The whole idea of a Perhaps Love (2005) has been done to death, nearly to the point of cliche. We’ve seen it countless times before, and we’ll see it again, I’m sure.
I’m even guilty of it myself I wrote a script for a film called Prenez Vos Places, a French/English movie about two guys that make a movie. It was weirdly self referential, and we felt really clever using the movie to mimick real life.
And that’s just it. Self referential humour and drama is big these days, from great films like Adaptation, or musicals like Moulin Rouge, and the public loves to feel like we’re on the inside of an inside joke.
Last Friday, the Sydney Film Festival screened Perhaps Love, a love-triangle in a movie flick from Hong Kong, at the opulent State Theatre. I waddled quickly to buy tickets, and even though I was sitting high in the ‘Dress Circle’, I enjoyed the event immensely.
The director, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, answered questions after the show, and while he’s not the most interesting speaker, he did offer some insights into the motivation behind the film.
As you might guess, love is at the centre of this film and while ridiculously good-looking movie reviewers like me are so tediously bored with love in film, when it’s done right, it can almost be as satisfying as grilling your own T bone.
And while I can rarely get satisfaction or girlie action (though I try), Perhaps Love is a mesmerizing, haunting picture that will stick with you especially when it doesn’t end in a fairy tale style happy ending.
The film casts 4 main actors famed Cantonese singer Jacky Cheung, Japanese/Chinese actor Takeshi Kaneshiuro, stunning Chinese film star Zhou Xun and Korean actor Ji Jin-Hee.
Zhou Xun is best remembered in English countries for her tremendous spirit in the film adaptation of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, where, admittedly, I didn’t think she looked that good.
What do I know? A recent newspaper poll in China revealed that the Chinese think she is the third most beautiful woman in China big props considering the size of that pool, half of 1.3 billion people.
In Perhaps Love, Xun plays a remarkable role that shows her to be as cold and unfeeling as a Terracotta warrior, but at times, cute and warmly passionate.
And I’ll admit it, Takeshi Kaneshiuro is a damn good looking man, although in this film, he borders on effeminate. He was pretty rough and tuff in the truly excerable House of Flying Daggers.
I should mention that director Peter Ho-Sun Chan made Perhaps Love to be the first Chinese musical Broadway style musical, that is it feels incongruous at times.
While the music may be forgettable, the dance sequences are outstanding as well they should, as the dance choreographer was Bollywood’s Farah Khan. And it feels a little Bollywood up in here, up in here.
Is this film just a mash of jagged pieces that don’t quite go together?
Well, at its fundamental level, Perhaps Love is about the human condition, and feels incredibly real, while showing off the bright lights and fancy costumes of a lavish movie production. It all shoots by streaking meteors over your head and you’d love to press pause to catch your breath.
Best explained:
“The result certainly feels real love is composed of affection, sacrifice, selfishness, hate, possessiveness, and plenty of other counselling worthy emotions, and perhaps Love covers this territory with sometimes heartbreaking effectiveness.”
Yes… Ho Sun Chan shows us the bitterness that accompanies love, and rarely do we have a chance to admire or feel happy for any of the characters in the film. In fact, the existance of love in this film serves only to push them to do bad things, reminding us that love isn’t all cotton candy and gumdrops. No, Perhaps Love rudely teaches us that love can be the blunt razor edge, slicing jagged tears in our flesh as we struggle to swim to the surface.
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