DICK STEEL
How long will you wait for somebody you love? Will you hold on to that hope and have faith, or will you buckle at the uncertainties, and choose to move on? You'll never know until you're in it, and are forced to make some decisions. While you can decide for yourself, you'll never really know how the other half will fare, especially if it's long distance.A Time to Love, starring Lu Yi and Zhao Wei as star-crossed lovers, adapts the basic premise from Shakespeare's timeless romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The references are countless, be it direct like the very cheesy replication of the famous Act II Scene II, or indirectly. As childhood sweethearts, their love for each other is forbidden by their respective families due to a mysterious feud between the heads of the households. So long as it remains mysterious, so too will their love be hidden away from their families, resulting in stealing glances, and meeting up in secret. But how long can this continue before taking its toil, especially when one turns out to be a high flyer and ambition gets in the way? Even the characters fit R&J to a T. Lu Yi's Hou Jia is actually quite wishy-washy, afraid to express his feelings for his love, and is kept in his place by his wheelchair bound mother. Probably out of filial piety, given that it's a Chinese/Asian virtue, but having her dictate his life, is probably as pathetic as can be. There are times though, that as his character develops, it threads on dangerous ground just as the cad that Lu Yi played in Jasmine Woman, starring yet another Chinese actress who have made international waves, Zhang Ziyi.Zhao Wei's Qu Ran on the other hand, is as strong in character as Juliet, the one calling the shots on how she wants to live her life, and to love who she wants to, despite her parental objections. Zhao Wei herself lights up the screen with her scenes each time, and no doubt her bright illuminating eyes contribute to that effect, expressing her fear, anger, loneliness, happiness, all rolled into one and projected through the windows of the soul.The movie, itself based on a short story, contains plenty of cheesy moments that will probably be appreciated by the romantics, or cringe just about every general movie going audience. Familiar themes for romantic movies are at their element here, with beautiful camera shots setting up scenes of isolation, and of waiting, and bringing to life the love between our lovers. There is a sex scene (*gasp*) but you don't get to see much.There are some movies that perpetually shoot itself in the foot with its bad ending. You know, those that have an excellent build up, right until the finale, but destroys all the good work done with the very last frame. You can add this movie to that list of yours. While the non-romantics would have already rolled their eyes as the story progressed, those who are holding out until the end will probably be nodding in unison with its open ended third act, but unfortunately, that dumb final line had to appear as the end title. And no, it's not "The End", but by doing that, it robbed the movie of whatever shreds of credibility it tried to keep alive, and topped it with stinky cheese.P.S. It's a pity that this movie only had less than 10 persons in the audience, one of whom is Kenneth Tan himself. Guess having two film festivals running side by side, in the holiday season of December, does take its toil on the attendance of festival movies.
saintseiya1986
Is there exist pure love in modern society? "A Time to Love" answered the question.The story adapted from a real report which was moved Beijing Younth Daily editors. The film is simple.If you believe love,it will moved you.After watching,you will know the classic love.Love is patient,love is waiting,love is mercy. Zhao Wei(played Qu Ran) is absolute outstanding.Her performance is great & moving.An emotional wallop in the final scene will be a classic scene in China film history. Director Huo Jianqi's film always slowly but steady & moving. Cinematography is perfect.It makes you enjoy the pic. The script isn't good,but not bad. Supportting actors is OK,especially Zhang Qian(played Qu Ran's father).
skymagic
I saw this film for the first time last night, I would say I like it and especially the lead performance from Vicki Zhao (as Quran) is amazing.The scenes comes with a good rhythm, which does not allow me to get bored. I noticed that this movie is based on a true story. Although the story itself is pretty simple and even kind of "old", I think its simplicity is part of what is so great about it.After being disgusted by more and more "artistic" movies with which even the directors seemed not to know what they really meant to express, this movie is just like great pure vanilla. It was successful to capture my mood, and it does convey the beauty of an unbreakable bond of love that we are all searching for, and that we are always moved by.
themikester007
In essence, "A Time to Love" (its English Title) is a typical love story with many theme elements that have been seen before, nothing ground breaking. Having said that, it's nicely written and it doesn't get sappy or too clichéd as in the case in many love stories of late. It is also interesting to note how well Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is integrated. Instead of simply copying that play's plot, it was a vital player in the lead characters lives. Acting talent is very good, including lead actress, Vicki Zhao, who showed a range of emotions well. The plot flowed well, it doesn't get dragging. All in all, if you like a nice little love story that is well written, and don't mind that it's not revolutionary, "A Time to Love" is worth a look.
