Not completely terrible, but boring as hell most of the time.

The film begins with some beautiful photography of Lam (Jackie Cheung) and his eldest son sitting on a beach. They normally don’t talk, but this time Lam decides to tell his son a story. Lam is a teacher of Chinese Literature in an exclusive Hong Kong high school. His students show him no respect, and as a result of the shift of cultural attitudes he is unable to do anything about it. While most of his students talk or play games, the beautiful Choi-nam (Karena Lam) sits, sketching Lam. At home, Lam and his wife (Anita Mui) have, on the surface, a healthy relationship. His eldest son is intelligent and respectful, but the younger son is an arrogant slacker. In the beginning, the family all eat dinner together. But as things progressively get more complicated, the dinner table serves as a great metaphor for the family being torn apart. An associate warns Lam about Choi-nam’s feelings for him, but he denies it and shrugs it off. Her love and obsession over him is made clear during a bus ride where he is clearly made uncomfortable. When her Chinese composition on drug abuse wins third place in a competition, Lam takes a few students to receive the award, but Choi-nam doesn’t show up. When he drops the award off at her work, she ignores it but gets extremely happy because of his presence. He restrains himself from being more than a teacher, but circumstances with his wife begin to make him feel more inclined to build a relationship with Choi-nam. I won’t go into those circumstances, because they are probably the biggest and most well done discovery in the film. Lam and Choi-nam’s relationship progresses from small, fairly innocent encounters to distant, awkward dates, to drinking, partying, and getting so close that it Lam is forced to make a decision between his wife and family and his new love with Choi-nam. And, despite whatever morals we have, by the time he has to make his decision even we are unsure which way Lam should go.

The style, immediacy, and realism that Ann Hui brings to this film are amazing to see. Even scenes that in theory seem dull and boring are unique and stylish in her hands. As the film progresses and Lam and Choi-nam’s relationship becomes more confusing and muddled, the style reflects this in a beautifully abstract and artistic way. The relationship between Choi-nam and Lam is handled so beautifully and softly that in our minds it almost ceases to be wrong. Hui makes so many connections and metaphors in the film that it is more rich and fulfilling than any other film today. Discovery of the past coincides with discovery of the present, fleshing out the characters in a strange way that makes us feel even more closely connected to them. Hui also inserts beautiful photography into almost every scene. It’s clear to see why she was nominated for this year’s Hong Kong film awards, and a true travesty that Stephen Chow won over her.

If July Rhapsody’s direction is great, its acting is breathtaking. Jackie Cheung does and says so little, but we can see in his eyes the turmoil and pain burning inside of him. His character, who wanted to become a teacher because he fell in love with his wife, who sat in front of him in class, and was able only to stare at the back of her head. He was so jealous of his teacher because he could stare at her face all day long. When the circumstances over the finalization of their relationship become known, his doubt and distrust for her become understandable. Anita Mui brings such pain, remorse, loyalty, and love to her character that when the hard decisions are made and all of these feelings she harbors come out, our feelings, because they are truly shared with Lam, for Choi-nam are briefly forgotten in the web of pain that Mui’s character had been forced to face. Karena Lam’s Choi-nam is unavoidably seductive. In her few emotional scenes, she is as moving as Anita Mui, if less strikingly so because of a notably less layered character. Without question she deserved the award she won. As with the direction, it is a true shame that Jackie Cheung was overlooked because of Stephen Chow and even more so that Sylvia Chang won over Anita Mui’s unforgettable performance.

The score of the film is also beautiful and truly enhances the emotional feelings and extremes of the film. It’s strange to have a beautiful score like this come from HK, where more often than not scores are comprised of annoying synthesized orchestras mixed with inappropriate pop songs. Not only does July Rhapsody’s score beat that less desirable standard HK score, but it also surpasses many Western and other Eastern nations’ scores. I will definitely be picking up the OST.

This is one of the greatest films ever made, but because of its origin and subject matter we will likely never see even a small-scale art house distribution in America. So be sure to order this film as soon as you can, and savor every moment. It’s likely that, as it was with me, you will be able to think almost only of this film long after it’s over. If nothing else, this is a film that you cannot leave unchanged.