| Overview: | A small masterpiece. JULIET IN LOVE brings back the team of director Wilson Yip, producer Joe Ma and sriptwriter Matt Chow after earlier flicks BIO-ZOMBIE and BULLETS OVER SUMMER. And this one really is a classy affair. The two leads here - Francis Ng and Sandra Ng - play two characters with little to live for until outlandish circumstances pair them to look after a gangster's baby. Each without - or nearly without - immediate family, the artificially-constructed parenting and the bond between them grows; echoing themes from Yip/Chow/Ma earlier works and also weaving a very appealing story line as it goes.
Wilson Yip gets stronger and stronger, playing with genres, building fresh new movies out of seemingly tired conventions. Great performances by Sandra Ng, and Francis Ng anchor this romance/triad film that is wistful, whimsical, thoughtful, and grim, all at the same time. The film is measured and graceful. The performances thankfully do not descend into hysterical theatrics, nor do the scenes with the infant turn nauseatingly cute.
Director Wilson Yip deserves credit for the unhurried pace that allows the drama to breathe and the audience to collect its thoughts as the plot presses forward to a (perhaps) inevitable and emotionally affecting conclusion.
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