Don't pay attention to the star rating, this movie was one of the picks of this years Rotterdam festival. I found it rather confusing at points and this was made no easier by some apparently rushed subtitling, hopefully this will be resolved if it is more widely released. The story centers on a world weary man who becomes obsessed with a serial blind-dating student, who bears a resemblance to a nightclub singer/pianist. The film has the same interesting plot twists that can make new Chinese cinema so good, but benefits enormously from external cinematography courtesy of Chris Doyle. The acting is engaging and the soundtrack excellent. A definite must see if you have an interest in new Chinese cinema.
11 Reviews
Nice plot, Nice photography, but no better than original novel
thiefpp4 May 2005
For those who have not read the original novel by Jin, I highly recommend whom to do it. It is one of the best one I have ever read. Wei Zhao in the movie is a female graduate, blind dating with Wen Jiang. (female graduate in China is the symbol of unisex nerd). She actually lives totally different life at daytime (normal graduates) and at night (serving at a night club). She talks her night life story as her friend's to attract Wen, and finally Wen realizes it and loves her. The movie just shows the poor situation those female graduate in China. They are totally ignored by men and cannot find love. I like the photography, although it disturbs the plot. Wei is one of the best actress in China, if not the best.
Forced combination of romance and surreal, psychological thriller doesn't gel
Hyomil28 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Saw this for Vicki Zhao and her performance is worth a watch, but the movie itself is disappointing.
Vicki plays Fang, a graduate student who goes on lots of blind dates. The film opens on one of these with a guy named Chen. Chen is clearly disappointed at the sight of Fang, seeing her as reserved, inexperienced, and unlikely to put out, and he doesn't try to hide it. His patronizing, loutish behavior quickly causes Fang to walk out on him. Chen chases after her and crudely propositions her as a parting shot. She slaps him and leaves but he's waiting for her at her school the next day in stalker-like fashion. He apologizes but, in the course of their conversation, freely volunteers the fact that he hit his previous girlfriend upon discovering her infidelity--albeit, he says, with a slap like the one Fang delivered to him. Though Fang is repulsed and starts to walk away from him again, she doesn't seem sufficiently afraid of him and even consents to his accompanying her on her next blind date with someone else--for her protection, he says! We begin to suspect there's something very wrong with Fang as well, as she tells a series of increasingly disturbing stories of a "friend's" childhood. Fang says her friend describes her as too conservative, but she's not merely emotionally detached--she can be eerily dissociative, seeming mainly interested in telling stories, and turns cold or angry when the conversation takes a turn into subjects she's not comfortable with. Chen quickly picks up on this and offers to listen to her stories in order to maintain contact with her. As the storytelling goes on, the cinematography becomes distractingly strange and erratic, jumping between different times and places, and at times it even appears Fang is talking to herself. We're left to guess if these stories are real or not, and whether Fang is drawing him into something sinister.
