Starring: Maggie Cheung, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Kristy Yang, Christopher Doyle Director: Peter Chan

    Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    MOVIES that get re-released in theaters normally have an impressive shelf life, and this weekend, one of them, the Hong Kong movie “Comrades: Almost a Love Story,” will enter mainland theaters 19 years after it first came out.

    Although the romance flick wasn’t screened on the mainland in 1996, mainlanders watched it on pirated copies. It is listed as one of the 100 Greatest Chinese Films of the 20th Century by Asia Weekly Magazine and was shown at the 70th Venice Film Festival’s Classics Program in 2013. Following success there, director Peter Chan decided to screen the movie on the Chinese mainland this year for the first time.

    The movie tells a story that spans 10 years, centering on two mainlanders who migrate to Hong Kong to make a living. Li Xiaojun (Leon Lai), a kind-hearted young man from Wuxi, comes to Hong Kong in 1986 to work as a food delivery man and his only dream is to bring his mainland fiancée to Hong Kong. Unable to speak Cantonese or English, he befriends the shrewd Li Qiao (Maggie Cheung), who comes from Guangzhou and works a variety of part-time jobs. Qiao’s dream is to earn as much money as possible and be a respected Hong Kong citizen. The loneliness of living in the international metropolis turns the two into genuine friends and casual sex partners.

    Finding that their affair stands in their way of fulfilling their respective dreams, the two try their best not to fall in love with each other. Xiaojun then marries his fiancée (Kristy Yang) in Hong Kong and Qiao ends up in a relationship with a mob boss (Eric Tsang). Despite their efforts, destiny always makes Xiaojun and Qiao to bump into each other.

    “Comrades” may sound like a bittersweet tear-jerker about two people who struggle not to fall in love as they drift apart in the ocean of life. But the movie, which won nine major awards at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1997, is not a simple love story.

    Chan’s movie presents a panorama of Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s, as well as certain aspects of Hong Kong and mainland relations. In the beginning of the movie, the Cantonese-speaking Qiao hides her Guangzhou origins and pretends to be a native Hongkonger in fear of being looked down on as a mainlander. She later asks Xiaojun: “If I marry a mainlander here, what’s the point of me coming to Hong Kong?”

    When the newly arrived Xiaojun calls Qiao “comrade,” a term actively used on the Chinese mainland before the 1990s, Qiao immediately shows repulsion. But later, when they break up, Qiao says: “Comrade Li Xiaojun, you and I moved to Hong Kong not for each other. I have my own business, and so do you.”

    Chan crafted the romance against a rich social and historical background, such as Hongkongers’ anxieties regarding the 1997 handover and the stock market crisis. He once said the movie actually illustrates the rootlessness of immigrants everywhere in the world and their search for an identity.

    The movie is also filled with wonderful details that draw upon the colonized history of Hong Kong. In one delightful scene, Xiaojun studies English in a class full of mainland migrants while a white male teacher (Christopher Doyle) drinks beer and only teaches swear words. The teacher says Hong Kong is a snobbish international city, so migrants should learn English swear words in case rude foreigners curse at them.

    “Comrades” is a fully fleshed, touching movie with a deft script, smooth story-telling and layered characterization. Although some of Qiao and Xiaojun’s reunions arranged by destiny are highly improbable, they don’t spoil the heartfelt atmosphere.

    Finally, the soundtrack, made by late Taiwanese pop singer Teresa Teng, is beautifully baked into the plot. Qiao and Xiaojun have a shared love for Teng’s songs and over the course of 10 years, as the two lovers hurt and comfort each other, the songs are used to great effect. One song provides the movie with its Chinese title — “甜蜜蜜” — roughly translated as “Sweet Honey.”

    Destiny and love fascinate moviemakers around the world but “Comrades” is a breath of fresh air. Although it is a 1996 movie, it may resonate with today’s audiences for its portrayal of people choosing between pursuing love and life in a dense, modern city.

    “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” is now being screened in Shenzhen.