Taking place in 1941, Love in a Fallen City centers on Pai (Cora Miao), a young woman who has been ostracized by her family for divorcing her rich husband. A local match-maker, Mrs. Hsu (Helen Ma), takes pity on Pai and decides to bring her to Hong Kong, under the guise of employing her as the Hsu's nanny, but in reality to introduce her to Fan (Chow Yun-Fat). Pai and Fan seem to hit it off, but Fan's refusal to marry Pai soon sours things. However, as the Japanese begin to invade Hong Kong, the two begin to realize their true feelings for each other.

Unlike many Hong Kong romantic films of the time, there is a refreshing lack of melodrama, even though some of the events in the film could have easily set up that style of acting. Pai's family treats her like the unwanted step-daughter in Cinderella, going as far as to refer to her simply as "sixth sister". Bucking the usual trend, Pai doesn't end up running through the rain in slow motion while a sad Cantopop ballad plays. Director Ann Hui allows Cora Miao (and all of the other characters in the movie) to develop naturally, which makes them much easier to digest for the viewer, and keeps them interested in their fates.

And one must also take note of how goddamn cool Chow Yun-Fat is in this. Even though he's playing a bit of a cad, he still comes off as extremely likeable, and you can really see why Pai eventually falls in love with him. This, of course, should really be no surprise to anyone familiar with the wider range of his work, but for those wanting to check out the "softer" side of Chow have a perfect vehicle in this. Even if dramas or "weepies" aren't normally your thing, Love in a Fallen City is still worth your time. It's a finely-crafted romantic film that shows that Hong Kong film-makers are well-capable of producing things other than dual-fisted bloodbaths, toilet jokes, or flying fisticuffs.

At the end of 2002, Celestial/IVL finally began putting out the remastered Shaw Brother's catalogue on dvd and part of the first wave was Ann Hui's Love In A Fallen City. I certainly haven't heard of it and probably not many others due to the fact that Shaw's never really licensed their catalogue of films for home video releases. In the case of this movie there was a Pioneer Japanese Laserdisc edition without English subtitles released but it took 18 years before Love In A Fallen City, Chow's second collaboration with Hui and co-star Cora Miao (both were in the sought after The Story Of Woo Viet, shot in 1981) could be widely seen.

Based on the novel by Eileen Chang set in 1940's Shanghai and Hong Kong, we meet Liu Su-Pai (Cora Miao), living a depressed existence in a large family. The heads of the family are constantly looking to getting their daughters married but Pai, after a divorce many years ago, has given up any hope that she will meet a man or amount to anything in life. She does agree though to go to Hong Kong and meet Mr. Fan (Chow Yun-Fat). Fan sees in Pai what many others doesn't and tries his hardest to make her love again. Also brewing underneath is talks of an Japanese invasion of Hong Kong...

My viewing experience of Ann Hui movies was before Love In A Fallen City restricted to her latest output, Visible Secret and July Rhapsody. Having heard her quoted as a good director, those two works cemented that reputation. However going back as far as 1984 doesn't mean we find less quality on hand. On the contrary, there are many strengths in this romantic drama but I didn't expect it to be this challenging.

On a side note, first thing that you're greeted with is the extremely crappy Shaw Brothers logo that apparently, somewhere between the 70s and 80s, replaced the wonderfully classy one that most of us have seen. With that ugliness out of the way, it was exciting to find out that Love In A Fallen City was not all what I expected. Ann Hui gives us a very talky romance focusing on strict Chinese family values and a struggle it takes for two to actually fall in love. Not being prepared certainly doesn't hurt the film, nor is not knowing much of Chinese family values and the way setting up marriages work but I must warn you that you have to listen carefully to fully take in what Ann Hui is communicating to us. It's more a film for Hong Kong people than for Westerners but the themes at their core are not restricted to Asian culture only.

The meaning of the film lies in the meeting and developing relationship between Fan & Pai. It's very much an unexpected complex romance we're treated to, with numerous scenes of dialogue between the two and Fan's attempts at making her love him. That is what it basically is and it's interesting that the two doesn't seem to want to be part of the laid down rules. He has been abroad and lost touch with his Chinese ways while she has been so outside of it that she doesn't want to begin following it again. We're unsure of his motives since he does act in an insensitive way, says harsh things but he's actually challenging the said rules by wanting to LOVE the woman he's set up with. Also, it's a personal challenge for Fan, more so since Pai has her guard up most of the time but ultimately can't hide the fact that she is longing for love. It's quite an involving trip that could've suffered a few times at the hands of obvious movie clichés. Thankfully Ann Hui makes these moments seem fresh and the emotional core she builds up gets paid off when the relationship reaches a point where they may lose each other. Hui also touches upon how the westernization of Hong Kong people is frowned upon and in addition to that wisely chooses to not deal with making characters out of the invading Japanese forces, just stating that they're there and it happened at one point in history. With so much dialogue and things to digest, Fung Cho's writing does become a bit muddled at times but if you do take a liking to the film the first time, I think a second viewing where you listen even more could be rewarding.

Being a Shaw Brother's production, the film looks outstanding. Interior and exterior design is of the highest caliber and it's a wonderful transportation for the viewer to the 1940s. When the invasion happens later in the film, it's integrated almost to a degree of perfection, not showing much but not bound by budget restraints either.

That the relationships between Fan and Pai is involving is not only a tribute to the writing but the chemistry between our two leads Chow Yun-Fat and Cora Miao. Chow enters the picture relatively late so we're first getting aquatinted to Cora's character. I would say that I can't find any flaw with her performance, playing the saddened, shy Pai that only truly opens up with Fan. It's one of those characters that, because of how she is, is perceived as ugly but with the right person and environment is a true beauty. For Chow, this film was the most successful financially out of his 1984 output but Taiwan rightly gave him a award for his work in Hong Kong 1941 instead, also set during the same historical events. In Love In A Fallen City he impresses with his natural charisma and is as handsome and suave looking as he is today. As with the romance, the character can be harder to grasp, his true intentions about getting to know Pai etc. but Chow does deliver, even if it isn't a career best performance. He and Cora have solid chemistry and so much a part why Love In A Fallen City gets such a strong emotional response from the viewer towards the end.

Ann Hui's Love In A Fallen City is for an audience who doesn't say no to listening and thinking while watching. I would of course recommend it to any Chow Yun-Fat fan and it's a thought provoking and engaging romantic drama finally available to the masses. Shaw Brother's was more than just martial arts.