Results tagged “themusicbox”

We hate to speak ill of the dead, but Chen Yifei, who died before finishing The Music Box might not be the one to blame for how badly this movie sucked, since it was finished by someone else. We had entertained thoughts of seeing this in the theater, but decided to wait for the DVD "release", and thank the lard we did! This wasn't so much a movie as it was a filmic sketch of a better movie. The film tells the story of Lu Ping (played by Chen Kun), a very in-demand hairdresser in 1930s Shanghai. Lu's troubles begin when he (accidentally) kills an invading Japanese soldier by slicing his throat with the razor that he was supposed to shave the man with. Lu flees to the countryside, where he meets Song Jiayi (played by Zeng Li), the love interest. The rest of the film is really nothing more than cliches and contrivances strung together by the well-worn themes of forbidden romances (she's betrothed to someone else) and the misfortunes of regular Chinese people tossed about by the tumultuous waves of 20th century Chinese history. The romance between Lu and Song is chaste and understated, but unlike In the Mood for Love, for example, there's no development and no tension -- we just have to accept the fact that if you see a shapely woman moving in the shadows or have a jones for metrosexual Chinese men with doleful eyes that you fall in love.

Chen Yifei's film Barber (aka The Music Box or 理发师) was completed posthumously and shown for the first time in Shanghai on April 9. The renowned oil painter cum businessman and film director died on April 10 of last year. The film's producers had originally intended that the film be theatrically released on the first anniversary of Chen's death, but it seems that they couldn't finish up in time, so they did the April 9 commemorative showing, which you can read about here (in Chinese) and are planning for theatrical release later this month. Hong Kong mega-actress Rosamund Kwan (关之琳), a friend of Chen's, was one among the various celebs and personalities who showed up to watch the film and pay their respects. The film, which is a love story set at the end of World War II and the beginning of Chinese Civil war period, was finished by Chen's good friend, the Hong Kong film director Ng See-Yuen. The reports say that the film should be released around April 28. Here is more information on Chen Yifei's previous films. You can also try the Chinese Wikipedia's entry on Chen Yifei for more information.