Reviews & Ratings for
Song of the Exile More at IMDbPro »Ke tu qiu hen (original title)

5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Ignored gem rides against the tide of Kong Kong Cinema, 15 February 2005

Author: Mozjoukine (Mozjoukine@yahoo.com.au) from Australia

Ann Hui's SONG OF THE EXILE did miserable business in the Australian market, where Shaw Brothers Kung Fu costume spectaculars were all the go. This is not surprising, as it seems to come from another planet rather than just another director.

Hui's work was considered the innovator of the "Hong Kong New Wave" of the late 70s, though the thriller JUMPING ASH anticipated many of it's qualities and used some of it's personnel.

Hui was one of the people who launched super star Chau Yun-fat and many of her assistants became key film makers, always declaring her influence. Her films dealt with a contemporary scene that was still a distance from reality until the controversial and, some claimed propagandist, BOAT PEOPLE.

SONG OF THE EXILE went against the tide - a chicflic autobiographical account of Hui's relationship with her mother which was not sentimental or sensational.

Hui fields (wish fulfillment) the so appealing Maggie Cheung as her self, recalled from her time as a London student to attend her sister's wedding and coming into head on conflict with her Japanese mother who she sees as a mahjong addict philistine. Their encounter forces Maggie/Ann/Hueyin to confront this antagonism and they return to Japan where she finds herself adrift, with no knowledge of the local language. The scene of her chased by what turn out to be benevolent locals is particularly nice. Family members, who fear mum wants to claim the family house, polish its floors. However the respect given her mother doesn't sit with her own ideas and she gradually uncovers mum's unknown past during the WW2 period - where Waisee Lee, another Hong Kong stalwart surfaces in flashback.

The film is genuinely involving, original and beautifully filmed in sharp colour - the arrival at the deserted rail station at night is very Ann Hui. Even with the uneasy Englsh speaking opening, Maggie gets her best outing here and the relationship with the mother character has a resonance rare in any cinema, let alone the glittering surfaces of the Hong Kong film.

Rewarding viewing, unique among the national industry and a peak achievement for one of the world's most influential film makers, this should have achieved far wider recognition.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Maggie Cheung has never been so beautiful,cute and full of innocence., 31 July 2007

Author: Lalit Rao (cpowerccc@yahoo.com) from Paris, France

Ann Hui is a legendary filmmaker who shot to fame in 1982 after having made "Boat People"-a film about the plight of Vietnamese refugees.She is also one of the founding members of the Hong Kong new wave cinema. Song of exile is one of her best films and it is a pity that it has remained a forgotten,ignored film despite the fact that it was in the competition section of Cannes International Film Festival 1990.At the core of this film is the tale of a young girl child who has grown in two different civilizations.As she becomes adult,it is difficult for her to strike a balance between ancient customs and modernity.There is trouble for her mother also as she is from a different country. Although the film is slightly autobiographical in nature,Ann Hui has made it a point not to forget to add numerous fictional elements.Maggie Cheung is the breathtaking protagonist of the film.As the film takes places in three different places with dream like quality, it is sure that viewers would enjoy their respective geographical displacements while enjoying the film.This is a film to be seen more than once.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Sad, moving and beautiful... Ann Hui's finest of films, 30 January 2006

Author: ayu1990

This is one of my favorite films, I've seen it five times. A beautiful film by Ann Hui about a Cantonese girl Hueyin (Maggie Cheung) trying to be friends with her Japanese mother. Hueyin goes to Japan with her mother and there they get to know their differences and eventually understand each other. I think they understood each other the most when her mother talked of the Sino-Japanese war to Hueyin and how she and her father met. To me that was the one of the most well-acted scenes in the film. The music went well with each sad and reminiscent scene in the film, which I guess was mostly what added the drama to it. I hope Ann Hui makes more good films like this one.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A beautiful moving autobiography by the Hong Kong film director Ann Hui, 8 March 2008

Author: cewkork from United Kingdom

SONG OF THE EXILE (Ke Tu Qui Hen or Hag To Tsau Hun) has to be one of my favourite films of all time. It's a moving autobiography by one of the best Hong Kong film directors, Ann Hui. This sentimental and nostalgic journey gives the audience a glance at prejudice, hatred and wars between nations, regrets, desperation and hope between peoples. The film describes the misunderstandings, relationships and love within a family. Despite the conflicts between politics and countries, when it comes down to a human level, can we put everything aside to embrace kindness to love one another? This film is beautifully shot and tells a universally recognised story of family relationship that will touch every viewer's heart.

The story is set in the 1970s. Returning to Hong Kong with a Masters Degree from London, a young Western-educated Chinese woman Hueyin (Ann Hui, played by Maggie Cheung) is involved in conflict and torn between her modern beliefs and traditional values. Through the mist of confusion, she finally finds the key to a better understanding to achieve the long withheld approval of her nagging mother. A short trip to Japan (her mother's homeland) turns out to be a turning point in their relationship.

During a visit to her beloved grandparents in Canton at the height of the Cultural Revolution, she is saddened by the hardship her grandparents have been through. Yet even at the lowest point of their disappointment at an uncertain future, her grandfather still has not given up on China, hoping the best for his granddaughter and for the country a bright future. But in her heart, she knows they are old. Will they live long enough to see this bright future?

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