1/31/08

Zhou Yu's Train

In case you like foreign films, this 2003 film from China (the DVD of which I obtained from the public library) has many things going for it:
  • Three extremely attractive leads; lovely Li Gong who is a major star in China;
  • Tony Leung Ka Fai, an Asian heartthrob veteran of many action films, as well as dozens of comedies and romances;
  • Hong Lei Sun, who has come on the cinema scene more recently, but we'll see lots more of him.
  • Terrific photography, you'll see shots of China you've never seen before.
  • Subtle symbolism on occasion...watch the trains and the tracks.
  • Wonderful translation in the captions, not too colloquial or pedantic, but informal and effective.
  • Careful filmmaking: activity in the background actually reflects what's going on in the scene.

The ending made me go back and check the name of the factory worker, but to no avail. I'm still not sure where the lovely young woman in Tibet actually came from.

The general theme of this romantic movie is about a woman who falls in love with a sensitive poet. She rides the eponymous train to visit him twice a week. During the course of these rides, she encounters a handsome veterinarian who flirts with her and eventually becomes acquainted with her. Sometimes the destination is what it's all about, sometimes the journey itself...