Anna Magdalena

This updated Hong Kong variation on the Francois Truffaut manage-a-trois classic "Jules Et Jim" is indeed an all star affair, boasting the participation of attractive matinee idols $$ID=Aaron Kwok$$, $$ID=Takeshi Kaneshiro$$ and $$ID=Kelly Chen$$, with cameos by the likes of $$ID=Anita Yuen$$, $$ID=Leslie Cheung$$ and $$ID=Jacky Cheung$$. Aaron plays unemployed and homeless tramp Yau Muk Yan who moves in with Chan Kar Fu ($$ID=Takeshi Kaneshiro$$) a shy and sensitive tuner of pianos. They in turn become stirred and obsessed by the untrained pianistic musings of neighbour Mok Man Yee ($$ID=Kelly Chen$$). A progression of romance and fantasy ensues.

Named after Bach composition, "Notenbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena Bach 1725", the film is structured in four acts along the song's musical movements. It develops a backdrop, which evolves into the romantic triangular relationship between the leads, culminating in "Variations" - a Gothic flight into romantic fantasy. Here, one becomes aware of watching a complex tale within a tale, as aloof Chan Kar Fu records his unrealized fantasies of Mok Man Yee in a novel that is being edited by Anita Yuen (in a cameo role) who simultaneously thinks/narrates the story's development aloud. Shot on location in Vietnam, these sequences evoke the baroque atmosphere of the tune, helped in no small part by cinematographer Peter Pau (a John Woo veteran, read "The Killer").

The dialogue is smart and remotely arty. All leads give able performances, Kelly in close-up is beautiful in a riveting way, Takeshi is a suitably haunted as a sensitive loner and Aaron is consistent. In all, a highly watchable affair!