Tian mi mi (1996)

Director:

Peter Chan

Writer:

Ivy Ho (writer)

Release Date:

2 November 1996 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Love | First Love

Awards:

22 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Leon Lai	...	XiaoJun Li
Maggie Cheung	...	Qiao Li
Eric Tsang	...	Pao Au-Yeung
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Len Berdick	...	U.S. Immigration Officer
Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung
Yue Ding
Christopher Doyle	...	English Teacher
Michelle Gabriel
Irene Tsu	...	Aunt Rosie
Kristy Yang	...	XiaoTing Li

Also Known As:

Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
Tim mat mat (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

Canada:118 min | Taiwan:116 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Finland:S | Sweden:7

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

"Tian Mimi" is also the name of the song played throughout the film sung by Teresa Teng. The literal translation is "Sweet Honey" but figuratively, it means a good, warm, loving, close relationship.

Goofs:

Factual errors: It is wrong for XiaoJun Li, a mainlander to refer to his not-yet-married girlfriend XiaoTing as "AiRen" which means "wife" to Mainland Chinese (at least at the time of the movie) but means "lover" to HK and Taiwan Chinese.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sepet (2004)

Delightful Asian Romance

Other reviewers have said it well: this is a wonderfully romantic film. I hate to make a statement like, "It's the Asian version of . . . ", because the film doesn't need a comparison to any American film to have an identity, BUT it has several things in common with "The Way We Were", "Comrades" follows an up-and-down romance over the span of several years and has that same quality of bittersweet fate hanging over them throughout. The early scenes in which Li Xiaojun (Leon Lai) and Li Qiao (Maggie Cheung) begin their love affair are particularly entertaining. A favorite scene: Li Xiaojun helping Li Qiao on with her coat, they get closer and closer, their lips brush together, then they embrace, then a full on kiss, then mutual passion overtakes them as they both feverishly unbutton that same coat they had just been struggling to button. The scene is both sweetly romantic and humorous.

Another similarity to "The Way We Were" is that both films benefit from a tear-inducing song, in this case a love song by Taiwanese singer Teresa Tang which plays a vital role in the plot. Great job of direction by Peter Chan and a wonderful script, but it's the performance by Maggie Cheung that really sells the film. From the moment you see her behind the counter at McDonald's you're hooked by her energy, spunk, attitude, and determination. Her character runs the gamut of emotions during the course of the film and there wasn't one false moment in her performance. She is totally believable, whether she's flashing a self-satisfied grin into her ATM machine or dealing with a devastating loss (I won't give it away, but Cheung's reaction is heart-wrenching). "Comrades" is truly a wonderful film.