This escalates when Chen decides to pursue another woman, Lang, at the same time. Lang is an outgoing, sexily dressed piano player pursued by many men that for some reason a friend of Chen seems to think is a sure thing for Chen. But when Chen goes to make his move and gets a clear look at her face, he sees that she looks exactly like Fang but shows no sign of recognizing him. After hearing Fang talk so much about the traumatic childhood of her "friend," this is chilling, and you immediately wonder if she has multiple personality disorder. This is solidified when Lang denies being Fang, seems to have a very different personality, and claims to know no one named Fang. Chen's initial reaction is anger and humiliation and wanting to know what kind of game Fang is playing, but in the face of Lang's repeated and convincing denials, he seems as inappropriately undisturbed by Lang as Fang was by him. He continues pursuing both Fang and Lang and doesn't do a lot of speculating, so we're left to do it ourselves. Is Chen of sound mind? Could Fang have a twin? Or if she has multiple personalities, are there others, and what might they be capable of? A more innocuous explanation might be that Fang earns money for school at night playing the role of Lang, entertainer of men, and her patrons knowing she was a graduate student would make her less desirable. But the fact that Fang as Lang never admits this to Chen and so convincingly and effortlessly deceives him about not being Fang as he recounts their past conversations and reveals his feelings for Fang, makes this possibility disturbing as well. You really have to wonder about Chen. He doesn't follow Fang or Lang to see if they live in the same place or try to meet anyone they know except the "friend" of Fang's stories. Is he thinking he can help a fragile Fang/Lang integrate different parts of herself or is he taking advantage of a mentally ill person, playing one personality off against the other? Surely he isn't oblivious to the fact that, if Lang is merely a role Fang plays, Fang wouldn't believe his interest in her could be genuine if he continued to see Lang and hid it from her? Chen reveals early on that his ex, besides being a cheater, was also a compulsive liar. Chen's great interest in Fang's story of her "friend's" traumatic childhood seems like it could be compassionate and an attempt to get her to open up, but as he continues to seem unfazed by its growing horror and the chilling way Fang strings him along, you begin to wonder. Fang claims at times to be making her stories up, but continues as if they're real. Is she just breaking the tension? What else could Fang be lying about and does she herself even know what's real and what isn't? Is there something similarly disturbing in Chen's past that attracts him to all this?
There are some touching moments in this film, but they're held back by all these undertones that can feel manipulative and keep you at a distance, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was left with a dissatisfied feeling at the end, like I'd been jerked around for little purpose.
Vicki plays Fang, a graduate student who goes on lots of blind dates. The film opens on one of these with a guy named Chen. Chen is clearly disappointed at the sight of Fang, seeing her as reserved, inexperienced, and unlikely to put out, and he doesn't try to hide it. His patronizing, loutish behavior quickly causes Fang to walk out on him. Chen chases after her and crudely propositions her as a parting shot. She slaps him and leaves but he's waiting for her at her school the next day in stalker-like fashion. He apologizes but, in the course of their conversation, freely volunteers the fact that he hit his previous girlfriend upon discovering her infidelity--albeit, he says, with a slap like the one Fang delivered to him. Though Fang is repulsed and starts to walk away from him again, she doesn't seem sufficiently afraid of him and even consents to his accompanying her on her next blind date with someone else--for her protection, he says! We begin to suspect there's something very wrong with Fang as well, as she tells a series of increasingly disturbing stories of a "friend's" childhood. Fang says her friend describes her as too conservative, but she's not merely emotionally detached--she can be eerily dissociative, seeming mainly interested in telling stories, and turns cold or angry when the conversation takes a turn into subjects she's not comfortable with. Chen quickly picks up on this and offers to listen to her stories in order to maintain contact with her. As the storytelling goes on, the cinematography becomes distractingly strange and erratic, jumping between different times and places, and at times it even appears Fang is talking to herself. We're left to guess if these stories are real or not, and whether Fang is drawing him into something sinister.
