Yi sa bui lai (2006)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Ho-Cheung Pang

Writers:

Ho-Cheung Pang (screenplay)
Ho-Cheung Pang (story)

Release Date:

6 April 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Macao police officer's bachelor life is interrupted by the daughter he never knew he fathered.

Plot Keywords:

Macau | Older Man Younger Woman | Father Daughter Relationship | Cigarette Smoking | Lighthouse

Awards:

5 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Chapman To	...	Chen-Shing Ma
Isabella Leong	...	Bik-Yan Cheung
Josie Ho	...	Woman at herbal tea shop
Kwok Cheung Tsang	...	Fai
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Chen-Shing's boss
Sui-man Chim	...	Landlord
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steven Cheung	...	Chen-Shing - adolescent (as Chi-Hang Cheung)
J.J. Jia	...	Hua - Bik-Yan's mother (as Xiao-chen Jia)
Meme Tian	...	Kate
Yeung Ming Wan	...	Bik-Yan's father
Shawn Yue	...	Man at bar

Also Known As:

Isabella (International: English title)

Runtime:

91 min | Japan:109 min (Tokyo International Film Festival)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Macau, China

Company:

China Film Group

Trivia:

In all three scenes that Anthony Wong Chau-Sang appears in, he is eating something. The first scene has him eating a hotpot, the second scene that he appears in, he is eating noodles and in the last scene he is eating a bun.

Kinda disappointed

I simply loved every Pang movies, probably my favourite is "Beyond Our Ken" and starting from this I'll try to explain the main defects I found in his new movie. BOK was a movie of great feeling tension and that was his strong point together with Pang's creative direction and a solid and particularly intriguing script: Isabella is the perfect opposite of this. Somewhat predictable script, so-so acting (can't get people who praised Chapman To, probably one of the most overrated HK actors in the last years and Isabella Leung was nothing special), it misses completely to deliver the mood even if the premises were really high due to the dramatic story. He tried to emulate Wong Kar Wai describing characters with simple touches but fails completely in delivering solid personality unlike WKW. One of the few good point is the camera work, sometimes genius as we have already experienced. Hope it will be back to the right path, if this is one of the so-called "maturity" movies, I want only immature, but damn real movies.