Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)

Lack of good storyline.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There are a lot of things to write about the film. It's a representative opus that builds great meaning from details. Is it real love between Li Xiaojun and Li Qiao? Would they been so engraved in the heart like this if there were not so many coincidences? If those two conditions establish both, is that to say, love can not be sublimed of stay in the story?In the movie, before everything begins, Li xiaojun and Li Qiao go to Hong Kong back-to-back in the same train by accident. There is a wording "Only sweethearts in love consider that everything happens by accident was destined before"（《Twelve Night》, 2000）, of another similar sentence "There's no coincidence in the world but only the illusion of coincidence, there exist something in the back of coincidence"（《V for Vendetta》,2005）. It's just like Qingxia simply choose her lover: anyone can extract my sword, I'll treat him without reservation.Love may often begin with some simple coincidences. It's just coincidences make us full of motive power, it's the biggest pill to stabilize their mind to the person who do not have much sense of direction or security. But in reality, there are not so many coincidences in life. We always expect for coincidence, live a calm life superficially, but we are still peep coincidence occurs. We all have the wish that something would happen in the future. For coincidence, we can surfer so many boring days, we are waiting for miracle arrives and that's the time we can free ourselves. If not, we can also keep the right to image.In those waiting days, time goes by, Li Xiaojun gets married, and Li Qiao is successful in her career. There leaves them two after they sent Xiaoting to work. So many days passed, and it just like they never lost it. Li Xiaojun has so many words want to tell her, so many topic can talk about, but traffic light passed one by one, there is still not even one word in the car.Li Xiaojun sees Deng Lijun in the moment, she was his spiritual ballast once upon a time. That can be a summary for his young years. Does it perfect? Does he satisfies even if he got the autograph? Those all because you keep them in your memory, I loved you, you abandoned me, we can not go back to the way we used to be even if time machine gives me the feelings of that moment. They cannot help but say goodbye. Finally, coincidence arrives.Heavy body run into steering wheel, harsh klaxon tweets. Though there are weighty responsibility, so many life goals that can not release, those burdens that push down them and leave them no room are penetrated by the klaxon. Music stops, Xiaojun goes back to her without hesitate and they kiss. That's my favorite moment of this movie. Then the story can stop, the coincidence would be as a full stop for those suffering.But in fact, they are separated even there is not 24 hours since they got back to each other. And this separation is more despair than any separations they had before. The movie approaches to reality till now. Coincidence is just presentation. People always attach it, that is exactly their own wishful thinking. As reality events, coincidences are what you eat today, what you dreamed last night, just like you read the passage I write. Coincidence is one part of life, it has no particularity. Sperm and ovum meet, then you born; screened by society time and time again, there you are. Those are all coincidences, everything you experience and you not experience are all coincidences. Only you can not realize that reality would never respect the things you image all the time.I always believe that the essence of people is tender. We all move forward and wonder what would happen next second. The more you desire for success, the more you love someone, the afraid in your heart would be more powerful. Once you got desire and then you would afraid to lose it. In this way, one could never grasp the sense of security in fact. And then coincidence turns to as our best spiritual ballast. Of course it's just a film, they get back to each other again, the ending is so beautiful. The moment they move their sight and then meet, they are both caim in heart. That's because of the screening by time, it's quiet after great rejoicing and great grief, it's deposition after so many days. There eyes tell me that they would live a calm life till old even if there is no coincidence.

"TMM" is also known as "Comrades: Almost a Love Story." The Chinese title comes from a famous song by Teresa Tang, a Taiwanese singer who is important to the movie. In terms of plot, this movie is essentially a very focused/HK version of Forrest Gump, so the two major characters keep bumping into each other at very particular moments (more on that in a moment). Basically, there is an HK bias against those who come from the Mainland, and Mainlanders like Teresa Tang, so the characters' love(s) for the song is emblematic of how various characters deal with the transition from the Mainland to HK: picture a very nuanced version of city mouse/country mouse, complete with a different language. The movie basically will give some indication of when a scene is taking place, then segue to another scene. So, the fact that one character is making a killing means that this is a time when the HK stock market was booming, or people were worried about the handover, or the stockmarket crashed. Knowing that these characters are about to go through something that everyone in HK experienced adds a new level of meaning to the very, very good dialogue. There is a great twist at the end that places every scene in perspective, but spoilers are evil. Backstory: Leon Lai plays the male lead; he is essentially a one man Chinese Backstreet Boy. The gangster is played by a mainstay of HK movies. Maggie Cheung is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in the world, so seeing her portraying a McDonald's clerk is amazing. An English instructor is played by Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer for "Days of Being Wild," "Happy Together," and "Hero,"

This fable of comrades (i.e. people from Mainland China migrating to Hong Kong in pursuit of their dreams) and lovers Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai is generally enjoyable, although at times I found it hard to believe, as it relies a lot on luck, coincidence and predestination. It may be that luck protects those with a noble soul, surely the spirit of Teresa Teng must have watched over the two comrades from a very close point of view!The first half is very entertaining and energetic, as it follows the ups and downs of the protagonists, as they experience the frenetic life of Hong Kong, with its fast jobs, fast money and fast food. At the same time, Leon and Maggie also discover the negative aspects of their stay: the stock market landslides and, more over, the loneliness of living alone in a big city. Inevitably, they fall in love with each other and yet try to remain detached, as they have way too different aspirations: Maggie Cheung is a business-oriented girl, while Leon Lai is more idealistic and, more over, is already engaged. Among the most memorable moments is the bunch of wishes that the two comrades exchange, in celebration of the New Lunar Year! The arrival of Leon Lai's girlfriend to HK marks a big change of pace in the movie, as an ocean of problems, sorrows and regrets await the two protagonists: second half is very melodramatic, be warned! Anyway, the movie is definitely worth the viewing, if it were only for the thorough portrait of Hong Kong it offers. 7/10

The film deals with an every-day subject that lots of films have dealt with so far: boy meets girl. So many people might tend to say "It's always the same with that kind of stories", but in this case they are wrong. This film is simply lovely. Everything is there. The rough meeting, the soft touch, the first realization, the despair in the rain, the slight hope, the fate's sign and finally the supernatural power of emotions. All this with Hongkong and New York - two of the most exciting cities in the world - as background and casted with the outstanding actress Maggie Cheung who I'd love to see more often in the cinema.There might be bigger love stories, but for those two hours you watch this film the most beautiful love story comes from Hongkong.