This escalates when Chen decides to pursue another woman, Lang, at the same time. Lang is an outgoing, sexily dressed piano player pursued by many men that for some reason a friend of Chen seems to think is a sure thing for Chen. But when Chen goes to make his move and gets a clear look at her face, he sees that she looks exactly like Fang but shows no sign of recognizing him. After hearing Fang talk so much about the traumatic childhood of her "friend," this is chilling, and you immediately wonder if she has multiple personality disorder. This is solidified when Lang denies being Fang, seems to have a very different personality, and claims to know no one named Fang. Chen's initial reaction is anger and humiliation and wanting to know what kind of game Fang is playing, but in the face of Lang's repeated and convincing denials, he seems as inappropriately undisturbed by Lang as Fang was by him. He continues pursuing both Fang and Lang and doesn't do a lot of speculating, so we're left to do it ourselves. Is Chen of sound mind? Could Fang have a twin? Or if she has multiple personalities, are there others, and what might they be capable of? A more innocuous explanation might be that Fang earns money for school at night playing the role of Lang, entertainer of men, and her patrons knowing she was a graduate student would make her less desirable. But the fact that Fang as Lang never admits this to Chen and so convincingly and effortlessly deceives him about not being Fang as he recounts their past conversations and reveals his feelings for Fang, makes this possibility disturbing as well. You really have to wonder about Chen. He doesn't follow Fang or Lang to see if they live in the same place or try to meet anyone they know except the "friend" of Fang's stories. Is he thinking he can help a fragile Fang/Lang integrate different parts of herself or is he taking advantage of a mentally ill person, playing one personality off against the other? Surely he isn't oblivious to the fact that, if Lang is merely a role Fang plays, Fang wouldn't believe his interest in her could be genuine if he continued to see Lang and hid it from her? Chen reveals early on that his ex, besides being a cheater, was also a compulsive liar. Chen's great interest in Fang's story of her "friend's" traumatic childhood seems like it could be compassionate and an attempt to get her to open up, but as he continues to seem unfazed by its growing horror and the chilling way Fang strings him along, you begin to wonder. Fang claims at times to be making her stories up, but continues as if they're real. Is she just breaking the tension? What else could Fang be lying about and does she herself even know what's real and what isn't? Is there something similarly disturbing in Chen's past that attracts him to all this?
There are some touching moments in this film, but they're held back by all these undertones that can feel manipulative and keep you at a distance, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was left with a dissatisfied feeling at the end, like I'd been jerked around for little purpose.
Avant Gaurde Film
rikkihon21 March 2005
Though this film lacks a conventional plot, if you analyze the film
you will see a developing theme. Like other 6th generation Chinese films, the film puts an emphasis on urban china. One character, Wu Fang, always orders green tea whenever she dates. At each date she never tells stories of her own life, but only of her friend and her friend's puzzling family life. This shows her desire to keep her identity a secret, but the viewer must believe that these could be stories about her own dysfunctional family. The other character, Lang Lang has the same face as Wu Fang, but a strikingly different personality. Lang is never conservative, and only appears at night. When we see Fang, we always see her during the day. The man is puzzled and intrigued by both women, one a night-life girl and the graduate student. His pursuit of both women portray's man's classic fight to encompass both a party girl and a smart, intelligent woman. Though the movie ends suddenly, viewers will find that it has a shocking revelation at the end, one that keeps you talking after the film ends.
you will see a developing theme. Like other 6th generation Chinese films, the film puts an emphasis on urban china. One character, Wu Fang, always orders green tea whenever she dates. At each date she never tells stories of her own life, but only of her friend and her friend's puzzling family life. This shows her desire to keep her identity a secret, but the viewer must believe that these could be stories about her own dysfunctional family. The other character, Lang Lang has the same face as Wu Fang, but a strikingly different personality. Lang is never conservative, and only appears at night. When we see Fang, we always see her during the day. The man is puzzled and intrigued by both women, one a night-life girl and the graduate student. His pursuit of both women portray's man's classic fight to encompass both a party girl and a smart, intelligent woman. Though the movie ends suddenly, viewers will find that it has a shocking revelation at the end, one that keeps you talking after the film ends.
Nice movie, but lacked imagination...
juhovh15 March 2004
The beginning of this movie was quite interesting and made me expect something more, but I was a bit disappointed.
First of all, I have nothing to complain about the actors, they did very well. Also the visual image was nice, I still very much like the pictures of tea leaves in a glass spinning around, it was beautiful. Although I sometimes didn't like the editing, that wasn't the weak spot either. It was the plot. The story that was interesting in the beginning turned out to be quite one dimensional and predictable. It leaves a bit empty feeling after watching this.
This isn't a bad movie, however it's not enough to be original or memorable. And that's what a good movie is about.
First of all, I have nothing to complain about the actors, they did very well. Also the visual image was nice, I still very much like the pictures of tea leaves in a glass spinning around, it was beautiful. Although I sometimes didn't like the editing, that wasn't the weak spot either. It was the plot. The story that was interesting in the beginning turned out to be quite one dimensional and predictable. It leaves a bit empty feeling after watching this.
