kong- because this drama is not only warm and engaging, it is also exceptionally moving. Indeed, it is probably one of the most heartfelt films you'll see this year, a resounding affirmation of the strength and the courage true love gives to its beholder, and the more sentimental viewers among us will best be advised to get their Kleenexes ready.
Turning once again to his favourite leading lady, Andrew Lau casts Shu Qi in the role of Li Peiru, a young and ambitious real estate agent from Hong Kong in the city of Beijing trying to strike it rich. She meets the honest and principled local policeman Fang Zhendong (Liu Ye) one night while entertaining her potential clients at a karaoke bar, and despite his best efforts to shake her off, Zhendong ends up taking the intoxicated Peiru home and putting her in bed.
They meet again through a series of handy coincidences, and the straight-laced cop quickly but surely finds himself falling for Peiru- even though she is in a torturous relationship with a married man. Zhendong is the characteristic lonely soul yearning for companionship, his first responsibility towards his younger autistic brother Zhencong (Tian Liang) leaving him with little time and energy to socialise and meet new friends. Their mutual affections aren't contrived- underneath her veneer of confidence lies an equally lonely heart searching for true love- and Zhendong recognises it even before Peiru does.
For the first hour, Tang Kit Ming's (who also wrote "Look For A Star") screenplay lays bare the depth of Zhendong's love for Peiru- Zhendong cooks for her, cleans up after her drunken stupors, and even agrees to spy on her boyfriend to make sure he isn't cheating on her with another mistress (he is). But the real test of his love for her comes after her fall from grace- she loses her job, has to downgrade from her swanky apartment to a much smaller place, and asks to borrow money to start her own business. Kit Ming's script isn't afraid to let them fall in love in less than typical adorable rom-com fashion, and it is through his characters' day-to-day real-life struggles that we empathise with them even more.
Of course, much of the empathy the film generates is due to the endearing performances by both Liu Ye and Shu Qi. While it is probably no stretch for her playing the teasing flirtatious Peiru at the start of the film, it is her character's subsequent downfall that proves truly interesting to watch. These later scenes bring out an unexpected nuance in Shu Qi's acting, and the most remarkable of these is a single uninterrupted hand-held shot in an alleyway where her character reveals her deeply heartfelt plight- she has to earn money to help support her debt-saddled family back in Hong Kong. Liu Ye's intense down-to-earth performance is an excellent complement against Shu Qi, and the two evince an easygoing chemistry that will win you over effortlessly.
The strength of their combined performances is also a huge reason why the second half of the film anchored by a melodramatic twist turns out affecting and poignant, especially in its portrayal of the reciprocal nature of true love. This latter half also contains perhaps the most touching sequence in the film, one which speaks volumes about Zhendong's love for Peiru and his efforts to love Peiru to the best of his abilities in spite of his frailties. Lau tries to top this with an even more emotionally wraught climax, but can't escape the obvious contrivances of its plotting.
Yet that doesn't distract from an otherwise perfectly crafted film, a tearjerker if you will, that reminds us of the inherent desire within each and every one of us for company and companionship, and the lengths to which true love will give us the strength and willpower to go to. What is a beautiful life? It is a life lived fully in true love, perfectly embodied here in that between Zhendong and Peiru.
- www.moviexclusive.com
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!
Nothing much left to write, except that it was a great experience and that I will recommend this movie to everyone! Beautiful!
Did you know
- TriviaThe soundtrack includes Mandarin songs like Taiwanese singer Bobby Chen's Bu Zai Rang Ni Gu Dan (also the Chinese title of the movie) and Hong Kong singer Jackie Cheung's Wu Sheng De Ji Ta (Silent Guitar) which was adapted from the legendary Malay rock band (from Malaysia) known as 'Search' in their classic song called 'Fantasia Bulan Madu'.
- How long is A Beautiful Life?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- A Beautiful Life
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $66,171
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $23,605
- May 22, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $634,784
- Runtime2 hours 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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