"Happy Birthday"
生日快乐
The only words you can say to your loved ones - despite if you have moved on in your life and are no longer close in contact - to show that there is still 1 out of 365 days that you still think of him/her. Sometimes, you lose someone you love deeply, but you still miss him/her terribly, yet you can't confess your feelings. Birthdays are the best and most natural occasion to show how you feel. Even if it's just that one day.
Though the movie was really slow-paced, but I really liked the movie very much. The storyline, the emotions (especially towards the end) can lure you away from feeling that the 1h45m long movie is getting too dreary. But of course, if you cannot really endure sentimental movies and a little bit of sap, then perhaps it wouldn't be your cup of tea. Otherwise, it is definitely worth a watch. I never thought I'll love the movie when I first borrowed it. Now I'm glad I got to watch it.
This story is based on a short novel written by Rene Liu (刘若英), and acted by Rene herself, Louis Koo (古天乐), Lawrence Chou (周俊伟) and Bowie Tsang (曾宝仪), and the story is simple, yet tragic and full of emotions. The lead character Mi (小米) is a girl with great insecurity in her. She is afraid of people she loves leaving her because when she was a little girl her mother left her without a word. When she fell in love with Nam (小南), they loved each other deeply, but Nam attracts lots of female attention, which adds on to Mi's insecurity. Though she knows Nam loves her deeply too, but she is fearful that they will eventually part one day and lose Nam forever. Because of that, she decided that they should become best friends instead. As she has said, friendship will last forever; lovers don't. They separated, yet they do not seem like they've ever separated at all. They cared for each other and evidently they loved only each other. But Mi chose to remain single despite her feelings. They made a promise to each other that during Mi's birthday, Nam has to wish her happy birthday. For 10 years they did that, until 2006, when his wishes came 42 hours late. He told Mi he has gotten married, but then is that really the case?
The tragic ending made me cry. To preserve his promise to the one he loves, he went through such length, even after death. They love, but they cannot be together. Actually, there are moments in the movie that if we put them in real life, if Nam has asked the right question, at the right time and right moment, things could have been different. The movie doesn't really portray this aspect, but after the movie I watched the 'extras' showing the trailers, interviews and behind the scenes, and Rene explained about 'moments' and 'timing' in life. Sometimes, it is about doing things at the right moment and at the right time that shows fate is or isn't on your side. As Rene has said, "我不相信命运, 但老天会作弄人的".
Rene also said something from her interview which is very true: the element 'love' we always crave and acknowledge comes from 琼瑶 novels or other love stories, and the romance typically depicted in movies. However, in real life, that is not the case. All those we see in movies and novels are just 'moments' in our life, and what we do is to piece all these little 'moments' together to construct our life. Makes me wonder: are we all fantasizing too much about many aspects in life because we all love reading our books and movies that we set a standard of what things should be in real life? Is that the reason why we are constantly disappointed because life is always different from the fiction that we all grew accustomed to? Worse still, is it because of all these fictional 'standards' that makes us humans always unhappy and dissatisfied?
Other than the storyline, I really dig the piano music in the movie. Makes me miss my piano more, and chiding myself for not having touched the piano for so long. I wanted to go to school and book a one-hour session for my piano, but then I realized that I do not have my music scores with me at the moment. Sigh...
If you have a chance, do watch "生日快乐". I will recommend it.
The only words you can say to your loved ones - despite if you have moved on in your life and are no longer close in contact - to show that there is still 1 out of 365 days that you still think of him/her. Sometimes, you lose someone you love deeply, but you still miss him/her terribly, yet you can't confess your feelings. Birthdays are the best and most natural occasion to show how you feel. Even if it's just that one day.
Though the movie was really slow-paced, but I really liked the movie very much. The storyline, the emotions (especially towards the end) can lure you away from feeling that the 1h45m long movie is getting too dreary. But of course, if you cannot really endure sentimental movies and a little bit of sap, then perhaps it wouldn't be your cup of tea. Otherwise, it is definitely worth a watch. I never thought I'll love the movie when I first borrowed it. Now I'm glad I got to watch it.
This story is based on a short novel written by Rene Liu (刘若英), and acted by Rene herself, Louis Koo (古天乐), Lawrence Chou (周俊伟) and Bowie Tsang (曾宝仪), and the story is simple, yet tragic and full of emotions. The lead character Mi (小米) is a girl with great insecurity in her. She is afraid of people she loves leaving her because when she was a little girl her mother left her without a word. When she fell in love with Nam (小南), they loved each other deeply, but Nam attracts lots of female attention, which adds on to Mi's insecurity. Though she knows Nam loves her deeply too, but she is fearful that they will eventually part one day and lose Nam forever. Because of that, she decided that they should become best friends instead. As she has said, friendship will last forever; lovers don't. They separated, yet they do not seem like they've ever separated at all. They cared for each other and evidently they loved only each other. But Mi chose to remain single despite her feelings. They made a promise to each other that during Mi's birthday, Nam has to wish her happy birthday. For 10 years they did that, until 2006, when his wishes came 42 hours late. He told Mi he has gotten married, but then is that really the case?
The tragic ending made me cry. To preserve his promise to the one he loves, he went through such length, even after death. They love, but they cannot be together. Actually, there are moments in the movie that if we put them in real life, if Nam has asked the right question, at the right time and right moment, things could have been different. The movie doesn't really portray this aspect, but after the movie I watched the 'extras' showing the trailers, interviews and behind the scenes, and Rene explained about 'moments' and 'timing' in life. Sometimes, it is about doing things at the right moment and at the right time that shows fate is or isn't on your side. As Rene has said, "我不相信命运, 但老天会作弄人的".
Rene also said something from her interview which is very true: the element 'love' we always crave and acknowledge comes from 琼瑶 novels or other love stories, and the romance typically depicted in movies. However, in real life, that is not the case. All those we see in movies and novels are just 'moments' in our life, and what we do is to piece all these little 'moments' together to construct our life. Makes me wonder: are we all fantasizing too much about many aspects in life because we all love reading our books and movies that we set a standard of what things should be in real life? Is that the reason why we are constantly disappointed because life is always different from the fiction that we all grew accustomed to? Worse still, is it because of all these fictional 'standards' that makes us humans always unhappy and dissatisfied?
Other than the storyline, I really dig the piano music in the movie. Makes me miss my piano more, and chiding myself for not having touched the piano for so long. I wanted to go to school and book a one-hour session for my piano, but then I realized that I do not have my music scores with me at the moment. Sigh...
If you have a chance, do watch "生日快乐". I will recommend it.
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