This isn't a bad movie, however it's not enough to be original or memorable. And that's what a good movie is about.
A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Lu Cha (2003)
DICK STEEL11 September 2006
The first movie I watched starring enigmatic Chinese actor Jiang Wen was during a business trip to KL, catching a show at KLCC before my late afternoon flight. In Warriors of Heaven and Earth, he donned a moustache and beard as the charismatic leader Lieutenant Li, in a movie which had great premise but a lousy story to tell. As for Zhao Wei, unless your head was buried in sand, you wouldn't have missed the era in the late 90s where she was bombarding television sets everywhere in her role as Little Sparrow in My Fair Princess Huan Zhu Ge Ge.
So I guess putting them together in a movie made it almost irresistible to not want to pick up this DVD. This was actually a precursor to their Warriors movie where they collaborated again, but in this modern setting, based upon a short story "Adiliya by the River" (what the heck is Adiliya?) by Jin Renshun, they star as a pair of wannabe lovers looking into exploring if they could be together.
Sweeping aside the age gap, this movie is one heck of a mindgame. It's frustrating at times as nothing actually happens, and the lead characters just sit around and talk about stuff absolutely not related to anything at all. Well, at least not directly related to what's happening on hand, but telling stories - we're sitting through a story with characters telling stories, fictional ones which doesn't really add depth to plot, or characterization. It's pretty strange stuff.
And strange are their characters too, with the only realistic moment is the beginning - if you're looking for a stranger in a cafe, and there are two ladies, who would you approach first, the hot one, or the plain looking one? Chen Mingliang (Jiang Wen) went for the jugular, but it was actually Wu Fang (Zhao Wei) who was his blind date. They don't start off well, and continued to bicker. One's become obsessive with her conservatism, while the latter is a serial blind-dater.
But there is more than meets the eye to Wu Fang, and herein lies the guesswork to decipher who she actually was, and the motivations behind what she is doing. You can boil it down to PMS, or to the wall being built around her heart, or to just plain old psychosis. Whatever the case is, it's about persistence and the relentless pursuit of who you like, and on the other side, to spice things up with playing coy, hard to get, and being more of a mysterious enigma.
Nothing much to take away in less than 90 minutes, except to admire the two lead's ability to act and play off each other, and Christopher Doyle's cinematography (he makes tea leaves in hot water so sexy), which is a bit of a waste in a movie lacking in strength of story. I hate to say this, but the repetitive score is a bit irritating.
Code 9 DVD contains zero extras. The sound was quite bad, with plenty of echo, like speaking in a vast enclosed space. The transfer was bearably decent, but the subtitles seemed to look as if it has its bottom thinly shaved off.
So I guess putting them together in a movie made it almost irresistible to not want to pick up this DVD. This was actually a precursor to their Warriors movie where they collaborated again, but in this modern setting, based upon a short story "Adiliya by the River" (what the heck is Adiliya?) by Jin Renshun, they star as a pair of wannabe lovers looking into exploring if they could be together.
Sweeping aside the age gap, this movie is one heck of a mindgame. It's frustrating at times as nothing actually happens, and the lead characters just sit around and talk about stuff absolutely not related to anything at all. Well, at least not directly related to what's happening on hand, but telling stories - we're sitting through a story with characters telling stories, fictional ones which doesn't really add depth to plot, or characterization. It's pretty strange stuff.
And strange are their characters too, with the only realistic moment is the beginning - if you're looking for a stranger in a cafe, and there are two ladies, who would you approach first, the hot one, or the plain looking one? Chen Mingliang (Jiang Wen) went for the jugular, but it was actually Wu Fang (Zhao Wei) who was his blind date. They don't start off well, and continued to bicker. One's become obsessive with her conservatism, while the latter is a serial blind-dater.
