Starring: Takuya Kimura, Kazunari Ninomiya, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Koji Ohkura, Takehiro Hira, Yoshi Sako, Yasumasa Ohba Director: Masato Harada

THE old adage that dogs are man’s best friend might be a cliche, but there’s a reason why we as a species keep producing movies that celebrate the loyalty and devotion of our four-legged canine friends.

The latest movie in this genre is “Little Q,” which tells the tale of a yellow labrador puppy that is fostered by Mr. and Mrs. Chan (Roger Kwok Chun-on and Charlie Young Choi). Their daughter, Tsz-kiu (played by Jessica Liu Chutian as a child, and Angela Yuen Lai-lam as a teenager) quickly forms an attachment to the loveable puppy, but Little Q is destined for greater things.

After undergoing training to be a guide dog for the blind with Simon (Him Law Chung-him), Little Q is paired up with the crotchety and crabby Lee Bo-ting (Simon Yam). Lee is a world-renowned pastry chef who has taken an extended break from his career after his eyesight started degenerating.

Their relationship is tenuous at first, but once Lee accepts the fact that he now needs help getting around, he and Little Q become inseparable, and Lee comes to treasure Q as both a companion and someone who has shown him a whole new world outside of the encroaching darkness.

Unfortunately, after some years Lee develops a heart condition that can only be fixed by going overseas for surgery, leaving Little Q behind with the family that once fostered him. What follows next really tests the bond between man and dog.

Based on the 2004 Japanese movie “Quill,” one might be forgiven for thinking that this Hong Kong remake is unnecessary, given the similarities in plot and subject matter. Both movies were based on Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro’s novel “The Life of Quill, the Seeing-Eye Dog.”

However, “Little Q” worked in tandem with the Hong Kong Guide Dogs Association, and one hopes that the training sequences shown earlier on are an accurate reflection of the early life of a guide dog.

Director Law Wing-cheong makes a similar decision to not have an actor play the voice of Little Q, and chooses instead to let the plot and its human co-stars highlight the characteristics of the dog. The result is heart-warming and might bring a tear to your eye. If anything, Little Q is more of a love letter dedicated to guide dogs all over the world that help their owners to shine a light where there was only darkness before.

Nevertheless, the movie does veer into melodrama and tear-jerker territory. It seems that all animal stories are destined to tug at our heartstrings and specifically designed to make us reflect on how much lesser our lives would be without animals or pets, and “Little Q” is no exception to this.

Guide dogs are still a rarity in China. One hopes that in addition to the love of animals, the audience will walk away with immense respect for the important work that the Hong Kong Guide Dogs Association does with their dogs.

The movie is currently being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies)