Qing cheng zhi lian (1984)

Director:

Ann Hui

Writers:

Eileen Chang (novel)
Fengcho (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 August 1984 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

A cynical playboy pursues an introverted divorcee in the decadent Hong Kong on the eve of the Japanese invasion. |

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Male Female Relationship | China | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Fan Liu-Yuan (as Chow Yun Fat)
Cora Miao	...	Pai Liu-So
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chiao Chiao	...	Wife of Liu-So's fourth brother
Tsi-Ang Chin
Wai Yee Chin	...	Liu-So's youngest sister
King-fai Chung	...	Mr. Hsu
Jovy Coudrey	...	Princess Saheiyini
Chuen Gam
Chung Ping Geung	...	Liu-So's third brother
Man Huang	...	Liu-So's mother
Elaine Jin	...	Louise
Yin San Lai	...	Maid
Mun Ying Lau
Kar Law
Wai Pok Lee
Ga Git Leung
Ka Chi Leung
Hung Lu
Helen Ma	...	Mrs. Hsu
Ho Yee Wong
Pooi Ling Yau
Sin Yee Yih
Sai-Kit Yung	...	Pierre

Also Known As:

King sing ji luen (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Love in a Fallen City (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:I

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Quotes:

Fan Liu-Yuan: When looking at Hsu's green raincoat when picking her up from the port: Your raincoat looks like a medicine jar.
Fan Liu-Yuan: After a short pause: You are my medicine.

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Qing cheng zhi lian" (2009)

Love in a fallen city

Set in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the early 1940s (1941 to be exact), this 1984 film by Ann Hui is an adaptation of an Eileen Chang novella. Liu-Su, a young divorcée turning thirty, is heavily ostracized by her traditionally-minded Shanghai family who constantly badmouths her in order to get her to move on to another man. Eager to get out of her family, she meets Liu-yuan, a rich Malayan businessman and playboy who follows her back to Shanghai and brings her to Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion of China and Hong Kong.

"Love in a Fallen City", a Shaw Brothers production, is fairly successful but not entirely without its faults. Like what Ann Hui said later in her career, the movie appears too concerned with storytelling and far less with maintaining atmosphere. That the film is extremely talky doesn't help matters. (The scriptwriter appears to be trying to transpose all the dialogue from the novel to the film.) The set production and design leave a lot to be desired - although the film is set in 1941 Shanghai and Hong Kong, the entire film seems to be shot in 1960s Hong Kong. The Shanghai milieu is not convincing, while the Hong Kong side of the production, naturally, looks more realistic simply because the movie was shot in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Chow Yun-Fatt does well in his sweet-talking playboy role. His constant attention to Cora Miao's Liu-Su marks one of his best romantic performances to date. However Cora Miao appears to be miscast. Her mousy portrayal of Liu-Su leaves us with little empathy for the divorced widow, and oftentimes, Miao appears out of her depth. However, her performance is still not downright disastrous and she does have some chemistry with Chow, so the romantic elements of the film still remains largely watchable.

"Love in a Fallen City" trails off somewhat towards the end. The last 20 minutes concerning the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong is important for narrative accountability, but overall the film feels somewhat vacant by this point. Ann Hui made (probably) a superior Eileen Chang adaptation in "Eighteen Springs", but this 1984 movie still remains watchable if as a sort of dress rehearsal to the later 1997 film.