But there is more than meets the eye to Wu Fang, and herein lies the guesswork to decipher who she actually was, and the motivations behind what she is doing. You can boil it down to PMS, or to the wall being built around her heart, or to just plain old psychosis. Whatever the case is, it's about persistence and the relentless pursuit of who you like, and on the other side, to spice things up with playing coy, hard to get, and being more of a mysterious enigma.
Nothing much to take away in less than 90 minutes, except to admire the two lead's ability to act and play off each other, and Christopher Doyle's cinematography (he makes tea leaves in hot water so sexy), which is a bit of a waste in a movie lacking in strength of story. I hate to say this, but the repetitive score is a bit irritating.
Code 9 DVD contains zero extras. The sound was quite bad, with plenty of echo, like speaking in a vast enclosed space. The transfer was bearably decent, but the subtitles seemed to look as if it has its bottom thinly shaved off.
A brilliant offering from China
Thomas_Neville_Servo19 February 2004
Jiang Wen and Zhao Wei star in what is probably the most sophisticated romantic drama to hit the film world in years. Fresh off a breakup from his fiance, Chen (Jiang Wen) becomes infatuated with the conservative, mysterious, and story-telling Wu Fang (Zhao Wei) after a blind date. As two polar opposites, both are lonely, depressed, and looking for love. How they go about it and their reasons for doing so are the primary forces that drive the movie. Jiang Wen delivers another great performance as the quirky and sometimes timid Chen, and Zhao Wei has shown that she is becoming increasingly versatile as an actress. Also features beautiful, lush cinematography from the always eccentric Christopher Doyle and a perfectly fitting score from Su Cong. This is not your cookie cutter romantic film. The humor is sparing, the emotions are real, and the sexual tension reaches an all time high. Highly recommended. 10/10
Okay, maybe I missed something...
redrum_driew10 December 2004
Okay, now you will have to forgive me if I am truly the only one who has missed something profound. Mostly I am into HK action, but this movie intrigued me from other's reviews here. However although I found the camera angles and imagery very beautiful, the plot is lacking. This may be because it was lost in translation although the subtitles were at least grammatically correct. The movie kept me involved (unlike most other "artsy" western movies) until it ended suddenly without warning, giving no resolution that I could glean. Overall, unless you actually like art films and can grasp at something deeper or simply want to stare at Vicky Zhao's face, I do not recommend you see this film.
All of Zhao Wei
Chinese_Aladdin29 March 2005
Green Tea is combinations of a simple story, and a very intricate background. This movie caught my attention from the very first scene. A single woman (Zhao Wei) met her blind-date in a tea-house. After a very short moment of exchange of words, we saw an intellectual smile emerged on her face - we now knew that this movie wouldn't be like the typical blind-dated movie we were accustomed to. Green Tea is Zhang Yuan's best work yet with the help of his cinematographer, stage designer and music composer. Last but not least, Zhang Yuan was fortunate enough to have not one but two of the super-duper from China: Zhao Wei and Jiang Wen acting in his movie. The chemical bond btw them was a joyful treatment for the audience. (It was like watching Jodie and Anthony in Silence of the Lambs - but with a different mood.) I wish Zhang Yuan and the entire cast and crew to make another movie together. Hopefully, it's the sequel of Green Tea.
Vicki Zhao have a good performance in it. She is the most talented actress in Asia.
Vicki Zhao have a good performance in it. She is the most talented actress in Asia.
A Saturated romance
sitenoise28 April 2009
One of the first things you need to know about this film is that its cinematographer is Christopher Doyle, the man responsible for the look of most Wong Kar-wai films: saturated colors and extreme camera angles. You'll find them here. He was also the cinematographer on Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002), one of the most beautiful films ever made. With that in mind, you have a pretty good hint that with Green Tea you're in store for something a little different from director Zhang Yuan.
This is a beautiful film, a colorful love poem to, about, and starring, Chinese actress Zhao Wei (a.k.a. Vicki Zhao). The woman is photographed so adoringly it's almost creepy. She plays two different and distinct roles in the film: a bespectacled graduate student and a sultry piano lounge singer—so librarian fetishists and jazzy drunks alike can fantasize out loud. The funny part, though, is that we're supposed to play along with the notion that donning a pair of bookish glasses suddenly makes Zhao one of those women "who become attractive over time", ya know, ugly. Yeah, right.
