Perhaps Love (HONG KONG. 2005)

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

Out of all the genres that could pop out of the current wasteland that was once the Hong film industry, I never expected a big-budget musical to lead the pack. Especially when Director/Co-Writer Peter Chan (Famous for a bunch of mid 90’s Romantic Dramas and the president of one of the bigger HK production companies) has gone on record saying that he hates the genre.

Hmmmmmm.

Takeshi Kashaniro stars as Lin, a movie-star starring in a big budget musical directed by famed auteur Nie Wen (Jackie Cheung). It would be nothing more than another gig if it weren’t for the fact that his female co-star (Zhou Xu) is the love of his life (from a decade ago) that broke his heart. Things get even more complicated when you factor in that she’s currently romantically entangled with Nie Wen. I see tragedy and romance set to song in the near future! If you play your cars right, there may even be DANCING!

With cinematography by Peter Pau (All of the Shanghai scenes/the musical numbers) and Christopher Doyle (Everything set in Beijing) I never expected the visual to be anything less than breathtaking. I wasn’t disappointed.. I’m also glad to see Popstar/Actor Jackie Cheung finally appear in front of the cameras again after what feels like a eight year sabbatical. The rest of the cast do a great job at being pretty (Will Takeshi Kashaniro ever age?) and they perform pretty enthusiastically when the film gives them a chance too.

It's a shame they don't get very many chances.

Musicals are constructed to evoke broad emotions. Joy! Happiness! Sadness! All of those eventually lead to the big one: “Love” ‘Perhaps Love’ has the skeleton of the story but it forgets a very important building block: Actually caring for the characters. Everyone in this film is bitter, broken or completely alienated from the world. Even in the flashbacks, the two main characters budding romance held very little joy for either them. You have no one to root for (unless you’re picking the most handsome) in a love triangle were everyone is miserable. Factor in the fact that these people all have pretty cushy lives and the sympathy meter takes an even deeper nose dive. They can’t express their emotions? Boo-Hoo.

The songs themselves are catchy and the numbers big and creative, if a little too quick cut to my taste. They just don’t fit in the film. It almost feels like the director didn’t trust he could keep the audience’s attention unless he keeps everything grounded and ‘real’. We get it. Musicals are not real. People don’t burst into song when emotions are stirred within them. If you don’t like it, or it bugs you, then you don’t watch those films. It’s as simple as that. Don’t try to cheat your around it. Without the songs directly impacting any of the events on screen (they only mirror what we already know) it seems like a superlative addition to a simple romantic drama.

‘Perhaps Love’ is real in a depressing way and big in a hollow way. It’s pretty to look at, slightly memorable and it did sweep the HK Academy Awards in 2005, so maybe I’m just a speaking from a cold granite heart.