Dream Lovers (Meng zhong ren, 1986)

Tony Au

Cast: Chow Yun-Fat (Song Yu), Brigitte Lin (Cheung Yuet-Heung), Cher Yeung (Wah-Lei)
Runtime: 93 min
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese (English subtitles)

Review © 2002 Branislav L. Slantchev

Everyone seems to like this film but I did not much care about it, so be warned. CYF and Brigitte Lin come together in what could have been a mesmerizing romantic drama about two Qin Dynasty lovers who met with early gruesome deaths only to be reincarnated 2000 years later in modern Hong Kong as the maestro Song Yu and the jewelry designer Yuet-Heung, respectively. Instead, Dream Lovers is a sluggish paean to self-involvement and bankable actors faking romance.

Much of the film is spent in eerie anticipation, and a deep sense of foreboding overshadows even the lyrical moments when lovers share their spirit and their flesh. While the flashbacks return both Song Yu and Yuet-Heung to their past and tell them (and us) their story, the fractured episodic flashes of love are interrupted by gruesome visions of blood dripping from an ornament. Unfortunately, the desire to create tension and anticipation led to missing golden opportunities for excellent drama.

My complaints are many. Contrary to popular opinion, I think that both CYF and Brigitte Lin's performances were lacking emotional content. Knowing what these two are capable of only makes it worse. There was absolutely no chemistry, either in the Qin period episodes, or in the HK ones. CYF seemed detached, uncaring, and, because he so quickly and thoughtlessly abandoned his lover of eight years Wah-Lei (Cher Yeung), a self-involved bastard. I did not see the "BIG LOVE" transpire, all I saw is two confused but likable personages get laid. Also, Brigitte Lin was completely wanting passion, the supposedly seductive dances where she peeled off her three layers of Qin clothing were laughable. Where was her look, with which she has been known to bring even the dullest scenes to life? There's nothing in this film that even remotely compares to her performance in, say, The Bride with White Hair.

The story also had its share of problems. There was no development of the love between the main characters. Actually it happened so quickly that there was no evidence that Song Yu struggled with what should have been a painful choice: should he go with his old flame or his current girlfriend. Cher Yeung's acting as the desperate but determined Wah-Lei was astounding. This was the only high point in the film, and her suicide was all the more heart-rending because of the unemotional CYF. As a matter of fact, the scene with her final appearance in what used to be their apartment, helping him pack, then attempting one last desperate time to retain him, with him just laying her on the floor and then walking over her... it was stunning. It also showed what the director could, but failed, to do in the rest of the film.

The MegaStar DVD is average. The colors are washed out and the Cantonese soundtrack sounds hollow. The English subtitles are full of errors but are not unreadable.

February 8, 2002