Zhao's graduate student character, Fang, is a serial blind-dater, anxious to marry, unwilling or unable to rid herself of a guy who is pretty sure she will become attractive over time. She does. So much so that when he meets her doppleganger, Lang, in the piano lounge, a woman reputed to be 'easy', he finds himself ever more drawn to Fang—probably because she is so hard. He is sure they are the same woman but Lang denies it and they strike up a friendly relationship filled with discussions of life and love. There is mature sexual politics running throughout the film for those who can't ingest ice cream without meat but you needn't get bogged down by it. This film is so thick on the surface its depth becomes muted. Beyond the ambiguous nature of the doppleganger scenario, there is also the story Fang relates to her suitor—which runs the length of the film infusing all the characters—about a friend who reads people's fortunes in tea leaves, who may or may not actually be Fang, who witnessed her mother kill her father, and stuff like that. Fang suggests she might just be making it all up. Her suitor doesn't care because fact and fiction reveal equally, but it starts to get complicated when details of the story begin to emerge in the real life of Lang ... who may or may not be Fang.
Green Tea is a gloriously gorgeous and fun ride. It's arty and complicated, maybe a little loose. The conversations and games of cat and mouse are witty and smart but at times you may find yourself more interested in trying to peer around something which seems to be in the way of what is being photographed than in piecing together the story. Stuff like that happens in this intelligent romance.
This is a beautiful film, a colorful love poem to, about, and starring, Chinese actress Zhao Wei (a.k.a. Vicki Zhao). The woman is photographed so adoringly it's almost creepy. She plays two different and distinct roles in the film: a bespectacled graduate student and a sultry piano lounge singer—so librarian fetishists and jazzy drunks alike can fantasize out loud. The funny part, though, is that we're supposed to play along with the notion that donning a pair of bookish glasses suddenly makes Zhao one of those women "who become attractive over time", ya know, ugly. Yeah, right.
Zhao's graduate student character, Fang, is a serial blind-dater, anxious to marry, unwilling or unable to rid herself of a guy who is pretty sure she will become attractive over time. She does. So much so that when he meets her doppleganger, Lang, in the piano lounge, a woman reputed to be 'easy', he finds himself ever more drawn to Fang—probably because she is so hard. He is sure they are the same woman but Lang denies it and they strike up a friendly relationship filled with discussions of life and love. There is mature sexual politics running throughout the film for those who can't ingest ice cream without meat but you needn't get bogged down by it. This film is so thick on the surface its depth becomes muted. Beyond the ambiguous nature of the doppleganger scenario, there is also the story Fang relates to her suitor—which runs the length of the film infusing all the characters—about a friend who reads people's fortunes in tea leaves, who may or may not actually be Fang, who witnessed her mother kill her father, and stuff like that. Fang suggests she might just be making it all up. Her suitor doesn't care because fact and fiction reveal equally, but it starts to get complicated when details of the story begin to emerge in the real life of Lang ... who may or may not be Fang.
Green Tea is a gloriously gorgeous and fun ride. It's arty and complicated, maybe a little loose. The conversations and games of cat and mouse are witty and smart but at times you may find yourself more interested in trying to peer around something which seems to be in the way of what is being photographed than in piecing together the story. Stuff like that happens in this intelligent romance.
As Far As Romances Go, This Is About As Perfect As Humanly Imaginable
ebossert27 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
When I first rented "Lu Cha" (aka "Green Tea"), I was expecting a typical movie. What I got was the single greatest romance film in motion picture history.
The first (and most obvious) compliment to be made is with regard to the cinematography and scoring which are simply magnificent. The opening 5 minutes are mind-blowing in terms of sheer style. Jiang Wen enters the coffee shop and the beautiful Zhao Wei is caught in a slow-motion tracking shot that is complimented with a catchy score of string instruments and beats a scene that I fear will wear out the "Rewind" button on my remote control. And who would have thought that tea leaves swirling in a glass of hot water could be so mesmerizing? Listen folks, sequences like these are the reason cameras were made.
The acting is also top notch. My first experience with Zhao Wei was the action film "So Close" (2002), which (despite being one of my personal favorites) wasn't exactly demanding of her talents. "Lu Cha" was the film that convinced me of her exceptional acting ability. One scene in particular that grabs me every time is when Zhao talks about her friend who can read tea leaves. She raises an eyebrow and taps the side of her drinking glass in such a natural way that I begin to forget that I'm watching an actress because her character is realism personified. It might sound like a trivial thing, but when you string a bunch of seemingly trivial, realistic mannerisms together over the course of 90 minutes, you end up with a great acting performance and Zhao Wei has definitely "in the zone" while making this film. Jiang Wen compliments her very well, but one can tell that Zhao is doing the leading here.
Intelligence and complexity are frequently showcased in movies from countries who make quality romance films on a consistent basis (Japan, China, South Korea, etc.). "Lu Cha" is a glorious example. It's no surprise to read reviews by viewers who are confused at some of the meaning behind certain scenes. For example, we see a middle aged man who is (inaudibly) yelling at the camera outside a window, only to then walk away angrily. Notice how he reacts to his beat-up car in disgust, which reflects the fact that he was of middle class wealth (at best). I had some difficulty understanding what this scene meant, until I realized that the previous conversation between Zhao and her blind date was about materialism. Her date attempts to promote idealism and spirituality, but Zhao counters with stories about her friend who only dates rich men for their endearing qualities. Zhao apparently didn't like this date very much, which explains why she turns his tactics against him in an effort to make him angry which apparently worked. The strength of the script is evident in this scene because during the blind date the man is not shown on camera (a frequent strategy in "Lu Cha"). You only see him after the date is over, which forces the viewer to connect his reaction and car condition to the previous conversation. This is a heck of a lot more entertaining than the Hollywood method, which would simply have a wide shot of both persons talking and insulting each other with inept dialogue.
This movie is jam-packed with these hyper-intelligent set pieces. One scene has the camera cut to Jiang's cigarette ash falling, which means that he's so gripped on Zhao's story that he completely forgets that a cigarette is in his hand. The scene where Jiang pulls the shirt over his eyes and looks from outside the window represents how affected he has become by her story. The girl in his friend's bed plays with the viewer's mind in thinking that it could possibly be Zhao because his buddy covers her up immediately, but a few minutes later she is revealed to be a different woman. In yet another scene the personalities of Zhao begin to overlap each other when her piano persona begins to drink green tea and talk about her mother who has a glove factory (which is a reference to her graduate girl persona's story).
This is nothing less than a non-stop exhibition of amazing scriptwriting. I can think of no other romance film that peppers the viewer with such cerebral exercise, and it benefits greatly from it. Stuff like this is the reason I don't watch American movies anymore. It's not that I'm snobby or an art-house freak. It's because East Asian romance films kick their American counterparts up and down the block like rag dolls. It's not even close.
I lose sleep with the horrid thought of missing the sheer enjoyment of watching a magnificent film like "Lu Cha" due to ignorance or cultural narrow-mindedness. It's certainly no help to have a bunch of no-talent corporate suits in Hollywood consistently shoving advertisements for their endless stream of crappy little titles down my throat on a daily basis in an attempt to sell their garbage through media bombardment. I feel incredibly lucky that I decided to start watching romance films outside of America. No looking back now, I can tell you that much.
In conclusion, "Lu Cha" is a perfect romance film. It's current IMDb rating of 6.9 is way too low. This sucker should be at 8.0 or above. It's incredibly rare that a film can captivate me for every single second of its running time. This is one of them.
The first (and most obvious) compliment to be made is with regard to the cinematography and scoring which are simply magnificent. The opening 5 minutes are mind-blowing in terms of sheer style. Jiang Wen enters the coffee shop and the beautiful Zhao Wei is caught in a slow-motion tracking shot that is complimented with a catchy score of string instruments and beats a scene that I fear will wear out the "Rewind" button on my remote control. And who would have thought that tea leaves swirling in a glass of hot water could be so mesmerizing? Listen folks, sequences like these are the reason cameras were made.
The acting is also top notch. My first experience with Zhao Wei was the action film "So Close" (2002), which (despite being one of my personal favorites) wasn't exactly demanding of her talents. "Lu Cha" was the film that convinced me of her exceptional acting ability. One scene in particular that grabs me every time is when Zhao talks about her friend who can read tea leaves. She raises an eyebrow and taps the side of her drinking glass in such a natural way that I begin to forget that I'm watching an actress because her character is realism personified. It might sound like a trivial thing, but when you string a bunch of seemingly trivial, realistic mannerisms together over the course of 90 minutes, you end up with a great acting performance and Zhao Wei has definitely "in the zone" while making this film. Jiang Wen compliments her very well, but one can tell that Zhao is doing the leading here.
Intelligence and complexity are frequently showcased in movies from countries who make quality romance films on a consistent basis (Japan, China, South Korea, etc.). "Lu Cha" is a glorious example. It's no surprise to read reviews by viewers who are confused at some of the meaning behind certain scenes. For example, we see a middle aged man who is (inaudibly) yelling at the camera outside a window, only to then walk away angrily. Notice how he reacts to his beat-up car in disgust, which reflects the fact that he was of middle class wealth (at best). I had some difficulty understanding what this scene meant, until I realized that the previous conversation between Zhao and her blind date was about materialism. Her date attempts to promote idealism and spirituality, but Zhao counters with stories about her friend who only dates rich men for their endearing qualities. Zhao apparently didn't like this date very much, which explains why she turns his tactics against him in an effort to make him angry which apparently worked. The strength of the script is evident in this scene because during the blind date the man is not shown on camera (a frequent strategy in "Lu Cha"). You only see him after the date is over, which forces the viewer to connect his reaction and car condition to the previous conversation. This is a heck of a lot more entertaining than the Hollywood method, which would simply have a wide shot of both persons talking and insulting each other with inept dialogue.
This movie is jam-packed with these hyper-intelligent set pieces. One scene has the camera cut to Jiang's cigarette ash falling, which means that he's so gripped on Zhao's story that he completely forgets that a cigarette is in his hand. The scene where Jiang pulls the shirt over his eyes and looks from outside the window represents how affected he has become by her story. The girl in his friend's bed plays with the viewer's mind in thinking that it could possibly be Zhao because his buddy covers her up immediately, but a few minutes later she is revealed to be a different woman. In yet another scene the personalities of Zhao begin to overlap each other when her piano persona begins to drink green tea and talk about her mother who has a glove factory (which is a reference to her graduate girl persona's story).
This is nothing less than a non-stop exhibition of amazing scriptwriting. I can think of no other romance film that peppers the viewer with such cerebral exercise, and it benefits greatly from it. Stuff like this is the reason I don't watch American movies anymore. It's not that I'm snobby or an art-house freak. It's because East Asian romance films kick their American counterparts up and down the block like rag dolls. It's not even close.
I lose sleep with the horrid thought of missing the sheer enjoyment of watching a magnificent film like "Lu Cha" due to ignorance or cultural narrow-mindedness. It's certainly no help to have a bunch of no-talent corporate suits in Hollywood consistently shoving advertisements for their endless stream of crappy little titles down my throat on a daily basis in an attempt to sell their garbage through media bombardment. I feel incredibly lucky that I decided to start watching romance films outside of America. No looking back now, I can tell you that much.
In conclusion, "Lu Cha" is a perfect romance film. It's current IMDb rating of 6.9 is way too low. This sucker should be at 8.0 or above. It's incredibly rare that a film can captivate me for every single second of its running time. This is one of them.
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